Milan

Italy's capital of fashion and design, home to the Duomo, The Last Supper and the Quadrilatero della Moda, host city of the 2026 Winter Olympics and gateway to Lake Como.

Milan sits in the heart of the Po Valley in Italy's northern Lombardy region. It is Italy's second-largest city and its capital of business, fashion and design, as well as a host city of the 2026 Milano-Cortina Winter Olympics. The city is laid out in concentric rings. At its center is Piazza del Duomo, with the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, La Scala opera house, the Brera art district and Sforza Castle all within walking distance. To the west, the church of Santa Maria delle Grazie houses Leonardo da Vinci's The Last Supper. To the northeast, the Quadrilatero della Moda is home to luxury flagship stores. To the south, the Navigli canal district is the place for evening Aperitivo and weekend flea markets. In the north, Porta Nuova and the Bosco Verticale (Vertical Forest) represent the new Milan skyline. The climate is humid subtropical: summers are muggy (July–August often tops 30°C, locals leave for vacation and some restaurants close), winters are cold, damp and foggy, and April–June and September–October are the most pleasant months. Hotel prices rise noticeably during Fashion Week in February and September. Getting there: Malpensa Airport (MXP) is the main intercontinental airport, and the Malpensa Express train takes about 50 minutes to Cadorna or Centrale station. Linate Airport (LIN) is close to the city and is served directly by Metro line M4. Within the city, the five Metro lines (M1–M5) reach the major sights; a single ticket costs €2.20, and 24- and 48-hour passes are also available. We suggest 2–3 days. Day 1: Duomo – Galleria – La Scala – Brera. Day 2: The Last Supper (book on the official website weeks or even months ahead) + Sforza Castle + the shopping district. Day 3: choose from the Royal Villa of Monza and the Monza circuit, Bergamo's Città Alta, the Certosa di Pavia, or the San Siro stadium and outlet shopping (Lake Como is listed as a separate destination, about 40 minutes to 1 hour by train from Centrale or Cadorna). Good to know: the interior of the Duomo and its rooftop require separate tickets, and a dress code applies (no bare shoulders or shorts). Watch for pickpockets and the forced-bracelet scam around Centrale station and Piazza del Duomo. Most museums are closed on Mondays. Restaurants usually serve from 12:30 to 14:30 and after 19:30; outside mealtimes, you can order a drink at a bar and enjoy a free buffet of Aperitivo snacks.

Top sights

• Milan Cathedral – One of the largest Gothic churches in the world, with 135 spires and more than 3,400 statues. You can walk up to the roof for views over th…
• Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II – A glass-domed shopping gallery opened in 1867, known as “the living room of Milan,” linking Piazza del Duomo with Piazza della Scala.
• The Last Supper (Santa Maria delle Grazie) – Leonardo da Vinci's mural, painted on the refectory wall between 1495 and 1498. A World Heritage Site where visits are limited to 35 people…
• Sforza Castle – The 15th-century red-brick castle of the Dukes of Milan. It houses several museums, including Michelangelo's unfinished final work, the Ron…
• Navigli – The old canal district where Leonardo da Vinci took part in the design. Today it is Milan's centre for aperitivo and nightlife, with bars a…
• Pinacoteca di Brera – One of northern Italy's most important art museums, holding masterpieces by Raphael, Caravaggio and Mantegna. Its Brera district is Milan's…
• Teatro alla Scala – A world-leading opera house opened in 1778, where many operas by Verdi and Puccini premiered. You can tour its museum and auditorium during…
• San Siro Stadium – The home ground shared by AC Milan and Inter, with capacity for 75,000. On non-match days you can visit the museum, dressing rooms and play…
• Basilica of Sant'Ambrogio – One of Milan's oldest churches and a model of Lombard Romanesque architecture, dedicated to Saint Ambrose, the city's patron saint.
• Monumental Cemetery of Milan – A cemetery like an open-air sculpture museum, where the eclectic Famedio hall and many exquisite family tomb sculptures are worth a close l…
• Porta Nuova & Bosco Verticale – Milan's new business district, where the twin Bosco Verticale towers, Piazza Gae Aulenti and the UniCredit Tower form a modern skyline.
• Biblioteca e Pinacoteca Ambrosiana – A library and art museum founded in the 17th century, home to Caravaggio's Basket of Fruit and Leonardo's Codex Atlanticus.
• Museo del Novecento – A museum of 20th-century Italian art beside the Piazza del Duomo, rich in Futurist works, with a top-floor view of the cathedral.
• Royal Palace of Milan – A palace beside the cathedral that once housed the city's rulers and now hosts Milan's most important major art exhibitions.
• San Maurizio al Monastero Maggiore – Known as the 'Sistine Chapel of Milan', its walls and vaults are covered with 16th-century frescoes by the Luini school.
• Santa Maria presso San Satiro – A small church remodeled by Bramante, who used a perspective illusion to create an apse on a wall less than a meter deep.
• Quadrilatero della Moda – A luxury district bounded by four streets including Via Montenapoleone and Via Spiga, home to flagship stores of the world's top fashion br…
• Parco Sempione & Arco della Pace – A big city park behind Sforza Castle, with the Neoclassical Arch of Peace at one end and the Torre Branca lookout tower in the grounds.
• Leonardo da Vinci National Museum of Science and Technology – Italy's largest science and technology museum, with working models rebuilt from Leonardo da Vinci's manuscripts and a real submarine you ca…
• Fondazione Prada – A contemporary art center converted from an old brewery by OMA, famous for the gold-clad 'Haunted House' and a café designed by Wes Anderso…
• Museo Poldi Pezzoli – A 19th-century noble mansion turned museum, whose treasure is Pollaiuolo's Portrait of a Young Woman.
• Basilica of San Lorenzo & Colonne di San Lorenzo – Sixteen Roman-era Corinthian columns stand opposite a 4th-century octagonal church and mark the start of Porta Ticinese's nightlife.
• Villa Necchi Campiglio – An Art Deco villa from the 1930s, a filming location for I Am Love, with gardens and a swimming pool.
• Pirelli HangarBicocca – A free contemporary art center in a converted industrial plant, permanently displaying Anselm Kiefer's giant installation The Seven Heavenl…
• Royal Villa of Monza – An 18th-century Neoclassical royal palace on the northern outskirts of Milan, backed by Monza Park, one of the largest walled parks in Euro…
• Certosa di Pavia – A Carthusian monastery built by the Milanese ducal family, whose marble facade is a masterpiece of Lombard Renaissance architecture.
• Bergamo Città Alta – A hilltop medieval old town encircled by Venetian walls, with a graceful old square and the richly decorated Colleoni Chapel.
• Autodromo Nazionale Monza – Opened in 1922 as a 'temple of speed', it hosts the Italian Formula 1 Grand Prix. On non-race days you can join track tours or open-track r…
• Serravalle Designer Outlet – A major outlet village about 85 km southwest of Milan, with roughly 300 brand stores. Chinese travelers often take a dedicated coach from M…
• Monza Cathedral – A Gothic cathedral that houses the Iron Crown of Lombardy. The 15th-century frescoes in the Chapel of Queen Theodelinda are equally impress…

Where to eat

• Trippa – One of Milan's hardest-to-book contemporary trattorias, famous for fried tripe and bone marrow risotto, with a short, f…
• Luini – A legendary bakery next to the Duomo, famous for its freshly made, warm, half-moon-shaped panzerotti, with fast-moving…
• Trattoria Milanese – A historic trattoria operating since 1933, located near the Duomo, serving standard traditional Milanese dishes in a ru…
• Trattoria Masuelli San Marco – A century-old trattoria run by the Masuelli family since 1921, specializing in traditional Lombard and Piedmontese cuis…
• Spontini (Flagship) – A local Milanese brand specializing in thick-slice pizza since 1953; this is the original flagship, offering cheap, fil…
• La Ravioleria Sarpi – A popular stall in Milan's Chinatown, using meat from the Italian butcher next door to make dumplings and jianbing, mak…
• Enrico Bartolini al Mudec – A three-Michelin-starred restaurant located inside the Mudec Museum, and the only three-star restaurant in Milan in the…

Itineraries

• Milan First Visit: 3 Days of Highlights – The Duomo, the Galleria, The Last Supper, Sforza Castle and the canal district, covering Milan's must-sees in three day…
• Milan & Lakes Maggiore, Orta, and Como – Depart from Milan to explore three lakes by train and ferry, visiting the Borromean Islands, Orta, and Bellagio.
• Milan In Depth and a Day on Lake Como – Take your time with Milan's old town, museums and Porta Nuova district, plus a round-trip train day to Varenna and Bell…
• in Milan with Day Trips to Bergamo and Two Lakes – Stay near Milano Centrale and take day trains to Bergamo's Upper Town, Lake Como, and the Borromean Islands on Lake Mag…
• Milan Art and Design – From the Brera Gallery and historic house museums to the Fondazione Prada, explore Milan's classical and contemporary a…
• Milan Family Trip – Science museum, dinosaur skeletons, San Siro stadium and the Monza Royal Villa park, an easy-paced Milan itinerary for…
• Northern Italy Grand Road Trip: 15 Days from Milan to Venice – A two-week road trip traversing Northern Italy, connecting Milan, Lake Como, Lake Garda, the Dolomites, and Venice.
• Milan, Lake Como & Scenic Trains Loop – An Italy-Switzerland rail loop connecting Lake Como, the Bernina Express, the Glacier Express, and Lake Maggiore
• Milan & Swiss Bernina & Glacier Express – Travel by train from Milan via Lake Como, taking the Bernina and Glacier Express to St. Moritz and Zermatt before retur…