Milan

Understand

Milan is often described as representing "modern" Italy. The differences between Rome and Milan are evident from several proverbs, such as an Italian saying about the differences between the two cities which roughly translates, "Rome is a voluptuous woman whose gifts are very apparent, while Milan is the shy, demure girl whose treasures are plentiful, but discovered in time." Milan is the most modern of all Italian cities, yet it keeps most of its history intact. At first sight, Milan looks like a bustling and relatively stylish (with its shiny display windows and elegant shops) metropolis, with a good number of grand palaces and fine churches in the centre, but might seem like a slightly prosaic, soulless and business-oriented place. It can be quite rainy, grey and foggy, and some of the buildings, ancient or modern, have quite a severe appearance. Whilst there are a lot of parks, Milan looks as if it has very little greenery, and apart from the very well-kept historic part, many areas are indeed quite scruffy and dirty. However, Milan, unlike most usually historical European cities which throw the sights in your face, requires quite a lot of exploring — take it as it is, and you might enjoy its fashionable glitter and business-like modernity, but might find it not very "captivating". If you spend time, though, strolling through less well known areas such as the pretty Navigli, the chic Brera district, the lively University quarter, or some of the smaller churches and buildings, you'll find a forward-thinking, diverse city filled in every corner with history, and with a plethora of hidden gems. Plus, with such an established history in theatre, music, literature, sport, art and fashion, there's really not much you can miss. Milan, as many have noticed, doesn't fully feel like a part of Italy. Despite the similarities with iconic Italian cities such as Verona or Venice, the city does have a different atmosphere. Milan feels more like a bustling, busy, fashionable business capital — where in several cafes, lots of people only stop to have a quick espresso at the bar counter, and where tourists at times seem even more laid back than the locals. Milan, unlike the traditionally red-terracotta roofed Italian cities, is quite grey, as many buildings are constructed using limestone or dark stones. Older buildings mainly have a sort of Austrian/Germanic neoclassical look with some slight French influences. However, with some cycling around in old fashioned bicycles, restaurant chairs and tables outside at summer filled with locals and tourists alike, and people

Getting there

By plane Milan's (MIL IATA) two main international airports are Malpensa (the biggest, and 40 km away) MXP IATA and Linate (7 km from the city center). Orio al Serio airport near Bergamo (45 km east) and Parma airport (100 km south), sometimes referred to as Milan's additional airports, mostly host budget airlines. To get to and from the airports and Milan, buses are a cheap and popular option.

Malpensa airport Main article: Milano Malpensa Airport The main international airport is 1MISSING WIKILINK Milano Malpensa Airport, about 40 km northwest of the city center. There are flights from many countries around the world. From Malpensa you can get into central Milano by train, shuttle bus or taxi.

Linate Airport

2 Linate Airport (LIN IATA). A small, efficient one-runway airport close to the city centre (7 km). Its focus is on domestic and intra-European flights, and on business travellers. ITA Airways has a major base there. Other European flag carriers also operate connections to Linate instead of, or in addition to, Malpensa. Connecting flights in Linate might take much longer than elsewhere because there is no through passage: you get off the airplane, get out of the security area, go through security again together with the passengers who have just arrived from Milan and not with a connecting flight, and only then can you board the new plane. If you're making a connection from outside of the Schengen zone it doesn't make much difference, because in these cases you have to go through security again (e.g. London to Palermo via Linate), but if both flights are within the Schengen zone then you don't have to go through security again if the airport has a through passage (e.g. Palermo to Genova via Linate). As the airport is close to the city, it is served by Metro Line 4, which runs every 7 minutes and crosses the city from east to west, with interchanges available to all three other Metro lines. The price is €2.20, like normal public transport. Tickets are available from the newsagent inside the airport terminal. This bus is not a dedicated service: it is regular city transport with many stops en route, and may get crowded during peak hours. This also means that the same things apply as for any public transportation in the city (see #Get around for more detail). There are also buses from this airport. Autostradale operates a shuttle bus just outside the Terminal Entrance 6 connecting Linate airport to Milan Central Railway Station (Milano Centrale) east side (Luigi di Savoia square) running every 30 minutes; tickets cost €5 per adult (ticket s

Getting around

Urban Layout Milan has a similar implant to many Italian cities: an old medieval core (though of medieval times essentially only the street layout remains, as Milan was continuously tore down and rebuilt over the ages), and the city forming a circle around it (the Duomo cathedral sits at the very hearth of this circle). Milan in particular has a very distinctive implant: circonvallazioni, viali/corsi and vie. The circonvallazioni are big streets running in circle: the historic core is bordered by the first circonvallazione, the “Cerchia dei Navigli”, and many other form around it, getting bigger progressively. Then corsi and viali form long axes, often cutting circonvallazioni perpendicularly running from the outside to the core. Vie are the small streets that make up most of the urban tissue.

By public transport Azienda Trasporti Milanesi S.p.A. (ATM) operates a public transport network which is pretty efficient (especially the underground lines and the trams (streetcars)). There are three payment methods: traditional paper tickets, credit/debit cards, and app. Smart paper tickets ("RicaricaMI") are available from news stands, tabaccherie (tobacconist - look for a large T sign), coffee bars, tourist information offices as well as automatic ticket machines in metro stations, and can be loaded with the following fares:

Single ticket – €2.20 24h ticket – €7.60 3 day ticket – €15.50 7 day ticket – €19.50 "Carnet" of 10 single trips – €19.50; beware that unlike in cities in neighbouring France or Switzerland, these 10 rides cannot be shared between two or more people, meaning most visitors will be much better off buying one of the other ticket types depending on the duration of their stay. You can also use contactless credit/debit cards and in this case fees are limited so that you do not pay more than the 24h fare on any day. Credit/debit cards can be used on the metro, buses and trams but cannot be used to travel on suburban trains (S-lines). If you are staying for a few days it is cheaper to buy a paper 3 day or weekly ticket. Keep in mind that the M2 has stations outside the central fare zone (Mi1-Mi3), for which the ticket price is higher depending on the zones you start, terminate or pass through your journey. These tickets works just the same way as the normal urban ticket and can be used on multiple means in a time interval from validation that depends on the ticket fare (the higher the price, the further you can ho outside the city and the longer the ticket will be valid).[2] There is an ATM app for iOS and Android that you can use to buy sin

See

See the Districts articles for more listings. There are many things to see in Milan - from fine churches, old palaces, excellent museums, world class theatres and opera houses, cultural gems, striking buildings, sleek modern architectural works and lovely streets and squares. Milan has some of the oldest churches in Italy, older than the ones in Rome because Milan was the capital of the Northern part of the late Roman Empire. The cathedral, Duomo is the symbol and the heart of Milan. Santa Maria delle Grazie in the Western part of the city is the home for Leonardo da Vinci's painting The Last Supper and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. For those passionate about art Milan offers a large variety of art museums, mainly of Italian Renaissance and Baroque. Note, though, that most museums are closed on Mondays. The Case Museo di Milano (house museums) card offers reduced-price entry to four house museums. For long periods Milan has been surrounded by walls, built during the Roman Empire, the Middle Ages and the rule of the Habsburg. Many of the gates are still there and well worth a visit. During the centuries some of them have been completely annihilated and many are built on the same place as a former gate. There are seven gates standing dating from various ages. Clockwise from 12 o'clock they are: Porta Nuova, Porta Venezia (formerly called Porta Orientale and Porta Renza), Porta Romana, Porta Ticinese (two gates; one closer to Duomo and one further out), Porta Sempione and Porta Garibaldi (formerly Porta Comasina). Despite not having as much greenery as some cities, Milan offers several parks and gardens, scattered all over the city. Maybe the most visited of them is Parco Sempione, also home to the Sforzesco Castle. Many smaller and less-famous parks can be found in the southern part of the city. Not all points of interest are right in the absolute centre — some of the most wonderful gems can be found near the outskirts or even outside of Milan.

Do

See the Districts articles for more listings.

Exhibitions - Many exhibitions are held during the year, ranging from wines to computers, industrial equipment and chocolate. The fieramilanocity is the old exhibitions ground in central Milan a few km northwest of Duomo (MM1 Amendola Fiera or MM1 Lotto - Fiera 2 Stations), the new fairgrounds of fieramilano are in Rho (northwest of Milan, MM1 Rho Fiera Station, A4 highway Pero exit). La Scala, one of the world's most famous opera houses, is in Milan. It also hosts classical music concerts. Other places to enjoy classical music include Teatro dal Verme, Auditorium di Milano and the Giuseppe Verdi conservatory. If you like theater and preferably understand Italian, there are a couple of theater houses in Milan. Piccolo Teatro di Milano has three theaters, Teatridithalia - Elfo e Portaromana Associati has two. From Torre Branca and the roof of Duomo you have good views of the city - certainly worth taking a couple of photos of. Watch football: The city has two teams playing soccer in Serie A, Italy's top tier, AC Milan and Internazionale. They share the San Siro stadium, capacity 80,000, which is 3 km west of city centre with its own metro stop. Matches between the two teams are known as the Derby della Madonnina, which while lacking the intensity of its counterpart in Rome, is also a fairly heated one, with occasional crowd violence between the supporters. Watch basketball: If you prefer basketball, the city features Olimpia Milano, one of Italy's most storied teams. It plays in Lega Basket Serie A domestically, and is one of the clubs that plays every year in the continent-wide EuroLeague. However, the team's arena is outside the area covered by this page; for more details, see Grande Milano – Do.

Events If you're into Italian fashion, there are few if any better shopping destinations than Milan. All the usual suspects have their brand stores in the historical center. Moreover, Milan Fashion Week, one of the "big four" fashion industry events in the world are held twice yearly (Feb-Mar and Sep-Oct). If you're into Salone del Mobile, Considered the most important fair in the world of Design. Corteo dei Re Magi. Jan 6, yearly. A parade in Milan featuring the Biblical Three Wise Men who visited Jesus on Epiphany.

Buy

See the Districts articles for more listings. Milan, being a worldwide trendsetter, is a fashion shoppers' paradise. There is pretty much every form of shopping in this city that one can imagine: from the designer's prestigious emporia, retail giants' outlets, small entrepreneur's tiny and funky boutiques, to second-hand average shops.

The main shopping area is the so-called Fashion Quadrangle (quadrilatero della moda), a set of blocks roughly between Duomo Square (Piazza Duomo), Cavour Square (Piazza Cavour) and San Babila Square (Piazza San Babila). Here in Montenapoleone Street (with prime brand shops), Della Spiga Street, Vittorio Emanuele Street, Sant' Andrea Street, Porta Venezia avenue and Manzoni Street, it contains the most prestigious boutiques and showrooms in the world. Everything reeks of ostentation and the splendor of a chic, fashionable lifestyle. Shop windows shine, exhibiting the trendiest shoes, coolest glasses, funkiest dresses, most glamorous clothes, and most luxurious crystal chandeliers.

Shopping districts

For people wanting to spend a bit less while still buying beautiful pieces, other areas are better. One of these is Corso Vercelli (MM1 Pagano, MM1 Conciliazione subway stations), another one is Corso Buenos Aires (MM1 Porta Venezia, MM1 Lima, MM1/MM2 Loreto subway stations), reputed as being the longest shopping street of Europe. The Brera district (Lanza, or Montenapoleone metro stops) is also not to be missed for trendy and young, yet stylish, boutiques. The Brera district is great for other things, such as browsing through traditional rare art stores and galleries, sipping a hot drink at a refined-air cafe, attending a funky disco, or looking for exotic furniture. However, today, there are a lot of young designers who have up-and coming boutiques, which are slightly less expensive than their Montenapoleone counterparts, but are quite fashionable and of high quality. The Brera district is great because it combines chic, old-air shops, with zeitgeist, modernist and youthful ones. Jewelry stores include Papic oro e argento or Alcozer & J. Bijoux, fashion shops include Accessori or Laura Ashley, and furniture stores include Zohar or Lucitalia. Also in the Centro Storico are the Piazza del Duomo, Via Dante, Piazza San Babila, and the Corso Giacomo Matteotti which are excellent shopping places. In the Galleria, you get brand fashion stores, two bookstores (Rizzoli and Libreria Bocca) and a silverware store called Bernasconi plus a Gucci cafe (and many, many more!). In the Corso Giacomo, you can find Abercrombie & Fitch, in Pi

Eat

See the Districts articles for more listings. Although Milan is a city that changes its mind as quickly as fashion trends come and go, it remains one of the strongest bastions of traditional Italian cooking, where homemade elements are still very much praised and appreciated. There are trattorias, enoteche (wine bars) and restaurants (including luxury ones) everywhere that offer traditional Milanese and Italian dishes to eat. This city's traditional cooking is based on filling dishes like osso buco (braised veal shanks) and risotto alla milanese (chicken-broth risotto made with saffron). Dining times tend to be a shade earlier than in Rome or Florence, with lunch generally served between 12:30 and 14:30 and dinner from 19:30 to 21:30. Dinner, and sometimes lunch, are usually preceded by that great Milanese institution, the aperitivo—a glass of sparkling wine or a Campari soda in a sophisticated hotel bar. Avoid the restaurants around the Duomo: they tend to be tourist-only spots, with low-quality food at inflated prices. Be aware that most restaurants charge an extra "serving tax" or "table rent", called coperto, of about €2 per consumer. Also avoid restaurants or cafes around the central station, where it has been reported that hidden serving tax can be up to €5 per person with cheap quality food. There is much confusion regarding tipping in Italy. Italians do not typically leave tips at restaurants. In touristy locations there will often be a line left blank for a tip to be added. Just draw a line through it and leave a couple of euros. Never leave tips at bar counters.

Breakfast In bars (in Italy, cafes are called bars, as the English pub-ish concept of bars doesn't really exist) you can enjoy great caffè espresso, cappuccino and a brioche for as little as €2. At bars in the Duomo and San Babila areas, breakfast can be very expensive if you sit down. If in doubt go to the bar and eat there, you'll pay what the Italians do- and they will admire your audacity too.

Fast food Milan, as a big city, is filled with several different forms of fast-foods, from the foreign giants and national chains, to independently owned take-aways and sandwich bars. Most fast-food restaurants are found in the Duomo, Buenos Aires and central station areas, as these are the most crowded and busy ones in the city. In the Piazza Duomo and Galleria, one can find international fast-foods such as McDonald's and Burger King, but Italian chains of the Autogrill group such as Spizzico and Ciao and Autogrill can be found all over the city. There are several Ciao outlets in places

Drink & nightlife

See the Districts articles for more listings. There are plenty of bars and cafés in Milan of all kinds - from fancy old-fashioned ones, where you can enjoy a formal hot drink, to avant-garde modern places, and youthful spots for a happy hour/late-night drink. Some also offer some food too.

Milan by night Milan has a great variety of places where you can have fun. A great starting point is Corso Como, near Garibaldi Station, full of bars and glamorous clubs. In the summertime, this street is packed with young and attractive people. Another place where you can go is the Navigli quarter, near Porta Ticinese Avenue and XXIV Maggio Square, where you can find a lot of small pubs, open air cafes and restaurants by the water canals (navigli). In many pubs and bars you can find a free booklet named Zero2 which is a guide to Milan Nightlife: if you don't know what to do or where to go, do grab one! Other popular night spots with bars and people are Viale Monte Nero (on Wednesday it's packed with people in the piazza in front of a bar called "Momo"), and Piazzale Susa (and nearby Citta' Studi area). In the Centro Storico, nights are overwhelmingly crowded at the Colonne di San Lorenzo (not far from Navigli quarter), and in the cozy Latin-quarter of Brera. Another good spot is the pedestrian part of Corso Sempione near the Peace Arch (Arco della Pace). There are bars and clubs open all week long but usually few people go out at night on Mondays or Tuesdays, the vast majority prefer to have fun on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays. However, Wednesday night appears to be one of the coolest to go out in stylish VIP-frequented clubs. Milan has an alternative club scene, with a few crews making electronic music parties outside clubs. Ultracheap, every time in a different location (lofts, warehouses, farms, pools, city parks) those kind of parties attract people aged 20–28. The biggest one is called RESET! and attracts 1500-2000 people once a month.

LGBT travellers

Although Milan has a variety of bars, clubs, restaurants and venues for gay and lesbian travellers, many only operate one night a week. Choosing from one of the "mainstays" listed in the district articles and asking anyone where to go should lead you in the right direction. Also, venues are not concentrated in one area of town, but rather spread throughout the city. Foreign travellers are often confused by the ARCI card regime that is required for entry into many clubs. It's a relic from the times of police raids that has now conferred tax benefits on these private club owners. No need to fear—just show

Sleep

See the Districts articles for more listings. In the area just south of the Central railway station you can find a dense concentration of hotels. This is a rather shabby part of the city where you can run into dubious individuals especially at nighttime. On the other hand, the hotels are clean and safe, for the most part streets are lit and the metro station isn't far away. If you are arriving by car, save on accommodation expenses by staying at a hotel further away from the centre, preferably close to a metro station.

Go next

Lake Como — A huge, impressive, beautiful lake in the foothills of the Alps. See the villages of Como, Lierna, Bellagio & Varenna. Como can be reached by regular trains (50 minutes from Cadorna station; 40 minutes from Milano Centrale). Monza — Medium-size town with a beautiful pedestrian-only centre (local museum housing the medieval crown of the Longobard kings) and a marvellous park, Parco di Monza, the largest enclosed park in Europe. Inside the park there is the Autodromo Nazionale where the Formula 1 GP, Superbike and other minor races take place. Accessible by regular trains (15 minutes from Centrale or Porta Garibaldi stations) and buses. Bergamo — Elegant walled hilltop Renaissance university town. Bergamo is serviced by regular trains (from Centrale, Porta Garibaldi and Lambrate stations, about 1 hour trip time) and buses. Crespi d'Adda — A planned industrial city between Bergamo and Milan. It has been inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List.

Lake Garda — Beautiful lake with a lot of beautiful small cities, the best is Sirmione. Two big theme parks are nearby: Gardaland, the best in Italy, and Canevaworld Resort, home of Movieland (a movie theme park) and a water park. Accessible by way of regular trains (65–85 minutes from Centrale station) and buses. Very crowded during summer and weekends. Iseo — picture-perfect Italian town, sandwiched between the imposing Rhaetian Alps and crystal-blue waters of the eponymous lake, boasts an extraordinarily well-preserved medieval castle. From Iseo you can also take a ferry boat and reach Monte Isola, the highest European lake island and the largest Italian one. Oltrepò Pavese — Wine region of Lombardy, about 70 km to the south of Milan, worth a day or weekend trip to relax, walk or cycle and have the Italian Sunday brunch at one of the excellent local restaurants. Serravalle Scrivia, Via della Moda, no. 1 (Serravalle Scrivia exit in the A7 Milan - Genoa autostrada. Reachable by A26/7 autostrada link or Arquata Scrivia railway station (Milan - Genoa)), ☏ +39 01-4360-9000. All days: 10:00-20:00. One of the biggest shopping outlets in Europe, containing 180 stores, despite being 1 hours' drive from the city and in the Piedmont region, it is definitely worth a visit if you're a shopping fan. And it has a very pleasant feel because it is more like a mini-town than an actual outlet, with Italian-style piazzas and pretty alleyways, surrounded by rolling hills and a lovely local countryside, and absent of cars. With over 20 million visitors having come ever since its opening in 2000, you can find luxurious