Visiting Milan Italy: Top Sights and Day-Trips From The Fashion Capital

Milano Centrale Station

Milan was a city that we wanted to explore on our trip through Italy, and it also served as a starting point for three day-trips to other parts of Italy (Lake Como, Venice and Verona).  We arrived in Milan via train from Interlaken Switzerland (via Spiez), which took about three hours and cost 56 Swiss Francs for both of us (this was reduced with our Swiss Travel Pass, normally it is about 80 Francs per person).  The scenery on this journey is quite nice, though we were traveling at almost 300 MPH at times!  We arrived at Milano Centrale station, a massive but well-kept station that was a very short walk from our hotel, the NYX Milan.  While it is not a perfect hotel (what hotel is?), the location was crucial for us given that we had three consecutive day-trips via train from the central station.  Within the city, there is also a very comprehensive (though confusing) tram system, and a relatively new metro system that unfortunately had only a few lines operating during our stay--still, we appreciated the options and they were both affordable to use (similar to Paris). 

I don't usually inject much history into these posts documenting our travels, but seeing the current state of this powerful and historic city made me wonder, what happened?  Certainly the major attractions (the Duomo and the Galleria Vittoria Emmanuelle) and the transit system seemed well maintained, and there are pockets of commercial resurgence, but in between these examples are so many weathered streets littered with abandoned buildings covered in graffiti, it made us not want to do much exploring on foot, especially in the northern half of the city.  The 1900s were a century of conflict and controversy for the Milanese, coupled with growing pains from incoming immigrants and numerous significant governmental shifts.  But, with its central location, historic attractions and well established transportation lines, I have no doubt that Milan will continue to rise out of the difficult times of its past. 

Off a local's recommendation, we set our sights on the fantastic Eataly, a modern culinary market and food court with several locations around Italy.  Besides a nice assortment of gourmet prepared foods, there's a few restaurants and fresh produce for purchase.  On the way to Eatlay, there's some fascinating examples of modern architecture to spot , such as the Bosco Verticale apartments, the Palazzo Lombardia, and UniCredit Pavilion, which has some shops and cafes.  From UniCredit (or Garibaldi station, if using the metro or trams), we continued south on Corso Como, a nicer street with cafes and high-end shops that ends at Porta Garibaldi (a city gate built in the 1800s) and continued onto Corso Garibaldi.

This path winds past Castle Sforzesco (about a mile south of Eataly), a massive fortress that had its first construction in the 1300s, and has since had many additions and restorations.  Inside are museums and libraries, and the massive Sempione Park that surrounds it has a Napoleonic era arch, La Triennale (a modern design museum), the civic aquarium, and more.






We enjoyed a stroll around the castle grounds and through part of the park before heading to San Maruizio Monastery, a beautiful church with beautifully adorned walls and ceilings.  And finally, just a half mile east are the historic Milan Duomo and nearby Galleria Vittorio Emanuelle II.  Photos are not permitted inside the Duomo, but needless to say it is magnificent, and the admission cost is only a few euros.  There can be a pretty lengthy line, though you'll save a little time by pre-paying for your tickets--and if you're really short on time, you can always just marvel at the ornate exterior. The Galleria Vittorio is an historical landmark in itself, being built in the 1860s and containing some upscale eateries that have existed almost as long--there's also stores for many high-end fashion retailers, but all are welcome to tour and appreciate the Galleria's architecture. 

The Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II next to the Milan Duomo (right)

  

We started our second day in Milan with a small breakfast and coffee at Illy Caffe in the UniCredit Pavilion, then walked a half-mile west to the incredible Monumental Cemetery.  This is truly a sight to behold, in particular the stunning array of sculptures adorning the many grave sites.  Created in the 1800s, the cemetery contains graves for many historically important Milanese, and pays tribute to Jews that were slaughtered in WWII concentration camps.  We spent a couple of hours exploring the cemetery, marveling at the building's architecture and the hundreds of ornate grave sites, guessing as to their symbolic meanings.

Moving on from the cemetery, we thought we'd explore some more of Milan's modern offerings, and so we headed off to CityLife Shopping District.  We highly recommend using the metro or tram system to get here, unless you're already at Castle Sforzesco or elsewhere on the west side of town.  The park surrounding the area showcases the excellent modernist architecture nearby, with apartment complexes, commercial skyscrapers and the MiCo convention center.  The CityLife mall interior is a beautifully designed space covered in bent wood, and besides the usual assortment of stores has several affordable quick-service eateries inside.  We tried one, Calavera Fresh-Mex, and were pretty disappointed with the food and (lack of) service--but the others all looked pretty promising.  There's a fun store called Flying Tiger that's kind of like a miniature IKEA minus all the furniture, and is a great place to grab some cheap souvenirs (their only U.S. stores are in New York City).

As the sun began to set, we began our trek toward the Navigli area of Milan.  Cutting back east by Sempione Park, then south along a string of gradually more interesting streets, we happened upon Collone di San Lorenze (a series of 16 Roman-era columns across from the Basilica) and Antica Porta Ticinese (a medieval era city gate).  The area around San Lorenze has some funky shops, and a TON of street art murals--keep your eyes peeled!  The Ticinese gate marks the start of the Navigli canals, and the start of the local nightlife.  Restaurants and bars line either side of both canals, with more activity following the Naviglio Grande--if you've been to Paris' Latin Quarter, this is the Italian version.

If you love the history, art and architecture of church buildings, Milan has some amazing examples worth visiting besides the Duomo, such as Basilica of San Simpliciano, Basilica parrocchiale del Corpus Domini, Santa Maria delle Grazie, Basilica di Sant'Ambrogio, Santa Maria del Carmine, Basilica di Sant'Eufemia, and Basilica of San Carlo al Corso--not to mention the palaces (Palazzos) spread around as well! 


Milan was very different than we expected--I guess we envisioned something more like Paris, with classic Italian architecture.  This assumption was unfounded, and we should've been more open-minded before we arrived.  Yes Milan is still on the recovery from its rocky past, but there's a lot of historic beauty to enjoy and the future seems bright.  We were fortunate to have a couple of days to explore this incredible city, and we didn't even come close to seeing all that it has to offer.  We also took three fantastic day-trips from Milan, easily utilized their clean transit system to get around the city, and took the Malpensa Express from the Central Station to get to Malpensa Airport--all in all, a successful and pain-free trip!  We hope this information is helpful for your trip to Italy, please comment if you have any questions for us, and travel safely.