Bergamo

If you're driving from Milan to Lake Garda, the perfect deviation from your autostrada journey is the lovely medieval town of Bergamo. Bergamo is also a wonderful side trip by train from Milan. In less than an hour, you will be whisked from the restless pace of city life, to the medieval grandeur of Bergamo Alta where the pace is a tranquil remnant of the past.

From behind a set of battered Venetian walls high on an Alpine hilltop, Bergamo majestically surveys the countryside. Behind are the snowcapped Bergamese Alps, and two funiculars connect the modern Bergamo Bassa (Lower Bergamo) to the ancient Bergamo Alta (Upper Bergamo). Bergamo Bassa's long arteries and ornate piazze speak to its centuries of prosperity, but it's nonetheless overshadowed by Bergamo Alta's magnificence.