The opportunity to visit Milan came when I booked a trip to Malta. At the time, one of the best options was to make a rather long “stopover” in Milan. This was the first Italian city I met! And you know what? There’s only one thing I am sure of after this trip: I still have so much in Italy that I want to know. But for now, I’ll leave you with a suggestion for a 2-day itinerary to visit Milan!

Milan is an extremely touristy city so I recommend trying to avoid the summer months as much as possible when visiting the city. Not least because these can also be extremely hot!

So April, May, June, September or October are the best months to visit Milan. Apart from avoiding the crowds more easily, you will probably be able to find nicer temperatures (as winters are usually quite cold!).

Milan is a city that is easily walkable. So, I believe 2 days are enough to get to know the main points of interest. Besides the city not having a huge number of points of interest to visit, it is relatively compact which helps a lot in moving around.

If you have some additional time, I also suggest a visit to one of the nearby lakes. I chose to visit Lake Como and no words can describe how beautiful this place is!

However, there are other very interesting options beyond Lake Como, such as:

• Lago di Garda
• Lago d’Iseo
• Lago Maggiore
• Lago di Lugano (already mostly located in Switzerland)

Milan has excellent connections with several European cities and even outside Europe. The city has 3 airports (Linate, Malpensa and Bergamo, the latter also known as Orio al Serio), and these are some of the European destinations with direct flights to Milan:

• Germany (Cologne, Frankfurt, Hamburg, …)
• Austria (Vienna)
• Belgium (Brussels)
• Spain (Malaga, Barcelona, Madrid, …)
• France (Bordeaux, Toulouse, Paris, Nantes, …)
• United Kingdom (Liverpool, London, Birmingham, …)

Milan has more than one airport, which can make it difficult to organise trips to and from the airport. However, all are well served as far as transport to the centre of Milan is concerned.

• If the airport is Malpensa, there is a direct train to the city centre – more information here. The adult ticket costs 13€ (one way only).
• If the airport is Bergamo, there are direct buses that connect the city centre to the airport. There are several companies with this service, such as Terravision, Orio Shuttle. Prices are around 10€.
• If the airport is Linate, there are city buses (73 and X73) that connect the airport with the city centre. However, you can also use the Airport Bus Express or Linate Shuttle service. You can find the most up-to-date information here.

Many of these transfer services can be purchased through GetYourGuide, which gives added comfort as this service includes a free cancellation option:

Although slightly outside the city centre, I recommend NH Milano Concordia. 5 minutes walk from the hotel there is a metro station (Sesto Marelli). The journey to the centre takes about 20 minutes. The hotel had excellent conditions and a superb breakfast – quite complete and with quality products. 

Anyway, I leave here other accommodation suggestions that are also quite interesting:

Although the city is relatively compact, it may make sense to use the metro sometimes. The metro has good coverage and is fairly easy to use. For short stays, it is best to buy individual tickets as you need them.

However, if you want to be relaxed about the number of trips you have to buy to travel by public transport, I suggest buying the 24-hour pass (7€) or the 3-day pass (12€). You can find the most up-to-date information regarding public transport in the city here.

Before starting the list of what to visit in Milan, I leave you here a map version of the main points of interest in the city:

We started in the business district (Palazzo Lombardia) and made our way to Bosco Verticale. These buildings are only residential, but they gained fame with their funky shape and all the vegetation surrounding every floor! It’s not the most touristy spot in Milan, but I thought it was pretty cute 🥰

I know it may sound strange, but this itinerary with what to visit in Milan continues in a cemetery. The Monumental Cemetery is one of the largest in Milan and is known for its beautiful graves and monuments. I know that this is not a place that everyone wants to visit in Milan, but I’ve decided to include it anyway!

We continued visiting Milan at the Santa Maria delle Grazie Church, where you can see the famous painting ‘The Last Supper’ by Leonardo da Vinci. Unfortunately, I didn’t get the chance to see the painting 😢. Given the importance of this artist’s work, tickets sell out well in advance. So, it is best to buy online as soon as you are sure of your visit to Milan.

📝 USEFUL INFORMATION: Tickets must be purchased in advance online at this website.

Another must-visit in Milan is the fantastic Basilica of Sant’Ambrogio. It is one of the oldest churches in the city, having been built in the 4th century.

📝 USEFUL INFORMATION: The visit to the Basilica is free and can be done from 7.30 am to 12.30 pm and from 2.30 pm to 7 pm every day. However, I recommend you check the most up-to-date timetables here.

To finish the day, I suggest dinner in Naviglio Grande, passing first through Porta Ticinese. Naviglio Grande is a kind of Venice in Milan! It is actually a water canal built hundreds of years ago, having served commercial purposes. Nowadays, this part of the city has a lot of life at night and is perfect for an evening stroll 😍.

On the second day of my visit to Milan, we were going to visit some of the city’s best-known spots.

I suggest you start your day walking through two of the best-known shopping streets. They are Via della Spiga and Via Monte Napoleone. I confess that I am generally disappointed when visiting this kind of streets that always appear in tourist itineraries. These two streets add little to your visit to Milan. Most likely, they will only merit your attention if you are in the mood for some shopping 😋. 

From a street with shops, we headed to one of the most amazing places in Milan that you really must visit – Corso Vittorio Emmanuel II! It is a shopping gallery with lots of shops (and quite expensive ones!). However, the gallery itself is beautiful and well worth a visit. The details are so pretty that it will be difficult not to spend the whole visit with your eyes up there.

We continue to Milan’s Cathedral (“duomo” in Italian) – the city’s trademark. With an extremely imposing structure, the cathedral is as beautiful outside as it is inside. Tickets must be purchased online in advance and there are several packages available (e.g. with or without access to the terraces, with/without lift, among others). I suggest you check out which of these you prefer. You can check all the information here.

💡 EXTRA TIP: I suggest you put aside some time to visit the Duomo. The queues can be long (it took me almost an hour to get in). After all, it is one of the best-known monuments in the city. Additionally, be careful with the clothes you’re wearing. Remember that it is a religious place and, as you would expect, some rules are applied.

However, Also take the opportunity to visit the square where the Cathedral is located – Duomo Square.

💡 EXTRA TIP: If you have some extra time, you can also take the opportunity to visit Palazzo Reale, located right next to the Cathedral.

Another place I suggest visiting in Milan is Piazza della Scala, from where you can see the exterior of the famous opera house/theatre La Scala. Even if you are not lucky enough to watch a show inside, I think this is a spot worth including in your itinerary.

Day two of this Milan tour may be ending, but we still have time to visit one of my favourite places in the city – Sforza Castle. Right next to the castle, you have the beautiful Sempione Park. Especially on summer days, it is a place full of life and where I suggest you take the opportunity to rest a bit after a day of sightseeing.

Finally, right next to one of the park exits, you will find Porta Sempione (also known as Arco della Pace). We opted to simply take the opportunity to rest a bit more and observe the beautiful sunset of that day 🥰.

💡 EXTRA TIP: Do you have extra time available in Milan? Then take the opportunity to spend a day in one of the magnificent lakes near the city. See here the post about my visit to Lake Como.

Eating well in Italy is not a very difficult task! Therefore, I leave here some of the places I visited (all of them good) and with relatively affordable prices!

• Gino Sorbillo – Lievito Madre al Duomo (€€): great pizzas
• Pizzeria Ristorante Salernitano (€€): the tiramissu was just excelent
• Pizzeria Naturale (€€)
• Napoli 1820 (€€)

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