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Leaving Bergamo: a day in Milan

Writer's picture: B&B ValleAstinoB&B ValleAstino

How to get to Milan from Bergamo and what to see in one day.


Roughly 50 km. That’s how far Bergamo is from Milan, the metropolis, capital of Lombardy, and fashion and shopping capital of the world.


There is so much to see in Milan: it is easily reached from Bergamo, and we’ll tell you what to see in one day. The must-see attractions and the most popular for tourists, because a month would not be enough to explore all of Milan.


How to get from Bergamo to Milan?

  • By car: it takes about 40 minutes, driving along the A4 highway

  • By train: from Bergamo station there are connections to Milano Centrale every hour.

  • By bus: every twenty to thirty minutes, buses run from Orio al Serio airport to Milano Centrale.

Piazza del Duomo


Our journey must begin from the Cathedral, the Duomo, which is topped by the Madonnina, a gilded copper statue by Giuseppe Perego and city's symbol.


Did you know that the construction took over five centuries? Requested by Gian Galeazzo Visconti, the construction began in 1386 and was completed in 1936. It is Italy's largest church and the world's third largest.


There is a fee to enter the Duomo, and it is open every day. We recommend going up to the Terraces to better see all of the statues and the 135 spires and enjoy the view of Milan: there is a fee to go up and you can do it by elevator or on foot. The price of the ticket includes admission to the Cathedral and the Duomo Museum.


In the Piazza del Duomo you will find the equestrian Statue of Vittorio Emanuele II, the Royal Palace, the Archbishop's Palace and the entrance to the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele.


Galleria Vittorio Emanuele and Piazza della Scala


The bourgeois life of the city is centered here, among high-fashion boutiques, chic restaurants and historic cafes like Caffè Campari, Caffè Gnocchi and Caffè Biffi. It feels like walking through a living room from ancient times, with large windows, marble, a mosaic floor and golden colors.


Galleria Vittorio Emanuele, which opened in 1839, is a commercial street that connects Piazza Duomo to Piazza della Scala.

All stores in the Galleria are required by a post-war municipal ordinance to display their signs above their windows in black bands with gold lettering. A guideline for the elegance in this city center "living room”.


Are you curious about the central octagon? Its shape is achieved by cutting the four corners at the intersection of the galleries, and four lunettes depicting the four Continents (Europe, America, Asia and Africa) can be found at the top of the walls.

Here you can discover the city's superstitious ritual: three turns on the bull's balls with the heel of your right foot.


Walk all the way through the gallery to reach Piazza Scala, and, as the name suggests, here you will find yourself in front of one of the world's beautiful theaters, the Teatro alla Scala.


Columns of San Lorenzo


Stop for some shopping on Via Torino, then continue down the street until you reach Corso di Porta Ticinese. Here you can admire the Columns of San Lorenzo, 16 marble columns more than 7 meters high, that are part of an ancient construction from the late Roman age. Opposite is the Church of San Lorenzo, one of the oldest in the city.


The Columns of San Lorenzo are a popular meeting place for the Milanese during happy hour or on a night out with friends.


Parco Sempione and the Arco della Pace

The urban green lung: Parco Sempione. It is behind the Arco della Pace, built in the neoclassical period and inspired by the Arch of Septimius Severus in Rome with its three arches bordered by Corinthian columns and bas-relief decorations.


The Triennial Exhibitions held over the last century turned Parco Sempione into an open-air museum, and installations and architectural works can be found among the various alleys.


Cross the Ponte delle Sirenette ("Bridge of the Little Mermaids"), Italy's first iron bridge, which opened in 1842 and was designed in the Art Nouveau style. It gets its name from the mermaid statues that adorn it.




How about a break at Bar Bianco? It has been open since 1954!


Castello Sforzesco


Here, the histories of the city's two most famous noble families, the Sforzas and the Viscontis, converge. Castello Sforzesco was named after Francesco Sforza, who only renovated it though, after it was built in 1368 at the request of Gian Galeazzo Visconti.


Important artistic figures of the time, such as Leonardo da Vinci and Bramante, visited Castello Sforzesco during the government of Ludovico Sforza, known as the Moor.


The current structure is the result of restorations carried out between 1890 and 1905 under the supervision of Luca Beltrami. Walk around the castle and admire the inner courtyard. Castello Sforzesco is home to numerous museums.


Brera


It is the artists' district. We're talking about Brera, with its cobblestone streets, hidden courtyards, street artists and many traditional bars with outdoor tables. The Academy of Fine Arts is the neighborhood's star.


In April, it hosts the Fuorisalone, the Lombard capital's flagship event that coincides with the Salone del Mobile, attracting design enthusiasts from all over the world.


Piazza Gae Aulenti and City Life


A look at the modern era. Piazza Gae Aulenti is a redevelopment of the Garibaldi and Isola areas, and it is one of the city's most modern areas. It was inaugurated on December 8, 2012, ten years ago, and in the center of the square (reachable via escalators) is a street-level fountain surrounded by skyscrapers, including the Unicredit Tower, our country's tallest building with its 231 meters.


Corso Como is the center of Milanese nightlife, thanks to the many various clubs and discos that are there.


Not far from Piazza Gae Aulenti is the Bosco Verticale, two residential tower blocks designed by Boeri Studio. This is a metropolitan reforestation project; in fact, through vertical densification of greenery, the goal is to increase Milan's plant and animal biodiversity.


The City Life district consists of luxurious buildings, apartments and state-of-the-art skyscrapers. The City Life Shopping District is the area's commercial center, with stores, restaurants and a cinema, while the park has over a thousand trees and pedestrian and bicycle paths. The Palazzo delle Scintille, which hosts exhibitions and fashion shows, is located in this district.


Navigli and the Darsena


There is only one place for the "aperitivo": Navigli. This is a network of navigable canals that Leonardo da Vinci improved at the request of Ludovico il Moro to allow navigation to Lake Maggiore. You can go on a boat ride or relax in a gondola here.


The Navigli area can be reached by metro, Porta Genova stop, or by walking all the way down Corso di Porta Ticinese.

On the Naviglio Grande, don't miss a visit to the “Cortile degli Artisti” (the Artists' Courtyard), a little gem hidden inside the courtyard of an old mansion. The Naviglio Grande and the Naviglio Pavese converge at Milan's historic harbor, the Darsena, which was the focal point of a significant urban redevelopment in 2015 for Expo Milano. A covered market and one of Milan's most popular meeting places.


Museums


To visit them all in one day would be impossible. The Refectory of the Basilica of Santa Maria delle Grazie houses Leonardo da Vinci's Last Supper, one of the absolute art masterpieces. If you want to see it, you'd better book your visit well in advance!


The Pinacoteca di Brera and the Pinacoteca Ambrosiana are also home to art, while in Piazza del Duomo there are two of the city's most important museums, Palazzo Reale and Museo del Novecento.


Miuccia Prada's inspiration led her to turn an early 20th-century distillery into a museum of modern art with both a permanent collection and rotating exhibitions, founding the Fondazione Prada.


The National Museum of Science and Technology "Leonardo da Vinci" is Italy's largest technical-scientific museum, while MUDEC houses world culture collections as well as numerous national and international exhibitions.


To book your stay, all you have to do is check the availability of our rooms during the desired period and make a reservation.

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Phone: 348 7824524

via Enrico Rastelli, 7 24129 Bergamo

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HOW TO GET THERE

The international airport of Bergamo-Orio al Serio, which serves over 100 destinations, is 9 kilometers from our B&B Valle d'Astino and 12 minutes by car or Airport Bus from the railway station and city center. If you take a taxi the cost should be around 20 euros.

The train station is in the city center, 5 kilometers away (10 minutes by car), and can be reached by city bus 8 or rented electric city bicycles.

The Bergamo exit of the A4 Turin-Venice highway is 5 kilometers away.

The Papa Giovanni XXIII Hospital in Bergamo is only 2 km from our B&B.

For additional information, please contact us.

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