After the Milan Marathon: Bergamo

The Route: Milano Centrale → Bergamo → Città Alta → Milano Centrale Logistics: A regional train of about 50 minutes, then a short walk or bus to the funicular. The old town on the hill is paved with stone and has some steps. Marathon Month: April Duration: Day trip

Milano Centrale ──(about 50 mins regional train)──> Bergamo ──(funicular)──> Città Alta
       ▲                                                                           │
       └───────────────────(same route back, frequent trains)─────────────────────┘

The Milan Marathon finishes in front of the Duomo on a Sunday in early April, and the Monday after is the day to put distance between yourself and the stairs of the metro. Bergamo is the easiest exit. Trains leave Milano Centrale at a frequent interval, the journey takes about 50 minutes, and the city has two halves: a flat modern lower town and a medieval upper town, the Città Alta, on a hill above it. The ticket machines and the timetable are at trenitalia.com and trenord.it; check which operator runs the trains on the day.

April in Bergamo: early April is mild but unpredictable, with sun and showers both likely, and the lower town can be damp when the hill is in cloud. Bring a waterproof. The terraces and wild flowers on the walls are starting, and the crowds are smaller than in summer.

Getting up the hill

From the station, the upper town is reached either by city bus line 1 or by the funicular, which climbs from the lower town to the edge of the old streets. The funicular uses the ATB urban ticket system, so buy a ticket at the stop and check the price and the opening hours, which change between winter and summer. On legs that have just run 42 km the funicular is the sensible option. There is no way to avoid a short walk on uneven paving at the top.

The Città Alta

The upper town is small and mostly closed to traffic. Piazza Vecchia is the centre, a square enclosed by a medieval civic palace, a library building and the Campanone, the civic tower, whose lift saves the stairs. Next to it stands the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore, and joined to it the Colleoni Chapel, built in the 1470s for the mercenary captain Bartolomeo Colleoni. Check opening hours for both before you set out, because small churches in Italy often close for a long lunch.

The Venetian walls, built from 1561, are a UNESCO site and form a circuit of about 6 km around the hill. The path is partly paved and has gradients and some steps, so do a section rather than the full circuit. A short walk to the Rocca or the nearest gate gives a view across the plain to the Alps on a clear day.

Lunch should be casoncelli, the stuffed pasta of the province served with sage and butter, or polenta with a stew. The sweet polenta e osei, a cake with marzipan and chocolate birds, is the local pastry. The upper town's restaurants fill up by 13:30, so book if you can.

Going back

Take the funicular down to the lower town and walk to the station. Trains back to Milan run through the evening, but check the timetable before you set out, and allow a margin for a delay.