Bergamo Airport (Orio al Serio)

Bergamo Airport is also known as Orio al Serio International Airport, but not many people know that its official name is Il Caravaggio International Airport. This airport is located next to the city of Bergamo and at about 45 km (28 mi) north-east of Milan. Note that this is about the same as the distance between Malpensa Airport and the city of Milan. This short distance is an important reason why Bergamo Airport also attracts many travellers that want to go to, or come from, Milan. Another reason is that it can be cheaper to fly via Bergamo Airport as it is served by several low budget airlines that advertise Bergamo Airport as being Milan. The airport has one terminal with some shops (mainly Italian fashion), a vip lounge, several spots where you can eat and drink, banks and free WiFi. This airport serves about 11 million passengers per year, so a great network of transportation has been developed that will get you from Bergamo Airport (Orio al Serio) to Milan and Bergamo. Below we will cover the different transfer options that are available for you.

By bus
The public transport company of Bergamo is called ATB (Azienda Trasporti Bergamo). If you want to travel from Bergamo Airport to the railway station near the city center of Bergamo you can take their bus line 1. You will find the bus stop in front of the arrival hall. This bus departs three times per hour, and on Sundays and public holidays two times per hour. From the Bergamo railway station you can take the train to Milan. But there are also several coach services that will get you from Bergamo Airport straight to Milan by bus. The travel time to get from Bergamo Airport (Orio al Serio) to the city center of Milan by coach will take about one hour. Examples of the available coach service companies are Autostradale, Orioshuttle and Terravision.

By train
At Bergamo Airport (Orio al Serio) is unfortunately no railway station. So if you prefer to travel by train to Milan, or another destination in Italy, you should first take a 15 minute bus ride to the Bergamo railway station. At the website of Trenitalia you will find more information about the timetables and prices.

By renting a car
If you love to drive by yourself and want to be free to explore the region according to your own agenda then it is an interesting option to rent a car at Bergamo Airport. In the arrival hall are desks of several car rental companies like Avis, Budget, Europcar, Hertz and Sixt. Booking your rental in advance has some advantages compared to renting at a service desk at the airport.

Using a website such as rentalcars.com allows you to compare offers from different car rental companies, so you don’t have to do it when you arrive and at different airport desks. In this way you will be easily able to check which company has your favorite car available at your preferred date and which one offers the best prices. When you book your rental car online and well in advance the prices will probably be lower and the availability of different cars will be higher than when you book your car upon arrival at an airport desk. While getting a rental car after you have arrived at destination only allows you to choose between the cars that are left over. Especially during the holiday seasons it can be the case that only a relatively small selection of cars is still available to choose from.

By taxi
Getting a taxi is probably the easiest, but surely not the cheapest, way to get from Bergamo Airport to the doorstep of your final destination. There are several taxi stands outside in front of the arrival hall, but with peak hours and holiday seasons it is possible that queues are formed for the limited available taxis. If you want to be sure that a professional and authorized chauffeur is waiting for you in the arrival hall when you arrive at the airport, then it is advised to book a taxi in advance.