A Walk from Bruntino to Sorisole through the Parco dei Colli di Bergamo

Left: Route from Villa D'Almé/Bruntino to Sorisole through the Parco dei Colli di Bergamo. Right: View of one part of the trail called Giro del Monte.

Overview

Length: 11.5 km
Duration: ~ 3 hours
Elevation: Minimum 296 m (971 ft), maximum 647 m (2122 ft), total elevation gain 522 m (1,710 ft)
Location: Italy, Lombardy, Bergamo, Parco dei Colli di Bergamo

Getting There

You can start this hike in Bruntino or Villa D’Almé. Either way, you can take the #9 city bus from Bergamo. It will take about 20 minutes.

Recently, ATB put ticket machines on the buses so you can buy tickets without worrying about getting them ahead of time. That said, we’ll probably continue to use the handy 10 pack of 3 zone tickets we buy every so often, officially called carnet 10 corse. A 3-zone ticket is what you need to get from Bergamo to the airport as well as Bergamo to Villa D’Almé.

The Walk

This hike takes you around, by, or over several small hills in part of the Parco dei Colli di Bergamo, including Monte Bastia (584 m), Monte Giacoma (587 m), Monte dei Giubilini (596 m), and Monte Pissol (687 m). This relatively easy hike takes you through the foothills at the head of the Val Brembana, hills just north of Villa D’Almé and Sorrisole at the northern parts of the Parco dei Colli di Bergamo. The park founded in 1977 comprises about 4,700 ha (11,600 acres) of forested and agricultural land north of Bergamo, between 244 m (800 ft) and 1146 m (3,760 ft) – Canto Alto. The park includes Bergamo's Città Alta.

We exited the bus in Bruntino and made our way to the start of the Giro del Monte Bastia Trail, which takes you clockwise around Monte Bastia. Via Gaione, a steep paved road, turns into the Giro del Monte. Eventually, you end up at Bruntino Alto, and to be honest, you could skip this part because it was the least interesting section of the hike and instead just start at Bruntino Alto.

From Bruntino Alto, there are two trails you can take. We followed the trail around the north side of Monte Giacoma, which brought us along the "didactic trail for the senses" (percorso didattico sensoriale), where our olfactory senses were awakened by a light garlic scent coming from patches of bear’s garlic (Allium ursinum).

After Monte Giacoma, we climbed over the wooded Monte dei Giubilini to descend into Azzonica and then a hop over to Sorisole.

Lunch was at Trattoria Antichi Sapori, a simple and satisfying lunch spot in Sorisole. We took the #7 bus back to Bergamo because we had an afternoon appointment.

Flora

[Family] Genus species – {Common names in English; Italian}

[Amaryllidaceae] Allium ursinum – {Bear’s Garlic, Wild Garlic; Aglio orsino}
[Boraginaceae] Symphytum
[Euphorbiaceae] Euphorbia
[Lamiaceae] Lamium galeobdolon – {Yellow Archangel; False ortica giallo}
[Lamiaceae] Salvia pratensis – {Meadow sage; Salvia dei prati}
[Melanthiaceae] Paris quadrifolia – {Herb-Paris, Oneberry; Uva di volpe}


Bear's Garlic or wild garlic (Allium ursinum) along the trail.


Left: Bear's Garlic or wild garlic (Allium ursinum) along the trail. Right: View toward Canto Alto from the north side of Monte Bastia.


Left: Euphorbia. Right:  Yellow Archangel (Lamium galeobdolon).


Left and center: Herb-Paris or Oneberry (Paris quadrifolia). Right: Symphytum.


Left: Area included in the Parco dei Colli di Bergamo. Right: Sign showing stops along a trail designed to please the senses.


Left: View from above Azzonica looking over Sorisole with Bergamo Alta in the background. Right: Meadow Sage (Salvia pratensis).