Leonardo Da Vinci’s world-famous fading fresco, the city’s best parks and several great museums form the highlights of this area. Three museums allow you to trace art from the medieval period (at the Castello Sforzesco) through the golden era of the Renaissance (at the Brera) to the challenges of Modernism (at the Villa Reale). A further two museums give an overview of Lombard history: ancient at the Museo Archeologico and that of the 19th century in the Risorgimento. Aside from the cultural hightlights, this part of town is also a great place for bargain shoppers, from the shop-warehouses lining the street south of the central railway station to the middle-class shopping boulevard of Corso Buenos Aires.
-
Luigi Cagnola built this magnificent triumphal arch in 1807 for Napoleon to pass through when visiting Milan. It didn’t get finished quite in time and was inaugurated instead by a bemused Habsburg emperor.
-
One of half a dozen bars and gelaterie (ice-cream parlours) lining a pedestrianized stretch just north of the Pinacoteca. It was one of Milan’s first bohemian bars, given its name by a local journalist who thought it resembled the bar in Hitchcock’s Jamaica Inn .
-
Comfortable, Parisian-style café with outdoor seating, a decent food menu, tasty cocktails and Guinness on tap (see Bar Magenta, Milan).
-
Comfortable, modernish lounge with deep cushions, decent snacks and good cocktails.
-
This minimalist, down-to-business café has been around forever, best-known for a quick espresso in the morning and an aperitivo stop in the evening.
-
Boggi has been dressing the Milanese for years, providing them with classy men’s clothing and footwear at very reasonable prices.
-
Italian chain of fast-yet-excellent food. You carry a tray around to various food-prep islands, where the dishes are cooked to order.
-
Milan’s vast, glowering castle complex squats at the northwest corner of the historic centre, an odd combination of oversized courtyards, lithe towers and lovely medieval nooks and crannies.
Castello Sforzesco
-
The 14th-century Certosan abbey has largely vanished under Milan’s suburbs, but its church of Santa Maria Assunta survives. It is capped with a fine late Renaissance façade, and the interior was frescoed by Daniele Crespi in 1629 with stories of the Certosan order.
-
Milan’s vast mid-19th-century cemetery is most popular for a pantheonic monument housing (among others) the remains of Alessandro Manzoni (see I Promessi Sposi (The Betrothed)). The grounds are filled with Art Nouveau tombs of Milan’s top families – a free map shows where such notables as Arturo Toscanini rest in peace. Corners have been set aside for non-Catholic graves, and there’s a monument to Jews deported by the Nazis.
-
Restaurant price categories
For a three-course meal for one with half a bottle of wine (or equivalent meal), taxes and extra charges.
-
Advertisement
-
-
A Tour of London (with Food)
Accide
-
Paris guide
rosale
-
Firstimers Las Vegas guide
erinen
-
Munich guide
KPotvi
-
heidik's Los Angeles guide
heidik
-
-
-
GiUrsI New York guide
Giusep
-
Las Vegas guide
paulba
-
Paris guide
guydic
-
Boston guide
victor
-
Barcelona guide
cjcowb
-
-
Mickey Mouse Magic ShowMickey Mouse Magic Show, one of the Disney Live! Productions, is staged at Milan's Palasharp. Magic, tricks and illusion put a spin on legendary Disney cartoons, such as Aladdin, Alice in... Read more
-
Oh Bej! Oh Bej!Every year Milan organises an ancient Christmas market full of sweets and typical products. The "Oh Bej! Oh Bej!" fair, held in the area surrounding the Sforza Castle, is one of the main annual... Read more
-
Befana BeneficaMotorcyclists throughout Italy converge on Milan for the annual Befana Benefica, a two-wheel charity procession spearheaded by the toothless old witch herself, who's substituted her old broomstick... Read more
-
ArtExperienceThe Domus Academy presents ArtExperience, a five-day event featuring meetings and seminars on contemporary art in Milan. Key figures from the international art scene debate the relationship between... Read more
![[+]](/images/button-addtoguide.gif)
symbol, to start adding attractions to your
tailor-made travel guide.
