Lombardia · Bergamo
Predore
A small village on the Bergamo shore, sitting on a Roman villa with intact thermal baths underneath.
Picked by Peter Benei
Letter to come
Visiting
- Best time
- Apr–Oct
- By car
- 43 min from Brescia
- Population
- 1,870
- J8°
- F11°
- M14°
- A17°
- M21°
- J26°
- J29°
- A29°
- S24°
- O19°
- N12°
- D8°
- Best
- Hot or crowded
- Quiet
- Mostly closed
Daytime air temperature, averages for 2020–2024. Weather data by Open-Meteo.com.
Why come
Predore sits on the shore, in the province of Bergamo, beyond the Valcalepio, with Monte Bronzone rising to 1,334 meters directly behind the village. The Roman villa beneath the streets extended from that mountain slope down to the ancient lakeside port, a footprint that ties the buried baths to the water rather than to the modern center. In the medieval period the village was a fortress with two lakeside towers protecting the palace, a different kind of relationship to the shore than the villa's, defense rather than leisure.
The votive altar found in the centro storico dates the site's aristocratic connections to around 201 AD, through the family of consul Marco Nonio Arrio Cuciano, while the cave above the village holds finds from a much earlier period, the only cave dwellings of that period in the whole Bergamo area. Taken together, the layers run from Neolithic cave to Roman villa to medieval fortress, each occupying a different part of the same short rise from water to mountain.
How to get there
From Milan Bergamo (BGY), about 38 min by car.
Verona (VRN) is about 1 h 24 min away.
By car from the center of Brescia 43 min.
Coming by train into Bergamo? Predore is about 37 min away by road.
Every town within reach of Milan Bergamo airport.
First time driving in Italy? Read our complete manual.
What to see
Terme della villa romana
The frigidarium, tepidarium, and caldarium survive underground, still legible as a sequence of rooms rather than fragments, part of the complex that once ran down toward the ancient lakeside port.
Chiesa di San Giorgio
Small medieval church on the slope outside the centro, with architectural elements highlighted by recent restoration.
Bus del Coren
Ground samples recovered from the cave point to settled habitation, set into the slope above the village with the lake visible below.
Lungolago
Lakefront promenade along the western shore of Lake Iseo, with views to Monte Isola and the Brescia shore opposite.
Living here
Could you live here?
Predore is a village with a town close by.
- A village of 1,870, with Sarnico (6,840 people) 8 min away for the shopping and a meal out. Our rule is a town within 15 minutes.
- Bergamo, a city of 120,389, is 39 min by car. Inside our 30 to 60 minutes: close for the services, far enough to keep its own life.
The rules come from our series Where to Move in Italy, written from the places we have lived: Part 1, The End of the Road · Part 2, The Small Town · Part 3, The City · Part 4, The Postcard · Part 5, The Other Half. The towns we would pick are in Part 6, The Best Towns.
- Population 1,870, up 2.7% since 2015
- Nearest city Bergamo, 39 min drive
- Nearest national health service hospital Iseo, 3 km as the crow flies · how healthcare works in Italy
- Homes in the center: €1,100 to €1,500 per m² to buy, €6.70 to €8.10 per m² a month to rent
Weighing a move here? See the moving year.
All the numbers Common questions, designations, lists and sources.
More about living here
- Commuter belt
- Pharmacy: none mapped
- High school within a 30-minute drive
- Full fibre reaches 97% of homes
- Primary school in the comune
- Earthquake zone 3, low hazard
- Milan Bergamo airport (BGY), 38 min drive, the nearest with scheduled flights
- Regional capital Milan, 1 h 16 min drive
If you are moving here
Who lives here
6% of residents are foreign citizens, most often from Romania, Ukraine and Russia, against 9% across Italy. 12 of them come from English-speaking countries or western and northern Europe. There are 261 people over 65 for every 100 children under 15, against 216 across Italy. 43% of homes have no resident, holiday homes and empty ones counted together, against 27% across Italy. Bergamo province ranks 5th of 107 in Il Sole 24 Ore's quality of life ranking for 2025.
Health and schools
The nearest emergency room is in Iseo, 3 km as the crow flies. The nearest major one is in Brescia, 23 km away. The nearest children's emergency room is in Brescia, 23 km away. The nearest IB school is International School of Bergamo, 24 km as the crow flies. There are 3 within 30 km.
Information, not medical advice. Confirm with a professional.
Taxes
A home that is not your main one pays 1% a year in property tax, charged on the cadastral value rather than the price. A main home pays none unless it is in a luxury category. The town adds between 0.3% and 0.7% to your income tax, depending on your income, with nothing due on income under €20,000. 7% pensioner tax: this town is not in a qualifying area.
Information, not tax advice. Confirm with a professional.
What it costs
The average household in Lombardia spends about €2,410 a month, €510 of it on food, against about €2,170 across Italy. A family of three pays about €415 a year for water, on the Lombardia average. In Bergamo, the provincial capital, in September 2026, an espresso cost €1.25, a meal in a pizzeria €12.40 and a man's haircut €22.34.
Climate and risk
It is in climate zone E, on a scale from A, the warmest, to F, the coldest, and heating may run from October 15 to April 15, up to 14 hours a day, unless the mayor changes it. 5% of residents live in a zone the national maps rate high for floods, 12% in a high or medium one. 1% live in a zone rated high or very high for landslides.
These shares cover the whole comune, not any one street. Check an address on IdroGEO.
Moving from abroad? Which visa you need. Sources: ISTAT, the Ministry of Health, ISPRA, the Finance Ministry, the Ministry of Enterprise, Poste Italiane, the comuni, the IB, International Schools Database, Il Sole 24 Ore, Cittadinanzattiva.
Known for
VILLA ROMANA
Fifteen-thousand-square-meter Roman villa with thermal baths under the modern village, brought to light by a 2003 construction project.
TEMPIO DI DIANA
Inscribed votive altar to Diana found in the centro, linking the complex to the consular family of Marco Nonio Arrio Cuciano.
BUS DEL COREN
Cave above the village with the only Neolithic cave finds in the Bergamo area, including ground samples from settled habitation.
Common questions
- What is Predore known for?
- Predore is a small village on the Bergamo shore, sitting on a Roman villa with intact thermal baths underneath.
- Where is Predore?
- Predore is a comune in the province of Bergamo, in Lombardia, at 198 meters above sea level.
- What is the nearest airport to Predore?
- The nearest airport with scheduled flights is Milan Bergamo (BGY), about 38 min by car.
- How long is the drive from Brescia to Predore?
- About 43 min by car.
- When is the best time to visit Predore?
- Best in Apr–Oct. August is the warmest month, averaging 29 degrees, and May the wettest, with about 16 rain days.
- Which other towns are like Predore?
- Gardone Riviera, Dervio and Torno.
- How many people live in Predore?
- 1,870 residents, by ISTAT's count on 1 January 2025.
- Is Predore a good place to live?
- By the rules in our Where to Move in Italy series, Predore is a village with a town of 5,000 people within 15 minutes (Sarnico, 8 min). The nearest city, Bergamo, is 39 min away by car. The nearest national health service hospital is in Iseo, 3 km as the crow flies. Full fibre reaches 97% of homes.
Tags & data designations · numbers · sources
Landscape
The numbers
- Elevation: 198 m
- Population: 1,870
- Surface area: 10.96 km²
These figures were compiled from public directories: ISTAT, OpenStreetMap and Wikidata, and from the official listings of the guides named on this page. Town details change; verify with official sources before you travel.
The ranked lists
Lists Predore appears in
Similar
Towns like Predore
What all six share with Predore: lake towns · under 3,000 people
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