A Classic Bergamo Hike: Canto Alto

Overview | Details | Flora | Trail Views

Left: Hike to Canto Alto tracks and info. Right: View from Canto Alto looking southwest over Sorisole and the back of Bergamo.

Overview

Length: 21 km (13 mi)
Duration: 7.0 hours total, with 1 hour lunch break at Trattoria La Maresana
Elevation: Max elevation at Canto Alto 1,146 m (3,760 ft). Starting elevation 265 m (869 ft) Piazzetta Delfino.
Location: Italy, Lombardy, Bergamo, Parco dei Colli di Bergamo

Details

We did more or less the same hike about four and a half years ago, described here in the post Bergamo to Canto Alto Hike. We repeated the hike as it is a classic hike starting in Bergamo and we needed to break in some new hiking shoes.


Our starting and ending point is the recently renovated Fontana del Delfino and thus the hike takes you from urban to nature with every step, from the cobblestones of via San Tomaso to the dirt trails of Canto Alto. With each step, you leave the city behind. On the CAI web sites, see trail 533 and trail 507.

Once you reach the Quintino Alto neighborhood where trail 533 starts, you are going north for the first ¾ of the hike and then northwest on the last ¼. Upon reaching Maresana, make sure you look for the signs for Cà del Latte. The next stop is Canto Basso, a junction point of several trails, and it’s from here that you have the last push up trail 507 to reach the top of Monte Canto Alto at 1,146 m (3,760 ft). Starting from the Fontan del Delfino at about 291 m (954 ft), that’s a pretty respectable altitude gain of 855 m (2,800 ft).

For our Canto Alto hike in 2015, we took the bus to Quintino Alto because back then it seemed far away, but it only saves 30 minutes walking to get here from our starting point. Plus, who wants to be on a bus during a pandemic? Also, in 2015, we returned through Sorisole and ate at Trattoria Antichi Sapori. This time, from the top of Canto Alto we retraced our steps because our objective was lunch at Trattoria La Maresana, which passed on our way up.

Flora

For being so close to Bergamo with heavily trafficked paths, you can still see interesting plants, especially as you approach the highest point of this hike: Canto Alto.

As usual, check out our flora resources page Resources for Identifying Plants around Bergamo and the Travelmarx Pinterest page.


Key: [Family] Genus species – Common name in English (Common name in Italian)

[Adoxacease] Viburnum lantana – Wayfaring Tree (Viburno lantana)


[Anacardiaceae] Cotinus coggygria – European Smoketree (Sommacco selvatico)


[Apiaceae] Astrantia major – Great Masterwort (Astrantia maggiore)


[Asteraceae] Cichorium inthybus – Chicory (Cicoria selvatica)


[Asteraceae] Cyanus triumfetti – Squarerose Knapweed (Centaurea di Trionfetti)


[Campanulaceae] Campanula trachelium – Canterbury Bells (Campanula selvatica)


[Campanulaceae] Phyteuma scheucherzi – Oxford Rampion (Raponzolo di Scheuchzer)


[Lamiaceae] Betonica officinalis – Common Hedgenettle, Betony, Purple betony (Erba betonica)


[Lamiaceae] Teucrium chameadrys – Wall Germander (Camedrio comune)


[Plantaginaceae] Veronica sp.


[Rosaceae] Aruncus diocius – Goat’s beard, bride’s feathers (Barba di capra)


[Scrophulariaceae] Verbascum nigrum – Dark Mullein (Verbasco nero)

Trail Views

Left: Just below the summit of Canto Alto. Right: Along Trail 533, a view to Olera.


Left: Starting off on the cobblestones of via San Tomaso. Center: A wide trail on the way to Canto Alto. Right: The last bit to reach Canto Alto is steep.


A panorama from Canto Alto looking south - southwest.