Tourist office in medieval tower

Uffici di Informazione Turistiche (Tourist Information Offices) are excellent in Italy. Even small towns have their own tourist information office, which will give you free maps, books and leaflets on the main sights, as well as lists of hotels and restaurants. The staff will also look up bus and train times for you.
Bergamo is particularly well served as there are three Tourist Information Offices with helpful, multilingual staff.
When you arrive at the Milan Bergamo airport at Orio al Serio you will find a Tourist Information Office in the Arrivals area, which is open every day from 8 am until 11 pm to help people who have just landed with transport and hotel information.
There is another Tourist Information Office in the Città Bassa (lower town), conveniently located close to the railway station and bus station in Piazza Marconi.
And the Città Alta (upper town) also has its own Tourist and Information office in Via Gombito (pictured), only a short walk away from the funicular stop in Piazza Mercato delle Scarpe.
It is based on the ground floor of the Torre Gombito (Gombito Tower) which is on the left hand side of the street as you walk towards the Piazza Vecchia.
Like many buildings in the Città Alta, the Torre Gombito was built in the 12th century but there are indications of an earlier Roman building on the site. It was modified over the years so that the ground floor could be used as a shop, but this later caused the tower to become unstable.
In 1848, local people established themselves in the tower to rise up against the Austrians who ruled them at the
time. And towards the end of the last century, restoration work was carried out to make safe and preserve the tower.
For more information, visit www.turismo.bergamo.it, where you will also be able to read ‘the Key to Bergamo’ online, which is a useful magazine produced by Turismo Bergamo.