• Author: Nancy Needham
• 09 Oct, 2018
• 4259 Views

Bergamo is located in the north of Italy, and it is quite a gateway into Europe.. flying twice a week from Ireland West Airport... Bergamo was an easy choice for our summer holiday this year.

Marketed as “Milan” many people just pop out the door of the airport, and head straight to Milan on a shuttle bus. More coaches are waiting to bring travelers to Lake Garda and Lake Como.

If you’re adventurous enough, you could get the bus to the train station and head off to Venice, Verona, and Rome... or further afield… Switzerland, Austria, Slovenia, Croatia… all quite possible.

As Bergamo is a Ryanair hub, you also have your choice of flights around Europe, and plenty of others were using it as a stopover to Russia, with cheap flights into Moscow.

But no big adventures for us this year. Travelling with little-miss 1^st birthday, and Mr almost-4, we planned to keep our holiday as uncomplicated as possible. An early start on the Friday morning... kiddies were lifted from bed and into the car in jammies. We easily got to knock airport, easily parked the car, and easily checked in. We had a pass for the executive lounge, and it was great to have the space to get the kiddies their breakfast, coffee for mammy and daddy, and a place to get the little-miss dressed. Mr almost-4 insisted “I will get dressed when we are in our holiday house”. Jammies on the plane for him!

Off we flew, landed in Italy and picked up our bags. Bought some bus tickets and jumped on the 1a outside the door. Mammy and Daddy had visited Bergamo in 2012, (when travelling was so much easier and we thought nothing of spending 4 weeks pottering around Europe on the train….) and knowing our way around certainly helped! We jumped off the bus at the funicular stop, travelled up the hill with a very excited boy, and had only 100 meters to walk to our holiday apartment. Certainly the least stressful journey we have ever taken!

We had 11 nights in Bergamo, and really got to know the town very well. We had our favourite playgrounds to play in, a very favourite restaurant, and our favourite ice cream place. The lady in the ice cream shop would hand us a spare cone for little-miss 1^st birthday, without us even needing to ask! The little-miss took her first steps across Piazza Vecchia on her first birthday, chasing after her big brother! There was a playground in the Citta Bassa that had lots of amusement rides, and the little two loved travelling around on the train! Next year, Mr almost-4 will be able for the go-karts too!

We took one day trip out of town, to Leolandia, the first theme park in Italy. Especially suitable for toddlers, Leolandia has a “cowboy land” a “pirate land” a “Peppa Pig land” and a model railway. Now, I’m sure, “Masha and the Bear land” is open too! Getting to the theme park wasn’t easy, next time we will take the shuttle bus.. but the children enjoyed the day so much! We splashed in the wet areas, and rode trains, and sailed boats…. It was such fun!

We got exactly what we were looking for in Bergamo. A bit of a break from real-life. We were not searching for big adventures, but lazy days together.. with good food and sunshine. Bergamo did not disappoint. We are already planning to do just the same again next July.