The Bergamo area has a range of historical walking paths and opportunities for waterway wanderings.
Marian shrines and hospitality for pilgrims
Rich in places of worship, with a long religious tradition, Italy can also be explored along its spiritual paths, routes of faith and pilgrimages, to be rediscovered also on the occasion of the Jubilee 2025. In the Diocese of Bergamo the Alta Via delle Grazie (High Way of Grace) is a 271 km walk in the Orobic heart of Lombardy. The brainchild of Gabriella Castelli and Giovanni Battista Merelli, after the experience of Santiago de Compostela, like the famous Spanish route it offers hospitality to pilgrims.
Pilgrims are welcomed into convents and family homes
Along the 13 stages, convents, monasteries, parish centres and family homes open their doors to welcome pilgrims, transforming the experience of the journey into an opportunity for relationships and sharing. Along the route there are 18 Marian shrines, but the spirituality is intertwined and enriched by the natural and cultural dimension of the experience. 
Via Valeriana
Legendary paths in the places of Charlemagne
A route that takes its name from an ancient legend is the Route of Charlemagne proposed by the Cammini Amici della Via Valeriana (Friends of the Valerian Way Routes). It is said that Charlemagne, along his path of conquest, forced the local lords who lived in castles to convert and had numerous churches built to celebrate his victories, sometimes on the ruins of the destroyed castles.
In the footsteps of the Holy Roman Emperor
The route, created by Antonio Votino and Andrea Grava, follows in the footsteps of the historical figure of Charlemagne, the Holy Roman Emperor, and starts from Bergamo, crossing the municipalities along the Serio river, the Valli d'Argon, the Val Cavallina, the Val Borlezza, the Valle Camonica, the Val di Sole and the Val Rendena up to Carisolo in Trentino. Expanded over the years, today it is some 140 miles long and has twelve stages. The route, which is unidirectional and of medium difficulty, winds for the most part along the hillside of the mountain ranges, with some challenging climbs.
Waterways: on foot and by bike along the Adda river
Walking along a stream, listening to the sound of the water, reaching a lake and sitting on the shore, dipping your feet in the icy water, or marvelling at the roar of a waterfall. Waterways offer an infinite variety of landscapes and experiences in contact with nature. Among the waterway trails proposed by the FAI – Fondo per l'Ambiente Italiano (Italian National Trust) we find the Path along the Adda, which from Villa d'Adda reaches Crespi d'Adda, in the province of Bergamo. Both the footpath and the cycle path follow the course of the river, allowing nature enthusiasts to enjoy landscapes of great natural beauty. What's more, the route also goes through places that are symbolic of Lombard history, such as the ferry designed by Leonardo da Vinci in Imbersago (LC), the Crespi d'Adda workers' village and the Carlo Esterle Edison power station.
