Sight seeing in Bergamo

Bergamo is a short 50 kilometres from Milan and is the most striking city in Lombardy.  There are two sides to this elegant metropolis, the “lower city” with its modern facades and dynamic pace and the “upper city” which hosts the historic centre filled with tons of cultural artefacts.

Make sure to allow for time in your trip to walk around the upper city’s Piazza Vecchia, which houses its most important religious and civic buildings, along historic (and largely commercial) streets.  Considered the most beautiful renaissance square in Europe, you’ll find something to be amazed by at every turn. Enjoy a spectacular view of the city and the Lombard plain from San Vigilio Hill.

The lower part of the city sees fewer tourists but is equally a joy to peruse.  Make sure to spend some time walking at the Piazza Vittorio Veneto, an excellent example of visionary city planning.  A host of galleries, theatres and churches, including the Duomo, abound within the city’s confines, waiting for your visit.

Galleria d’Art Moderna e Contemporanea

Across the road from the impressive Accademia Carrara museum stands an equally imposing and fascinating building, one of many in this part of Bergamo.  This partly restored 14^th-century monastery was once used as an army barracks and now houses the vibrant and engaging modern art gallery Galleria d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea, otherwise known as GAMEC.  Rightly hailed as Bergamo’s answer to the Guggenheim, it was opened in 1991. Presently, it has ten exhibition halls on three floors. Since the purchase of the Gianfranco and Luigia Spajani collection in June 1999 the permanent collections have contained works by Italian and foreign artists of the 20th century including Boccioni, Balla, Morandi, Campigli, Casorati, Savinio, De Chirico, Kandinsky, Sutherland, and Warhol.

A must for the modern art enthusiast and the casual visitor alike, the Galleria d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea (GAMEC) represents an entertaining and fascinating reward for the short drive from Bergamo’s old town to this, the city’s vibrant cultural hub.

 

 

Bergamo Accademia Carrara

The greatest single must-visit in the modern centre of Bergamo, the lower town, is the Accademia Carrara.   One of Italy’s finest provincial galleries, it provides an admirable trot through Italian art history (indeed, art history in general) with over 1,800 paintings dating from the 15th to the 19th century, by artists including Pisanello, Botticelli, Bellini, Canaletto, Raphael and so many more.

The origins of the art gallery lie with the Count Giacomo Carrara, a wealthy collector and patron of the arts, who left a generous legacy to the city of Bergamo at the end of the 18th century.   At the same time as the public opening of his gallery, the Count decreed that drawing and painting courses be initiated in the same place. The school, which was located in the same building as the art gallery until 1912, now has its own premises nearby.

Just a short drive from the centre of Bergamo, this impressive museum will reward every visitor with its fabulous collection of paintings augmented by an extensive array of drawings, prints, bronzes, sculptures, porcelain, furniture and medals.

Cheaper flights to Bergamo

Europe’s largest low-budget carrier is offering one million seats at £5 next month including charges and taxes. It will lose at least £5 on each UK sale, because the fare does not cover the £10 air passenger duty charge.

Michael O’Leary, Ryanair’s chief executive, said the move represented a halving of its so-called T fares, the cheapest on Ryanair flights, which represent about half of the seats sold per flight.

He said: “If passengers are booking ahead of the 80% seat target, we will close off the cheap seats. If we are booking behind it, we will open up more cheap fares.”

O’Leary said the primary motive for the sale was to stimulate faltering demand rather than drive rivals out of business. He said high oil prices would have a far greater impact on financially weak airlines than another cut-price seat offer.

“Ultimately it is oil and the operating losses that will force some of these guys to the wall,” said O’Leary.

Ryanair flights break even when the planes are 80% full and O’Leary admitted the airline was having to “dump” fares in order to fill its planes, amid weakening demand for seats.

“We will dump the price to wherever it needs to be in order to get to 80%,” O’Leary vowed.

Ryanair is heading for its first loss in 20 years due to high fuel costs, driven by the global oil spike, and weakening passenger demand.

The Dublin-based carrier said it would plunge from a profit last year of €439m (£347m) to a loss of up to €60m if the cost of keeping planes in the air stayed at record levels.

The profit warning was compounded by an admission that the sales outlook was weaker than expected and a planned 5% fares increase would have to be reversed – underlined by today’s sale.

The carrier is grounding 20 planes this winter in order to conserve costs, a move that is being replicated across the industry with a 7% capacity cut among all airlines – equivalent to nearly 60m fewer seats – taking place in the final quarter of 2008.

Some experts have warned fares will rise as a result, but low-budget carriers such as Ryanair, whose business model is predicated on the pile-high sell-cheap principle, are under pressure to slash ticket prices due to the wider economic downturn.

O’Leary said he wanted a recent fall in the oil price from $147 per barrel to around $120 per barrel to be reversed, in order to ensure Europe’s most cash-strapped airlines were not bailed out by banks willing to take a risk on an industry revival.

“If airlines get a break in the oil price, some of them will get financing from some idiot. The more expensive oil is, the faster we roll up the loss-making companies that are not going to survive anyway.”

O’Leary confirmed plans to launch hand luggage-only flights in the autumn. The experimental ban on checked-in bags will take place on four routes: Dublin to Cork, London to Glasgow, Rome to Milan Bergamo and Frankfurt Hahn to Berlin.

About four out of 10 Ryanair passengers travel without bags since the airline introduced bag check-in fees. Ryanair will make a few flights per day hand luggage-only but will not ban checked-in luggage entirely on the four routes.

How To Get The Best Car Hire Rates

There are two ways to get the cheapest car hire rates in Bergamo .   The first and most time consuming is to go to all the big brand websites like Hertz, Sixt, Holiday Autos and fill in lots of different car hire booking forms, write down the cost of the car and then finally see which offers the best deal.  Or the simpler and most cost effective option is to use a specialist car hire company like Bergamo  Airport Car Hire and let us do all the leg work for you.   Our car hire search engine queries all the big brands, in fact it has over 400 companies in it world wide.   We only return the best possible price for your destination and hey presto there it is.   Located on the right hand side – it is simple to use and will get you the best possible car hire rate possible.

Bergamo airport car rental

Bergamo airport car rental from £16 per day!

Not only does Pronto get you the best car hire rates for Bergamo airport car rental – we also ensure that you are fully covered for any eventualities. What’s more it is all included in the car hire price you see. We all know that things do sometimes go wrong. With this in mind we have built a policy that is not only included in the price but it is also very robust. We have done this to give you peace of mind to enjoy the Country you are visiting. So enjoy your trip and rest assured that you are fully covered. Bergamo airport car rental from £16 per day!

Bergamo airport car hire from £16 per day!

Bergamo airport car hire from £16 per day! As Bergamo Airport Car Hire works with over 400 car hire companies across, rental conditions can vary from Brand to Brand. With this in mind we always suggest that you check the rental conditions. Bergamo Airport Car Hire wants to make this as simple as possible for you so we have included a review of the car hire conditions in the booking process. In step 2 of the car rental booking engine we have compiled a summary of what they are. The image of step 2 below summarizes exactly what the entire call hire is for. You can clearly see what the car type is, how many people and luggage you can fit in, whether it has air conditioning or not. It also has a link to the hire conditions and we always advise that you read these. Not because there are any nasty surprises there, more that we want you to have peace of mind. Bergamo airport car hire from £16 per day!

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