Valle Brembana Greenway: Cycling an Hour from Milan

Some valleys stay hidden not because they are far away, but because everyone crosses them in a hurry on the way to somewhere else. The Valle Brembana is one of these: from the Bergamo plain you climb toward the Orobie Alps almost without noticing, and no one thinks to get out of the car to cycle it. Yet the old line of the railway that once connected Bergamo to Piazza Brembana has been reclaimed as a greenway, and it offers one of the most serene and least frequented pre-Alpine routes a stone's throw from Milan.

The railway's legacy

The charm of this cycle path lies in the fact that it reuses the work of the old railway engineers. A mountain railway had to keep gentle gradients and wide curves, and so today the cyclist inherits an even surface that cuts through the valley without jolts, slipping into tunnels carved from the rock and crossing bridges and viaducts suspended above the Brembo. Cycling through a tunnel, with the sudden coolness and the light returning at the far end, is one of the things that stays with you most from this route.

The route follows the course of the Brembo, the river that gives the valley its name and serves as its guiding thread. You set off from the lower valley, near Villa d'Almè, and climb toward Zogno and the villages dotting the valley floor. Along the way it's worth stopping at San Pellegrino Terme, the Art Nouveau spa town famous for its waters, where the façades of the Grand Hotel and the Casino tell of the elegant era of the early twentieth century. Further upstream the valley narrows and becomes more Alpine, with villages clinging to the slopes and the peaks of the Orobie closing off the horizon.

How to get there

Getting there is simple and part of the appeal: from Bergamo you head north along the valley floor, and the valley is easy to enter even for those coming from Milan for the day. The surface of the former railway line is largely easy and well maintained, suited to a touring bike or a gravel bike, and in some stretches even to families with children. Having been born from a railway, the gradient is gentle: you climb toward the head of the valley with the measured slope of a route that once had to let a train pass, so without steep ramps but with that constant, steady effort you feel in the legs as you gain altitude. It's a moderate challenge in nature, more a matter of persistence than of explosive effort, and the descent on the way back is the smooth reward for all the elevation gained.

When to go

The best time runs from late spring to autumn. May is the month when the valley is greenest and the slopes burst with vegetation, while October brings the warm colours of the woods and a low light that sets the rock faces aglow. These are also the months when you best avoid the crowds: summer brings a few more hikers heading toward the high Alpine destinations, but the valley-floor greenway stays quiet, and in the shoulder seasons you often pedal in solitude, crossing paths with more herons on the river than other cyclists. The heat is almost never a problem, and the tunnels offer natural cool on the milder days.

Along the river there's no shortage of places to stop: the Brembo accompanies the route with its more open stretches and others hemmed in among the rocks, and there are frequent spots where you can sit on the bank and listen to the water. It's a living river, where canoeing and rafting are practised in the livelier stretches, and from the bike you see it from an intimate, almost confidential perspective that those travelling by car never know.

A practical tip

A practical tip: bring a light with you, even during the day. The tunnels of the old line are fascinating precisely because they are long and dark, and a small front light makes the crossing safe and even more atmospheric. Then make the most of the stop at San Pellegrino Terme not just for the spa but to refill your bottle and soak up the Art Nouveau atmosphere at leisure: it's the kind of slow stop that gives meaning to a bike journey, far from the haste of those who only cross the valley.

Practical guides for Bergamo

• Where to stay in Bergamo
• What to see in Bergamo in 2 days
• Where to eat in Bergamo
• How to get to Bergamo