How to get to Oltre il Colle

From Bergamo

38 km · about 45 minutes

From Bergamo you leave towards Villa d'Almè and take the SS470 of the Brembana valley. After Sedrina and Zogno, at Ambria you leave the valley floor and turn right onto the SP27 of Val Serina, which climbs in hairpins to Serina; from Serina you continue via Valpiana and the Col d'Anì and reach Oltre il Colle. For Zambla Bassa, Zambla Alta and the Colle di Zambla you carry on past the main village; for Zorzone you leave the provincial road at the Piazzale degli Alpini.

It is the shortest way and the one the village regards as its main access: from Bergamo station to piazza Tiraboschi it is about 38 kilometres, to Zambla Alta about 42, to Zorzone about 43. The Pro Loco gives 43 kilometres from the A4 exit at Bergamo, which is south of the city centre. From Ambria the climb to the main village measures about 17 kilometres, to the Colle di Zambla about 23. The SP27 crosses steep slopes and is sometimes closed by landslides: the latest closure, between Rosolo and Serina, lasted from 28 August to 1 October 2026, with traffic and buses diverted via Costa Serina and Cornalba; the road reopened after the Province's safety works.

Verified on 1 October 2026

From Bergamo (variant via the Seriana valley and the Colle di Zambla)

50 km · about 1 hour

From Bergamo you drive up the Seriana valley along the SS671 to Ponte Nossa, where you take the SP46 of Val del Riso. The road climbs the mining valley through Gorno and Oneta and reaches the Colle di Zambla at 1,264 metres; from there you descend to Zambla Alta and Zambla Bassa and continue to Oltre il Colle.

Longer than Val Serina, but it is the natural road for those arriving from Albino, Clusone and the upper Seriana valley, and the alternative to keep in mind when the SP27 is closed. The Colle di Zambla is the only pass between the Brembana and Seriana valleys crossed by a road for vehicles. From Ponte Nossa (450 m) to the pass Wikipedia counts 14.1 kilometres of continuous climbing in hairpins, with a maximum gradient of 10%; from Clusone to the main village it is about 27 kilometres.

Verified on 1 October 2026

From Milan

88 km · about 1 hour 30 minutes

A4 Milan–Venice motorway to Bergamo, then the ring road and the SS470 of the Brembana valley towards Villa d'Almè and Zogno. At Ambria you take the SP27 of Val Serina for Serina and Oltre il Colle.

The calculation starts from the centre of Milan. The last part is all mountain road: the roughly 38 kilometres between Bergamo and Oltre il Colle weigh almost as much as the 50 kilometres of motorway before them, and with traffic leaving Milan or in the valley the times grow.

Verified on 1 October 2026

From Brescia

91 km · about 1 hour 20 minutes

A4 motorway towards Milan to Bergamo, then the SS470 of the Brembana valley and the SP27 of Val Serina. Alternatively you can drive up the Seriana valley to Ponte Nossa and climb the SP46 of Val del Riso to the Colle di Zambla.

The two variants are equivalent in distance: the one via the Seriana valley and the Colle di Zambla measures about 96 kilometres, a little over an hour and a half, and suits those arriving from Lovere and Lake Iseo.

Verified on 1 October 2026

From Lecco

59 km · about 1 hour 15 minutes

From Lecco you follow the SS342 Briantea towards Cisano Bergamasco and Villa d'Almè, where you take the SS470 of the Brembana valley. At Ambria you climb the SP27 of Val Serina for Serina and Oltre il Colle.

The route avoids the city of Bergamo. There are no motorway stretches: it is about 60 kilometres almost entirely on state and provincial roads, with the last half hour of hairpins.

Verified on 1 October 2026

From one hamlet to another (local roads and parking)

The main village, Zambla Bassa, Zambla Alta and the Colle di Zambla lie in a row along the SP27: from piazza Tiraboschi it is about 3.8 kilometres to the church of Zambla Bassa, 4.6 to Zambla Alta and 5.6 to the pass. Zorzone is on a municipal road, via Capriana, which starts at the Piazzale degli Alpini: about 4.8 kilometres. From Zambla Alta a municipal road climbs for about four kilometres to Plassa and continues to the car park of the old lifts at Alpe Arera, at around 1,600 metres. For the trails CAI Bergamo indicates the car parks of the Colle di Zambla (Alben, Grem), Plassa (Capanna 2000) and Zorzone (Menna, Val Vedra, Val Parina); in the main village the largest car park is above via Roma, near the Piazzale degli Alpini, where you also find the only petrol station in the upper Val Serina.

In winter you need winter tyres or chains: the ordinance of the Province of Bergamo requires them from 15 November to 15 April on all provincial roads, including the SP27 and the SP46, and with snow or ice on the road chains must be fitted if you do not have winter tyres; the obligation also applies outside that period when it snows. In winter the municipal road from Plassa to Alpe Arera is also closed, and those going up to Capanna 2000 set off on foot from Plassa; via Capriana to Zorzone is a narrow, winding municipal road.

Verified on 1 October 2026

From Bergamo (bus station)

from about 1 hour 20 minutes to almost 2 hours

Arriva–Bergamo Trasporti line B, Bergamo – Zogno – Serina – Oltre il Colle – Passo Zambla, leaves from the Arriva Terminal in Bergamo, next to the railway station, and takes you into Val Serina with a compulsory change of bus at Zogno. The timetabled stops in the basin are Oltre il Colle piazza Tiraboschi, Zambla Alta Albergo Miramonti and Passo Zambla, the terminus. Services run only from Monday to Saturday: on Sundays and public holidays the village is not served.

In the timetable in force from 14 September 2026 to 8 June 2027 the arrivals in Oltre il Colle are at 9:07 and 20:07 on every weekday and at 12:07 from Monday to Friday, plus other services that change between school days (14:18, 15:12, 15:52 and 18:07) and school holidays (10:07, 14:07, 15:37 and 18:07); the journey time depends on the wait at Zogno. Downhill, the first bus leaves piazza Tiraboschi at 5:43 and the last, from Monday to Friday, at 17:03, arriving in Bergamo at 18:25. The service is suspended on 25 December. In the summer 2026 timetable, from 9 June to 13 September, the Val Serina branch had six services each way. Zambla Bassa has no timetabled stop: the nearest is on the provincial road, at the turn-off for the village.

Verified on 1 October 2026

From Oltre il Colle main village (for Zorzone)

5 km · 15 minutes

Shuttle of line S50e, Oltre il Colle – Zorzone. It leaves from Oltre il Colle piazza Tiraboschi and calls at Oltre il Colle Cipriana, Zorzone contrada Santi, Zorzone via Gasparelli 144 and Zorzone piazza Caduti del Lavoro.

It is the only public transport up to Zorzone, the mining hamlet where the Minerals Museum is. In the timetable in force from 14 September 2026 to 8 June 2027 there are seven services each way from Monday to Friday, one of them on school days only, and five on Saturdays; the first leaves Oltre il Colle at 6:25 and the last at 18:10, and the timetable also publishes connections with line B to and from Zogno and Bergamo. In the summer 2026 timetable there were two services each way. The shuttle does not run on Sundays and public holidays.

Verified on 1 October 2026

From Ponte Nossa and the Seriana valley

Arriva–Bergamo Trasporti line S50bce, Ponte Nossa – Gorno – Oneta – Passo Zambla. It climbs Val del Riso calling at Gorno Erdeno, Gorno Villasio, Oneta and Cantoni d'Oneta, and ends at Passo Zambla, Deposito SAB stop.

It is the public connection from the Seriana valley side, useful for those arriving from Albino, Clusone or the middle valley. Only some services reach the pass: in the timetable in force from 14 September 2026 to 8 June 2027 there are six each way on school days and four on other weekdays, with arrivals at Passo Zambla at 7:15, 13:45, 14:15 and 19:45 plus two school services in the afternoon; in summer 2026 there were three. From Passo Zambla you continue to Zambla Alta and Oltre il Colle with line B. Here too the service runs only from Monday to Saturday.

Verified on 1 October 2026

From Milan or Brescia by train, changing at Bergamo

There is no railway in Val Serina or the Brembana valley. The useful station is Bergamo, reached by regional trains from Milan, Brescia, Lecco and Treviglio; from the station you walk to the adjacent Arriva Terminal and take line B to Zogno, where you change bus for Serina, Oltre il Colle and Passo Zambla.

The Brembana valley railway, which ran from Bergamo to Piazza Brembana with a station at Ambria too, closed to passengers on 17 March 1966 and was abolished on 1 September of the same year: it was never rebuilt, and in any case it did not climb into Val Serina. Those travelling without a car must allow for the change at Zogno and the fact that buses to the basin do not run on Sundays and public holidays.

Verified on 1 October 2026

From Bergamo–Orio al Serio Airport

43 km · about 50 minutes

From the airport you take the southern ring road of Bergamo, then the SS470 of the Brembana valley towards Villa d'Almè and Zogno and finally the SP27 of Val Serina for Serina and Oltre il Colle.

It is the basin's reference airport and the Pro Loco also gives 50 minutes. Without a car the connection is not direct: from the airport you reach the Bergamo bus station and from there take line B, with a compulsory change at Zogno and services only from Monday to Saturday.

Verified on 1 October 2026

From Ponte Nossa by bike to the Colle di Zambla

15 km

Climb on the SP46 of Val del Riso: from Ponte Nossa, on the Seriana valley floor, you climb through Gorno, Oneta and Cantoni d'Oneta to the Colle di Zambla at 1,264 metres, where the road crosses over towards Zambla and Oltre il Colle.

Wikipedia counts 14.1 kilometres from Ponte Nossa (450 m) to the pass, with a maximum gradient of 10% and the last stretch without shade; by car they take about twenty minutes, and for the time by bicycle there is no official figure to cite. From the Brembana side the climb starts at Ambria (330 m) and measures 23 kilometres, longer but with false flats and gradients that never exceed 11%. It can be ridden as a traverse between the two valleys. The Brembana Valley Cycleway, built on the bed of the old railway between Zogno and Piazza Brembana, stays on the valley floor: the climb into Val Serina is on a road open to traffic.

Verified on 1 October 2026