Things To Do in Milan

The MilanoCard (www.milanocard.it) offers a great deal on sightseeing at just 8€ for 24 hours, 13€ for 2 days, or 19€ for 3 days. You get a lot for your buck, including free travel on all public transportation, discounts in some stores and restaurants, and free or reduced entry to more than 20 museums and galleries. Each card is valid for one adult and a child under 10.

Remember to dress modestly when visiting Milan’s churches; no short shorts for either sex, women must have their shoulders covered, and skirts must be below the knee. The dress code at the Duomo is particularly strict.

Strolling Through Milan

The prime spot for a passeggiata (stroll) is the Piazza Duomo and the adjoining Galleria, but many of the neighborhoods that fan out from the center are ideal for wandering and looking into the life of the Milanese. The Golden Quadrilateral (the city's center for high fashion), just north of the Piazza Duomo on and around Via Montenapoleone, is known for window shopping and trendy cafes and bars; Magenta is an old residential quarter, filled with some of the city's most venerable churches, west of Piazza Duomo (follow Via Orifici and its extension, Via Dante, toward the Castello Sforzesco); the Brera, a parcel of once-seedy, now-gentrified Milan, filled with bars and inexpensive restaurants along the streets clustered around the Pinacoteca Brera (follow Via Brera from the Teatro alla Scala); and the popular Navigli neighborhood, at the southern edge of the center city, a series of narrow towpaths running alongside the remaining navigli (canals) that once laced the city, the former warehouse entrances along them now housing hopping and unpretentious bars, birrerie (pubs), restaurants, and small clubs in the city (take the Metro to Porta Genova). A stroll in Milan almost always includes a stop at a cafe or gelateria.

Milan from On High

Take the trip up to the roof of the Duomo (www.duomomilano.it) for spine-tingling views across the rooftops of Milan and, on a clear day, to the Alps beyond. Atop the Duomo, surrounded by Gothic pinnacles, saintly statues, and flying buttresses, you even get a close-up view of the spire-top gold statue of “La Madonnina” (the little Madonna), the city’s beloved good-luck charm. You can either ascend by elevator (13€; go to the church’s northeast corner, almost to the back of the Duomo) or climb the stairs (9€; stairs are on the church’s north flank). A pass combining a roof-top visit with entrance to the cathedral and the Museo del Duomo costs 12€ if you take the stairs, 16€ if you opt for the elevator. The pass is good for 72 hours and there are discounts for children and seniors. The elevator is open daily 9am to 6:30pm (last ticket sold at 6pm).

Other sneaky viewpoints over the Duomo include the food market on the top floor of department store La Rinascente and the posh Restaurant Giacomo Arengario at the Museo del Novecento.

Milan’s Shut-Down Mondays

Don’t get caught out when planning your trip to Milan; bear in mind that almost the whole city closes down on Monday. Most popular attractions, churches, and state-owned museums, with the exception of the Duomo and the Museo Poldi Pezzoli, which has Tuesday off instead, are closed all day. Around half the stores shut in the morning too, with most reopening around 3:30 to 7:30pm.

Markets

In a city as well dressed as Milan, it only stands to reason that some great-looking cast-offs are bound to turn up at street markets. Milan's largest street market is the one held on Via Papiniano in the Ticinese/Navigli district (Metro: Sant'Agostino) on Tuesday mornings from 8am to 1pm and on Saturday from 9am to 7:30pm; some stalls sell designer seconds as well as barely used high-fashion duds, though most offer basic staples like underwear and belts, usually cheaper than in department stores. There's an antiques market on Via Fiori Chiari in the Brera district (Metro: Moscova) the third Saturday of each month, from 9am to about 7:30pm, but not in August, and another the last Sunday of each month on the quays along the Canale Grande in the Navigli district, from 9am to about 7:30pm (tel. 02-8940-9971; Metro: Porta Genova). The city's largest food market is at Piazza Wagner, just outside the city center due west of the church of Santa Maria delle Grazie (follow Corso Magenta and its extension, Corso Vercelli, to Piazza Piemonte; the market is 1 block north; Metro: Piazza Wagner). It's held Monday through Saturday from 8am to 1pm and Tuesday through Saturday from 4 to 7:30pm; the displays of mouthwatering foodstuffs fill an indoor market space and stalls that surround it.

Flea markets spring up on Saturdays along the Alzaia Naviglio Grande (Metro: Porta Genova) and Fiera di Sinigaglia (Metro: Porta Genova), and on Sundays at San Donato Metro stop. During the Christmas season, holiday markets (complete with ice skating) pop up in different parts of the city, from Piazza Gae Aulenti (Metro: Garibaldi) to the Castello Sforzesco (Metro: Cairoli) to the area behind the Museum of Natural History (Metro: Palestro) in the Giardini Pubblici Indro Montanelli.

Milan is known the world over as one of the temples of high fashion, with the hallowed streets Montenapoleone and Spiga in the Quadrilatero d’Oro, the most popular places of wallet-stripping worship. Here D&G, Prada, Gucci, Hermès, Louis Vuitton, Armani, Ralph Lauren, Versace, and Cavalli all jostle for Milan’s minted fashionistas. The area around Porta Nuova (at the top of Corso Como) is also starting to become a luxury-shopping district. More reasonable shopping areas include Via Torino and Corso Buenos Aires, where midrange international brands proliferate; if you’re clever you can also pick up a designer bargain at outlet store Il Salvagente (Via Fratelli Bronzetti 16; tel. 02/7611-0328).

Fashion is one Milanese obsession, food is another, and the centro storico has many superb delis from which to purchase the purest of olive oils and the finest cheeses. Peck (Via Spadari 9; tel. 02/802-3161) is still the number-one gourmet spot, although competition is keen from the Eataly megastore in Piazza XXV Aprile (www.eataly.it) for all Italian comestibles. The top floor of the La Rinascente department store in Piazza del Duomo is another haven for foodies, with its Obika mozzarella bar and fine selection of packaged Italian goods (as an added bonus, you get a close-up view of the Duomo). Opened in 2015, the Mercato del Duomo (www.ilmercatodelduomo.it; tel. 02/8633-1924) in Piazza del Duomo aims to be a “gourmet cathedral” directly across from the actual cathedral. It has a food market (a good place to grab focaccia or a quick lunch on the run) and various coffee bars, wine bars, aperitif spots, and a high-end restaurant.

English-language books are sold at Feltrinelli Librerie (corner of Piazza del Duomo and Via Ugo Foscolo 1/3), Mondadori Megastore (Piazza del Duomo 1), and Rizzoli (inside the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II). English-language newspapers can be found on most major newsstands around the centro storico.

Everybody loves a bargain, and there’s no better place to find one than at the colorful, chaotic Viale Papiniano market (Metro: Sant’Agostino). Its sprawl of stalls are open Tuesday and Saturday; some flog designer seconds, others leather basics. Saturdays herald flea markets along Alzaia Naviglio Grande (Metro: Porta Genova) at Fiera di Sinigaglia (Metro: Porta Genova), Sundays at San Donato Metro stop. The biggest of them all is the multi-ethnic Christmas extravaganza Oh Bej! Oh Bej! (roughly, Oh so nice! Oh so nice!), whose stalls subsume the centro storico around Sant’Ambrogio and Parco Sempione and sell everything from leather bags to handcrafted jewelry. Milan’s main food market is undercover at Piazza Wagner at the metro stop of the same name, open every morning except Sunday.

Unless you’re heading for the Ticinese and Navigli, Milan is a dressy city and generally looks askance at scruffy jeans and sneakers after dark. When most people don’t dine until well after 10pm, it’s not surprising that clubs and bars stay open until the very wee hours.

Milan has its share of glitzy clubs and cocktail bars, but most explode on the scene and disappear just as quickly. A few spots that appear to be in for the long haul include the vine-covered cocktail terrace at 10 Corso Como (www.10corsocomo.com; tel. 02/2901-3581), the evergreen dance club Hollywood (www.discotecahollywood.it; tel. 02/6555-318), and mega-club Plastic at Via Gargano 15 (tel. 02/5410-0161—typically open weekends only). A newer kid on the block, Ceresio 7 Pools & Restaurant (www.ceresio7.com; tel. 02/310-392-21) offers a novel setup: a chic, sleek rooftop lounge with two pools where one can enjoy a cocktail while enjoying amazing views of the city.

A venerable Milan institution, the Conservatorio di Musica Giuseppe Verdi has two stages for classical concerts, at Via Conservatorio 12 (www.consmilano.it; tel. 02/762-110). And Milan is forever associated with the grand old dame of opera, Teatro Alla Scala, perhaps the world’s favorite opera house. La Scala is decked out with sumptuous red seats, boxes adorned with gilt, and chandeliers dripping crystal. Tickets are hard to come by, so book well in advance of the opera season, which runs from December to November, with a break from late July until early September. Book online at www.teatroallascala.org, pay by phone with a credit card (tel. 02/860-77), or buy your tickets direct from La Scala’s booking office in the Galleria del Sagrato, Piazza del Duomo, open daily noon to 6pm (closed Aug). The ticket office at the opera house (Via Filodrammatici 2) releases discounted last-minute tickets for that evening’s performance 2 1/2 hours before the curtain goes up; only one ticket can be purchased per customer.