Best of Valle Brembana

Val Brembana is located near Bergamo and takes its name from the river Brembo that crosses it. A visit to the Val Brembana is like stepping back in time, with its ancient villages that still preserve traces of the area's ancient crafts, an adventure between natural environments that are still intact, a gastronomic journey to discover the traditional products, a search for treasures and architecture, including the Art Nouveau architectures of San Pellegrino Terme, the precious works preserved in the churches and museums along with original rural architecture. It stretches over 60 kilometers and the variety of its landscapes allows you to choose different kinds of sports all over the year always immersed in its wonderful nature. In Valle Brembana there are several itineraries for people who love walking, trekking, and thanks to these trails you can also reach many shelters and the most famous are: Rifugio Laghi Gemelli, Rifugio Calvi, Rifugio Longo, Rifugio Dordona and Rifugio Ca' San Marco. The last two shelters are the "connection" between Valle Brembana and Valtellina. Winter time is the perfect time to visit the Valley. In fact Carona-Foppolo-San Simone, the Bremboski district feature several ski slopes from December to March/April. Here you can enjoy the slopes, but also the food and àpres-ski activities. If you want to pass an afternoon relaxing and enjoying the landscape and the sun, you can go to the spa in San Pellegrino Terme, which was reopened in 2014 and where you can relax, eat the traditional food of the valley and enjoy the view.

*San Pellegrino Terme is located in the heart of Val Brembana* and is a perfect place for those who decide to spend a weekend in this valley enjoying the art nouveau palaces, the historical spa with the thermal baths, the San Pellegrino plant, renowned all over the world for its mineral water and beverages. The Thermal Baths were built in 1840 and turned a small village of the valley into an outstanding holiday resort for the wealthy international middle class looking for amusement. The health spa was enlarged at the end of the XIX Century with some buildings in art nouveau style, called “Liberty”, the artistic trend featuring curve lines and arabesques. In just a few years, this art movement captivated the whole village of San Pellegrino, enriching it with some of the finest examples of Liberty style, including the majestic Casino, the Grand Hotel and the water bottling factory. Today you can go back in time and live the very same splendour of the early XX Century, enjoying the recently restored, enlarged and implemented Wellness Centre, within a project that also includes the luxurious Casino’s renewal.

Cornello del Tasso, in the district of Camerata Cornello, is considered one of the most beautiful villages in Italy. It is a very small place, stands on a spur overlooking the Brembo River, where the medieval structure is exceptionally preserved, both from an urban and architectural point of view. You can reach it in only two ways: walking or using the mule tracks, the old dirt roads. The village’s isolation also represented its biggest fortune, as it allowed it to keep intact the entire ancient urban layout. Do not miss Palazzo Tasso, an ancient and suggestive building that stands on the spur of a rock.

Br*anzi and its waterfall Branzi is a small village, warm and welcoming.* It is mostly known as a winter resort, but it is recommended all year round. Its bridges and its magnificent waterfall make it a romantic and fascinating place. In addition, once you get here, after a visit to the village why not stop in a typical restaurant and enjoy the homonymous and delicious cheese. Indeed Branzi is also the name of one of the most ancient cheeses produced in the Orobie mountains by the Social Dairy of Branzi – Latteria Sociale Casearia di Branzi. Milk from the barns of Brembana Valley and Taleggio Valley is collected every day and processes using traditional methods. Skilful cheese makers are in charge of the processing phase of every single cheese, always caring about its genuineness. The dairy products are the result of a network of 70 “ethical mountain farms”, carrying out a sustainable kind of farming that respects the animals and also allows them to live wild in the nature. Book your visit to Latteria di Branzi dairy or come to their store.

For those who like cycling, the Val Brembana Ciclovia is absolutely recommended. *It is a journey of over 20 kilometers that starts from Zogno, in the heart of the valley. It follows the *old railway track and has splendid views of the river and steep rocky cliff faces. The path runs through perfectly illuminated tunnels where trains once passed and arrives at Piazza Brembana. Small villages and towns en route preserve traces of the ancient Via Priula, a trade route built at the end of the sixteenth century by the Venetian Republic to connect Bergamo with Valtellina.