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Milan, of course, is monumentally important to the world of fashion. Every important fashion label, whether local or based in Paris, New York or Florence, maintains a boutique in Milan. For those whose tastes outstrip their budgets, Milan is also home to some excellent stock shops and discount outlets.

Italian shoes range from the practical to the gorgeous and outrageous. Some will last you a lifetime; some are just for very special occasions. All the famous labels offer lines of shoes, but you’d do best to seek out the specialists, whether it be a haute-couture work of art at Ferragamo, a mass-produced Italian brand name or a designer bargain from Rufus.

Swoon over the designs from Prada and Bottega Veneta, or the slightly less pricey Coccinelle. Or, plump for one of the many well made, non-label leather bags, still in great Italian style.

Italian industrial designers are maestros at turning everyday objects such as kettles, lighting systems and juicers into works of art. The often whimsical, usually beautiful and always ergonomically sound results are on sale throughout Italy, or you can go right to the source on Lake Orta. Here, an artisan tradition gave rise in the late 19th century to firms such as Alessi, Bialetti and Lagostina.

Bassetti and Frette offer affordable, stylish linens. The haute couture of sheets and tablecloths is represented by Pratesi and, at the pinnacle, Jerusum, which provided the lace-edged linens for Italy’s royal family in the 19th century.

Como has long been Italy’s chief purveyor of finely spun silk fabrics. The Milanese maestros of haute couture come to Como to finger the fabrics that will soon be draped across a supermodel’s shoulders. These same sought-after silks are available to the public in factory warehouses around Como and in shops across Lombardy.

Milan’s art dealers offer a rich collection of lesser-known Byzantine and Baroque works and a plethora of 19th-century oils and other relatively affordable works of art. You’ll find an embarrassment of 18th-century Venetian chairs, country-style hardwood dressers and Empire-style clocks cluttering the antichità shops.

Lombard wines are generally excellent (see Top 10 Wines). Furthermore, the lakes border both the Veneto – home to Valpolicella, Pinot Grigio and Soave – and Piemonte, where the mighty Barolo, Barbera and Barbaresco reds are crafted.

A catalogue of Milanese galleries, a glossy tome of lake scenes or a translation of local literary classic I Promessi Sposi (see I Promessi Sposi (The Betrothed)) might be a more treasured souvenir than a sheaf of postcards or trinkets.

Though it’s not a top European capital of baubles and precious gems, Milan’s jewellers hold their own. Seek out the bold creations of Donatella Pellini or the cutting-edge minimalism of Xenia. For something more classic, try Gobbi 1842 and especially Mario Buccellati, a firm that since 1919 has produced exquisite jewellery, elegant tableware and renowned silver objets d’art .

Objets d’art