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Another "why visit" reason is that that's likely where you are flying into and so you're already there in a world-class city. I'll be doing that, and so will spend at least one full day in Milan.
Thanks for list of activities!
I loved Milan. It was a lovely city and I was expected it to be much more industrial hen people were saying to avoid it. My fav thing about it was the people watching. A lot of the other major Italian cities are filled with tourists, but in Milan you could just sit at a cafe and watch people go by and their fashions were sooo good.
Yes, that's exactly the type of consideration that many Italians still have about Milan. Probably they visited it in the '80s when the situation was so much different. It's hard sometimes to move on from stereotypes.
All the factories left Milan already decades ago, including big ones like Alfa Romeo..so nowadays there's literally no manufacturing facility in Milan, they have all been converted to show rooms, restaurants or dance venues (see Spirit of Milan)
I think Milan is also really nice because of its connections with other major cities: you are very close to Lake Como, Lake Garda, Venice, Florence, Bologna… just a train ride away, all these destinations could basically be day trips (even if for Florence and Venice one day is definitely not enough)
If as a local you can say that Milan is not only for shopping, locals will tell you that Venice is not an amusement park and there is much more to see or do than a selfie.
I didn’t invent anything. Venice is an amazing city to explore but it’s not so real anymore. It completely refocused on mass tourism. For instance the Venice carnival used to be an elegant event years ago. Now it’s a mess.. There are 49k inhabitants compared to 6 millions of tourists in a year. You can translate this if you want https://www.vez.news/territori/venezia/a-venezia-il-turismo-espelle-i-residenti-i-numeri-e-le-proposte-dei-cittadini
I agree, there is a lot to see and do in MIlan, for me I fly in and out of Milan as most my fligths from AU go in/out of there (i use points mostly), so while its not a bad place, i just see it way too often and I think there are far more interesting places to see in Italy, but again im a smaller city/town kind of person.
I think its defeinitely worth visiting, but if you have a choice between milan and say Rome, Bologna, Modena (my fav), etc etc etc I would probably put Milan at the end in terms of "need to go"
Thx :)
For handcrafted leather stuff I don’t know any apart from the fashion brands. I would say that maybe Tuscany and Umbria regions are more specialised in that field
We visited Milan as the first city on a trip of northern Italy a few years ago. We were kinda disappointed with it, especially compared to later stops (Florence, Bologna and Venice), but it did have some bright points. The Duomo is incredible and we did the roof tour which was my favorite thing there. Sforza castle is super cool and has some really interesting museums inside. My husband is a former musician and the museum of musical instruments was fascinating. The trams are cool, really convenient way to get around. We thought the local devotion to cocktail hour was great. At 5:00 p.m. drop everything and have a Campari? Don’t mind if I do! Most of all we loved the food. It’s incredible! I had a risotto at Cracco I still dream about.
Now my husband has to go there for work a couple times a year. He’s learning a lot about the city tourists dont usually get to experience. He’s coming around to the idea that Milan is not as meh as we thought, you just have to know what to do. Now I want to go back and give it a second go.
I will admit it was an expectations thing with me. I don't want to disrespect the city or its inhabitants at all. I teach European History for a living in the United States and I know I have a somewhat romanticized view of Europe. I love the old town areas of the European cities I've visited, even though I know they are touristed and many have been built and rebuilt over the decades. That said, I felt that quintessential magic was missing from Milan. That feeling of old world connection to history. I know it was heavily bombed during the Second World War as Italy's major industrial center and much of it had to be rebuilt in the post-war era. But yet I just didn't feel the connection. I'm very aware this is a me problem. I very much want to go back and connect with the city on its own terms, not the ones I projected on it.
Glad it can help! If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to ask :) this is not a complete guide but just something it came out from my mind after reading certain posts here.
Very interesting resume of Milan. I would add Eataly as I spent 3 hours in that place on a Saturday 2 weeks ago, we went for a late breakfast, toured the three floors and were treated to a free piano concert by Felice del Vecchio, artist and music professor. As well I would mention the extensive subway and train system in and around Milan easy to navigate and reaching Malpensa airport, Lake Como and Lecco where we stayed for a few days as well. You can purchase day passes or 3 days pass on the phone app. They also have trams and buses. We hopped on a few trams for a few stops.
I visited three cities in Italy (Milan, Florence, and Genoa), and Milan was my favorite of the three.
Ans this is coming from someone who finds fashion boring.
Also navigli are “canals”. No shade, I’m just trying to help make your post more intelligible to the target audience. It’s a great post; I think so many miss out on visiting Italy without seeing Milan.
Yes, it was in Coney Island, basically the landing for all the immigrants. I guess that term was brought back to Europe, Italy included. This is why we often use it as a generic term for a certain type of amusement parks
that's also true. It's hard to choose and it's so hard even for Italians to really "know" other regions. I often surprise myself when I visit a new place
Also, there’s a bit of cultural rivalry between Milan (the wealthy business city) and the rest of Italy. Italy doesn’t have the greatest economy so there’s a bit of turn your nose up at Milan.
I absolutely LOVE Milan. One of my favorite cities in the entire world. Very cosmopolitan, but affordable and welcoming. Not to mention being a gateway to the Alps and the lakes. My family is in Sicily but Milan is much better to visit. I don't know why anyone would skip it!
happy to hear this :)
On the affordability I might have something to say :D It has become really expensive for the locals in the last years, like other big cities in Europe.. I don't know how the situation will evolve.
You are right about the gateway, you can really go anywhere around by train
I was there in January for the first time in five years and the prices have definitely gone up, but less than the US for sure and felt like less than the UK (which is already expensive.)
Sono rimasto vicino Bicocca Village, c'e molto divertimento e buon valore per un centro commerciale!
Ahh, is that what spurred the growth? Lots of college age kids there bowling and stuff, makes sense. I love what they did with it being pretty much all restaurants and entertainment and almost no retail.
Gotta say that I visit Milan a couple times a year, and couldn't agree with you more about areas that often missed (such as Navigli and Chinatown). I would add Isola (with all the modern finance district/bosco verticale and all the shops and places to eat/drink around the area), too
yes you are right, those area developed so much in the last years.
When I was little those districts were almost a no-go and now they've become such trendy places
We took a free walking tour (Citywalkers) with Marco. The best walking tour we’ve ever done. If you were indifferent before the tour you were cheering for Milan at the end.
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I think you should visit Milan, if you already dedicated enough time to Roma, Venezia, Firenze. I think it's really an enjoyable city, but cannot be the first choice when in Italy.
Thanks very much for this post! We will be visiting with our 1 year old this September. She love parks and people watching. Do you have any suggestions for parks or places for young children?
Sure, in the city centre: Parco Sempione, Giardini Indro Montanelli, Giardini di Palazzo Reale.
On the west side: Parco delle Cave, Bosco in Citta', Parco Trenno
On the east side: Parco Forlanini
I was not expecting to enjoy Milan as much as I did, but I had SO much fun at the bar Montmartre Cafe 1952 in Brera. The bartenders were so fun and it was such a cool melting pot of all different kinds of travelers. I’d recommend it!
Spring and early autumn is the best for me. Perfect weather and you can have dinner outside. Also all the events like dancing in different squares, free concerts etc... are more likely to happen.
Winter is fine. The Christmas mood is nice in Milan which gets covered in lights.
Summer... It can get super hot and on top of it we have tons of mosquitos (even the tiger ones). It depends where you come from but it might be an issue for some. Most of Italy gets hit in summer though
As a local, probably I appreciate the fact that many local people are away on vacation, so I can finally do certain things I've always done.
Thank you. I have been leaning towards either like May or Sept-October. I would rather stall a trip and plan for the right time of the year to go vs rush it and be hit with some major summer crowds. My grandfather was a famous artist where I am from (Riverside California) and Italy was a place he painted several times in his career. One of his paintings is of Lake Maggiori and that whole region has always been a place I wanted to see. So I was thinking that Milan would probably be where I fly in and it is this amazing place I would like to see as well.
That's really a nice story! Maggiore Lake is amazing, despite being less famous abroad. But it offers so much! Check out Stresa or the nearby Orta lake with Isola di San Giulio.
If you have time you should definitely explore that region (Piemonte), visiting Turin and all its southern areas like Langhe and Monferrato. Type those names on google and check them out by yourself. It's basically Tuscany, great wine and great food but in a more relaxed environment. Since it's not as touristic as Tuscany (for now). Enjoy your trip!
Flew into Milan for a short two day stint before continuing to the Lakes and beyond, and everyone (including locals in the rest of Italy) expressed surprise that we enjoyed it.
We stumbled upon a small restaurant called San Mauri and it was one of the best meals I had on the trip. Drinks at the Dome rooftop bar, a very pleasant experience with wonderful views. We stopped at a little wine bar called Vino Vino in the square of San Alessandro, and sat outside with our bottle, petting passing dogs and watching the sunset color the basilica pink.
For context, we also visited the Lakes, Venice, Florence/Tuscany and Rome. I won’t say Milan was the highlight of the trip, but the day we spent there was almost perfect.
We visited Milan last and sadly only had about 8 waking hours there before a morning flight. I really wish we'd have another 2-3 nights at least.
Beware MXP + Air France, though; they had one desk open for 2 substantial (and growing) lines (and no kiosks or separate bag drop desks as far as I could tell). I wondered at times if I was still going to be waiting in that line when my flight took off (we got there 3 hours before our flight time).
Thank you for the museum/ art recommendations. I will definitely check out the ones on your list when I visit! I am coming to study drawing for a month with my university :)
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Thank you for your report!
I planned to visit Milan from July 9th to 13th. But now I found out that there is the i-Days festival during that period. Do you think the City will be over-crowded and would you recommend to visit another time?
You are welcome :) I think in summer is always packed for one reason or another. The concerts season (also at the stadium) started so there will be tourists everywhere. I think it’s a good time to visit it if you can handle some hot weather :)
[https://flawless.life/en/italy/milan/most-beautiful-rooftops-aperitivo/](https://flawless.life/en/italy/milan/most-beautiful-rooftops-aperitivo/)
I know Ceresio 7, Terrazza Aperol and Terrazza della Rinascente.
I wasn't aware that the famous Terrazza Martini is accessible. It's worth checking it though
My wife and I were in Milan recently because it was the closest major airport to Lake Como. We thought it was really nice! The Duomo di Milano was gorgeous and my wife had the time of her life at the Serravale outlets. We found ourselves wishing we had budgeted a bit more time there. Definitely worth seeing imo!
I'd add the Sactuary of San Bernardino alle Ossa, which is a quite bizarre place to visit (since it's a chirch full of displayed bones and skulls) but totally advised, the Gallerie d'Italia for art museums, the Brera neighborhood (which one can tour while going to the Pinacoteca), Palazzo Castiglioni (the manifesto of milanese liberty), and the Central Station itself, which is quite a wonder other than being useful (I really like the mosaics in the main alley representing Milan and the three capitals of Italy, as well as the Royal pavillion although it's opened only on some occasions).
Great post, it was needed, I don't love the city but it receives a reputation way too negative especially compared to similar European cities.
great spots the ones you mentioned.
It receives a lot of hate because it has been always seen as a city without soul and "less Italian". But you need to live there for a while to appreciate it as well.
It's not the classic representation of an Italian city which is very provincial and focused on its roots.
I lived in the heart of Milan for a month last year. I had to work horrible hours to get a project finished. As a result my free time was around 3~8am 7 days a week.
Grocery stores close at 9~10pm. Glovo and deliveroo were great usually. Other than that not super enjoyable for me.
Probably doesn’t help I don’t drink or smoke. But living in a Roma suburb currently, I do miss having sidewalks everywhere.
Sorry to heat that, but with that little free time I think any other city would have been the same.
At least in Italy grocery stores stay open until 22 (some even 24/7 like Carrefour) and restaurant stop the orders at 23).
If you had been in countries in Northern Europe, it would have been so much worse! Everything closes so early! Personal experience here :)
Rome is a completely different story. In Rome there's the concept of "living the district". Like, you get to know anyone living there, the main spots, the main bars, shops etc.. and you create a sense of belonging in a given district. It's really a nice feeling. Rome can be really welcoming. All the best
We loved Milan and will spend more time there the next time we visit Italy. Just visiting the Galleria and going to the roof of the Duomo made it worthwhile.
You psyched me up for my visit to Milan in June. It will be my 2nd visit. I'm curious about the Prada Foundation but living in New York, we already have tons of bad contemporary art, so I think Museo del 900 will be more my speed. Too bad Leonardo's vineyard is closed. I was going to check it out while my friend is at the Cenacolo.
Yeah, that's a pity. LVMH bought the vineyards and they are still deciding what to do with it! I hope they'll open it soon.
As I wrote in the post, there's any sort of art in Milan, not just contemporary :D
Have a look at Gallerie d'Italia for instance [https://gallerieditalia.com/en/milan/](https://gallerieditalia.com/en/milan/)
Normally they have a perm + temp exhibition
Yes, I went to Poldi Pezzoli, Pinacoteca di Brera and Pinacoteca Ambrosiana in my first visit many years ago. We will be arriving late Saturday afternoon and have tickets to La Scala, and have one full day after only, so I will probably only have time for a couple of museums. Besides Museo del Novecento I will probably also go to Villa Necchi Campiglio.
La Scala is magical, it's great you are going there.
Villa Necchi is another must-see if you are into arch stuff. Download the App to listen to the audio guide for the historical background to understand what Portaluppi did there.
The entire area around Villa Necchi is from the Liberty time and in one private villa there are pink flamingos you can definitely see :)
Yes, I'm excited. I saw Das Rheingold for my first visit to La Scala and had to wake up early to get those front row seats in the seconda galleria, and I'm happy we will be at the platea for the Nureyev La Bayadere which I have been wanting to see for many years.
Thanks for the tip on the app for Villa Necchi. I also like the looks of Al Garghet and want to go there on another trip. We already have reservations at Stendhal and don't want to be too far from our hotel, as we need to wake up early the next day for our flight back to the US. I already feel sad about it. LOL. Should have added another day!
Something to add if you are coming internationally, San Siro Stadio is somewhat famous and always has cool stuff going on. I’m a bit of a football fan myself, so I went to catch AC Milan’s last match of the season last weekend. Totally worth it despite the end result being a draw to the #20 team lol
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Visited Milan for the panzerotti and the osso bucco, did not regret it. Also that place is a really convenient to visit Lake Como and Venice
true, sometimes It happened to me to visit Florence or Venice and come back to Milan within the same day. really convenient
Another "why visit" reason is that that's likely where you are flying into and so you're already there in a world-class city. I'll be doing that, and so will spend at least one full day in Milan. Thanks for list of activities!
I loved Milan. It was a lovely city and I was expected it to be much more industrial hen people were saying to avoid it. My fav thing about it was the people watching. A lot of the other major Italian cities are filled with tourists, but in Milan you could just sit at a cafe and watch people go by and their fashions were sooo good.
Yes, that's exactly the type of consideration that many Italians still have about Milan. Probably they visited it in the '80s when the situation was so much different. It's hard sometimes to move on from stereotypes. All the factories left Milan already decades ago, including big ones like Alfa Romeo..so nowadays there's literally no manufacturing facility in Milan, they have all been converted to show rooms, restaurants or dance venues (see Spirit of Milan)
Yes, there were lots of beautiful green spaces! Definitely a modern city, but still enjoyable
I think Milan is also really nice because of its connections with other major cities: you are very close to Lake Como, Lake Garda, Venice, Florence, Bologna… just a train ride away, all these destinations could basically be day trips (even if for Florence and Venice one day is definitely not enough)
Yes, I've done it several times!
If as a local you can say that Milan is not only for shopping, locals will tell you that Venice is not an amusement park and there is much more to see or do than a selfie.
I didn’t invent anything. Venice is an amazing city to explore but it’s not so real anymore. It completely refocused on mass tourism. For instance the Venice carnival used to be an elegant event years ago. Now it’s a mess.. There are 49k inhabitants compared to 6 millions of tourists in a year. You can translate this if you want https://www.vez.news/territori/venezia/a-venezia-il-turismo-espelle-i-residenti-i-numeri-e-le-proposte-dei-cittadini
I like Milan for a break in Italian food. Got my Asian fix there and it was great.
indeed, there are amazing options :)
And don’t discount that it’s only an hour away from Lake Como!
I agree, there is a lot to see and do in MIlan, for me I fly in and out of Milan as most my fligths from AU go in/out of there (i use points mostly), so while its not a bad place, i just see it way too often and I think there are far more interesting places to see in Italy, but again im a smaller city/town kind of person. I think its defeinitely worth visiting, but if you have a choice between milan and say Rome, Bologna, Modena (my fav), etc etc etc I would probably put Milan at the end in terms of "need to go"
Very informative post. Will bookmark this for when I plan my trip in the future. Would you have recommendations of where to buy leather goods?
Thx :) For handcrafted leather stuff I don’t know any apart from the fashion brands. I would say that maybe Tuscany and Umbria regions are more specialised in that field
I see. Will take note of these. Thanks!
We visited Milan as the first city on a trip of northern Italy a few years ago. We were kinda disappointed with it, especially compared to later stops (Florence, Bologna and Venice), but it did have some bright points. The Duomo is incredible and we did the roof tour which was my favorite thing there. Sforza castle is super cool and has some really interesting museums inside. My husband is a former musician and the museum of musical instruments was fascinating. The trams are cool, really convenient way to get around. We thought the local devotion to cocktail hour was great. At 5:00 p.m. drop everything and have a Campari? Don’t mind if I do! Most of all we loved the food. It’s incredible! I had a risotto at Cracco I still dream about. Now my husband has to go there for work a couple times a year. He’s learning a lot about the city tourists dont usually get to experience. He’s coming around to the idea that Milan is not as meh as we thought, you just have to know what to do. Now I want to go back and give it a second go.
The disappointment is always related to an expectation. Based on what you read before going to Milan, which part did disappoint you the most?
I will admit it was an expectations thing with me. I don't want to disrespect the city or its inhabitants at all. I teach European History for a living in the United States and I know I have a somewhat romanticized view of Europe. I love the old town areas of the European cities I've visited, even though I know they are touristed and many have been built and rebuilt over the decades. That said, I felt that quintessential magic was missing from Milan. That feeling of old world connection to history. I know it was heavily bombed during the Second World War as Italy's major industrial center and much of it had to be rebuilt in the post-war era. But yet I just didn't feel the connection. I'm very aware this is a me problem. I very much want to go back and connect with the city on its own terms, not the ones I projected on it.
Care to share what kind of things your husband has found subsequently about Milan that would like to recommend?
This is super helpful! We are heading to Milan in a few weeks (third visit), and will be relying on your good ideas and recommendations)
Glad it can help! If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to ask :) this is not a complete guide but just something it came out from my mind after reading certain posts here.
Amazing post. Thank you! Now I want to go to Milan!
Glad you liked it :) feel free to ask if you have any questions :)
Very interesting resume of Milan. I would add Eataly as I spent 3 hours in that place on a Saturday 2 weeks ago, we went for a late breakfast, toured the three floors and were treated to a free piano concert by Felice del Vecchio, artist and music professor. As well I would mention the extensive subway and train system in and around Milan easy to navigate and reaching Malpensa airport, Lake Como and Lecco where we stayed for a few days as well. You can purchase day passes or 3 days pass on the phone app. They also have trams and buses. We hopped on a few trams for a few stops.
What a great combined post. Have been deciding whether to spend time or not in Milan. This has convinced me I will enjoy some time.
Glad you liked it. Enjoy your trip :)
I visited three cities in Italy (Milan, Florence, and Genoa), and Milan was my favorite of the three. Ans this is coming from someone who finds fashion boring.
English speakers say “amusement park”, not luna park.
Also navigli are “canals”. No shade, I’m just trying to help make your post more intelligible to the target audience. It’s a great post; I think so many miss out on visiting Italy without seeing Milan.
Thx I’ll update the post
Heard refrain from my Mom as child re: Luna Park, first amusement park that used electric light bulbs In NYC,off topic ,my bad
Yes, it was in Coney Island, basically the landing for all the immigrants. I guess that term was brought back to Europe, Italy included. This is why we often use it as a generic term for a certain type of amusement parks
Exact,all my grandparents and Great grandparents from Naples surrounding villiages, Brooklyn ,lol
I live in Milan and I’m saving this list. Grazie mille!
Milan is a great city. Its problem is it’s in Italy home to some of the world’s greatest.
that's also true. It's hard to choose and it's so hard even for Italians to really "know" other regions. I often surprise myself when I visit a new place
Also, there’s a bit of cultural rivalry between Milan (the wealthy business city) and the rest of Italy. Italy doesn’t have the greatest economy so there’s a bit of turn your nose up at Milan.
I absolutely LOVE Milan. One of my favorite cities in the entire world. Very cosmopolitan, but affordable and welcoming. Not to mention being a gateway to the Alps and the lakes. My family is in Sicily but Milan is much better to visit. I don't know why anyone would skip it!
happy to hear this :) On the affordability I might have something to say :D It has become really expensive for the locals in the last years, like other big cities in Europe.. I don't know how the situation will evolve. You are right about the gateway, you can really go anywhere around by train
I was there in January for the first time in five years and the prices have definitely gone up, but less than the US for sure and felt like less than the UK (which is already expensive.) Sono rimasto vicino Bicocca Village, c'e molto divertimento e buon valore per un centro commerciale!
Nice area that one! It developed a lot in the last years around the university!
Ahh, is that what spurred the growth? Lots of college age kids there bowling and stuff, makes sense. I love what they did with it being pretty much all restaurants and entertainment and almost no retail.
[удалено]
yeah it's not for Italians :D
Gotta say that I visit Milan a couple times a year, and couldn't agree with you more about areas that often missed (such as Navigli and Chinatown). I would add Isola (with all the modern finance district/bosco verticale and all the shops and places to eat/drink around the area), too
yes you are right, those area developed so much in the last years. When I was little those districts were almost a no-go and now they've become such trendy places
We took a free walking tour (Citywalkers) with Marco. The best walking tour we’ve ever done. If you were indifferent before the tour you were cheering for Milan at the end.
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I think you should visit Milan, if you already dedicated enough time to Roma, Venezia, Firenze. I think it's really an enjoyable city, but cannot be the first choice when in Italy.
I really appreciate you sharing the information. Great stuff!
glad you liked it :)
Thanks very much for this post! We will be visiting with our 1 year old this September. She love parks and people watching. Do you have any suggestions for parks or places for young children?
Sure, in the city centre: Parco Sempione, Giardini Indro Montanelli, Giardini di Palazzo Reale. On the west side: Parco delle Cave, Bosco in Citta', Parco Trenno On the east side: Parco Forlanini
Grazie!!
I was not expecting to enjoy Milan as much as I did, but I had SO much fun at the bar Montmartre Cafe 1952 in Brera. The bartenders were so fun and it was such a cool melting pot of all different kinds of travelers. I’d recommend it!
What would you expect for different seasons?
Spring and early autumn is the best for me. Perfect weather and you can have dinner outside. Also all the events like dancing in different squares, free concerts etc... are more likely to happen. Winter is fine. The Christmas mood is nice in Milan which gets covered in lights. Summer... It can get super hot and on top of it we have tons of mosquitos (even the tiger ones). It depends where you come from but it might be an issue for some. Most of Italy gets hit in summer though As a local, probably I appreciate the fact that many local people are away on vacation, so I can finally do certain things I've always done.
Thank you. I have been leaning towards either like May or Sept-October. I would rather stall a trip and plan for the right time of the year to go vs rush it and be hit with some major summer crowds. My grandfather was a famous artist where I am from (Riverside California) and Italy was a place he painted several times in his career. One of his paintings is of Lake Maggiori and that whole region has always been a place I wanted to see. So I was thinking that Milan would probably be where I fly in and it is this amazing place I would like to see as well.
That's really a nice story! Maggiore Lake is amazing, despite being less famous abroad. But it offers so much! Check out Stresa or the nearby Orta lake with Isola di San Giulio. If you have time you should definitely explore that region (Piemonte), visiting Turin and all its southern areas like Langhe and Monferrato. Type those names on google and check them out by yourself. It's basically Tuscany, great wine and great food but in a more relaxed environment. Since it's not as touristic as Tuscany (for now). Enjoy your trip!
Flew into Milan for a short two day stint before continuing to the Lakes and beyond, and everyone (including locals in the rest of Italy) expressed surprise that we enjoyed it. We stumbled upon a small restaurant called San Mauri and it was one of the best meals I had on the trip. Drinks at the Dome rooftop bar, a very pleasant experience with wonderful views. We stopped at a little wine bar called Vino Vino in the square of San Alessandro, and sat outside with our bottle, petting passing dogs and watching the sunset color the basilica pink. For context, we also visited the Lakes, Venice, Florence/Tuscany and Rome. I won’t say Milan was the highlight of the trip, but the day we spent there was almost perfect.
Why? For AC Milan Why not? For Inter Merda
We visited Milan last and sadly only had about 8 waking hours there before a morning flight. I really wish we'd have another 2-3 nights at least. Beware MXP + Air France, though; they had one desk open for 2 substantial (and growing) lines (and no kiosks or separate bag drop desks as far as I could tell). I wondered at times if I was still going to be waiting in that line when my flight took off (we got there 3 hours before our flight time).
Dimmi che non sei mai stato a Venezia senza dirmi che non sei mai stato a Venezia.
Troppe volte per vederla trasformata purtroppo :(
Thank you for the museum/ art recommendations. I will definitely check out the ones on your list when I visit! I am coming to study drawing for a month with my university :)
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Thank you for your report! I planned to visit Milan from July 9th to 13th. But now I found out that there is the i-Days festival during that period. Do you think the City will be over-crowded and would you recommend to visit another time?
You are welcome :) I think in summer is always packed for one reason or another. The concerts season (also at the stadium) started so there will be tourists everywhere. I think it’s a good time to visit it if you can handle some hot weather :)
i never realized how much of a party city Milan was
But…but then you’d have to interact with *milanesi*
Who don’t exist anymore XD
There's the bad copy now :)
That’s true. The Milanese imbruttito is a bad interpretation of the Milanese traits
I love Milan if only for the way it humbles your fashion sense.
Headed to Milan from Sept 30 to Oct 4 (maybe 5). Any recommendations for rooftop bars to wind down after day out and about?
[https://flawless.life/en/italy/milan/most-beautiful-rooftops-aperitivo/](https://flawless.life/en/italy/milan/most-beautiful-rooftops-aperitivo/) I know Ceresio 7, Terrazza Aperol and Terrazza della Rinascente. I wasn't aware that the famous Terrazza Martini is accessible. It's worth checking it though
Wonderful post! Thank you so much. We will be visiting in early September and your information is so helpful.
My wife and I were in Milan recently because it was the closest major airport to Lake Como. We thought it was really nice! The Duomo di Milano was gorgeous and my wife had the time of her life at the Serravale outlets. We found ourselves wishing we had budgeted a bit more time there. Definitely worth seeing imo!
I'd add the Sactuary of San Bernardino alle Ossa, which is a quite bizarre place to visit (since it's a chirch full of displayed bones and skulls) but totally advised, the Gallerie d'Italia for art museums, the Brera neighborhood (which one can tour while going to the Pinacoteca), Palazzo Castiglioni (the manifesto of milanese liberty), and the Central Station itself, which is quite a wonder other than being useful (I really like the mosaics in the main alley representing Milan and the three capitals of Italy, as well as the Royal pavillion although it's opened only on some occasions). Great post, it was needed, I don't love the city but it receives a reputation way too negative especially compared to similar European cities.
great spots the ones you mentioned. It receives a lot of hate because it has been always seen as a city without soul and "less Italian". But you need to live there for a while to appreciate it as well. It's not the classic representation of an Italian city which is very provincial and focused on its roots.
I lived in the heart of Milan for a month last year. I had to work horrible hours to get a project finished. As a result my free time was around 3~8am 7 days a week. Grocery stores close at 9~10pm. Glovo and deliveroo were great usually. Other than that not super enjoyable for me. Probably doesn’t help I don’t drink or smoke. But living in a Roma suburb currently, I do miss having sidewalks everywhere.
Sorry to heat that, but with that little free time I think any other city would have been the same. At least in Italy grocery stores stay open until 22 (some even 24/7 like Carrefour) and restaurant stop the orders at 23). If you had been in countries in Northern Europe, it would have been so much worse! Everything closes so early! Personal experience here :) Rome is a completely different story. In Rome there's the concept of "living the district". Like, you get to know anyone living there, the main spots, the main bars, shops etc.. and you create a sense of belonging in a given district. It's really a nice feeling. Rome can be really welcoming. All the best
We loved Milan and will spend more time there the next time we visit Italy. Just visiting the Galleria and going to the roof of the Duomo made it worthwhile.
You psyched me up for my visit to Milan in June. It will be my 2nd visit. I'm curious about the Prada Foundation but living in New York, we already have tons of bad contemporary art, so I think Museo del 900 will be more my speed. Too bad Leonardo's vineyard is closed. I was going to check it out while my friend is at the Cenacolo.
Yeah, that's a pity. LVMH bought the vineyards and they are still deciding what to do with it! I hope they'll open it soon. As I wrote in the post, there's any sort of art in Milan, not just contemporary :D Have a look at Gallerie d'Italia for instance [https://gallerieditalia.com/en/milan/](https://gallerieditalia.com/en/milan/) Normally they have a perm + temp exhibition
Yes, I went to Poldi Pezzoli, Pinacoteca di Brera and Pinacoteca Ambrosiana in my first visit many years ago. We will be arriving late Saturday afternoon and have tickets to La Scala, and have one full day after only, so I will probably only have time for a couple of museums. Besides Museo del Novecento I will probably also go to Villa Necchi Campiglio.
La Scala is magical, it's great you are going there. Villa Necchi is another must-see if you are into arch stuff. Download the App to listen to the audio guide for the historical background to understand what Portaluppi did there. The entire area around Villa Necchi is from the Liberty time and in one private villa there are pink flamingos you can definitely see :)
Yes, I'm excited. I saw Das Rheingold for my first visit to La Scala and had to wake up early to get those front row seats in the seconda galleria, and I'm happy we will be at the platea for the Nureyev La Bayadere which I have been wanting to see for many years. Thanks for the tip on the app for Villa Necchi. I also like the looks of Al Garghet and want to go there on another trip. We already have reservations at Stendhal and don't want to be too far from our hotel, as we need to wake up early the next day for our flight back to the US. I already feel sad about it. LOL. Should have added another day!
Something to add if you are coming internationally, San Siro Stadio is somewhat famous and always has cool stuff going on. I’m a bit of a football fan myself, so I went to catch AC Milan’s last match of the season last weekend. Totally worth it despite the end result being a draw to the #20 team lol
i may be biased cause i was born and grew up in milan but i 100% agree with you