Art & Culture Tour
While Milan is a great place to visit at any time of year, it offers particularly favourable conditions in spring and early autumn.
The itinerary can begin in Piazza del Duomo, the centre of the city and point of access to the main streets. Naturally, you will see the cathedral, the Duomo di Milano, a significant example of Gothic architecture which combines Nordic influences and Lombard elements.
On the cathedral's spire you will see the Madonnina, a golden statue around four metres tall, which is the symbol of the city.
Milan is full of monuments and places of interest, including Sforza Castle, one of the largest in Europe, built as a defensive structure and now home to museums. Next to this is the Palazzo Reale, the Museo d’Arte Contemporanea modern art gallery, Piazza San Babila, and Teatro alla Scala. Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, known as “Milan’s salon”, connects Piazza del Duomo to Piazza della Scala, and is one of the city's most representative spaces. Major cultural highlights also include the Pinacoteca di Brera art gallery, founded in the Napoleonic era and featuring a different history compared to other Italian museums. Rounding off the city panorama are the Basilica of Sant'Ambrogio, amongst the most significant examples of Romanesque architecture in Lombardy, the Pirelli Tower and the Galleria d’Arte Moderna modern art gallery.
Other places of interest include Ca’ Granda, in via Festa del Perdono, one of the city's most important historic buildings, for centuries the home to the Ospedale Maggiore hospital and now the University of Milan's main campus. It was commissioned in 1456 by Francesco Sforza with the goal of offering aid to the sick.
Another significant location is the Cimitero Monumentale di Milano, a cemetery built between 1863 and 1866 in an area which was on the city outskirts at the time. Created for the city’s middle classes and also open to non-Catholics, it contains the Famedio, where important figures in Milanese history, including Alessandro Manzoni, are buried.
Milan Central Station was completed during the fascist era, and features imposing monumental architecture reflective of this historical period.
Some of the more recent structures of note include the Fiera Milano exhibition centre and Stadio Giuseppe Meazza, commonly known as the San Siro, which hosts the city's two football teams.
Piazza Velasca is home to Torre Velasca, a tower built between 1956 and 1960 and considered one of the most representative works of post-war architecture.
Its structure, which is cantilevered at the top, is a reinterpretation of mediaeval towers. The name derives from the piazza where it stands, named after Spanish governor Juan Fernández de Velasco.
Among the historic entrances to the city, Porta Romana, an ancient urban access point, stands out.
Milan also features numerous streets and districts of interest, including Via Monte Napoleone, Corso Vittorio Emanuele II, Corso Buenos Aires and Viale Monza, as well as the Milano 2 quarter, known for Palazzo dei Cigni.
The Navigli area, with the Darsena waterfront, is today one of the city's main meeting points; with historic links to commercial activities, it is today dedicated to free time for families and young people.
We recommend taking a walk in the city's most beautiful green space: Parco Nord, located on the city's northern outskirts, is a 600-hectare park designed in the 1960s but created in 1975. You can walk amongst lime, horse chestnut, hawthorn and hazel trees, coming into contact with nature which has spread to create fully fledged woodlands, primarily of poplar and maple. Another two beautiful parks are Parco Sempione and, particularly for children, Fun & Fun.
SHOPPING tour
Milan is one of the main international benchmarks for fashion, and hosts numerous luxury stores, concentrated primarily in the Quadrilatero della Moda shopping area.