Bergamo and Brescia: an active trip to Italy’s joint capitals of culture

Football feuds and pandemic pain have been replaced with walks, hilltop feasts and culture in these rival cities, making them superb places to enjoy an active Lombardy holiday

Wearing a crimson and sunshine-yellow flower crown, the young man is surrounded by his family, before there is the pop of the vino frizzante and the royal blue cups are filled for a merry toast to celebrate his graduation.

The fading afternoon light dances on this scene taking place near the small central Fontana Contarini in Piazza Vecchia, in Città Alta in Bergamo, the medieval upper part of the city. With its 16th-century Venetian walls and flourishing restaurants under large stone archways, the area invites people to pour in from every direction.