I spent a day touring Milan in 2005, and have been back a few times since on work trips which involved a lot of time indoors. In 2026 we made a more extensive visit during Salone. It’s a big, grand city, with less than ideal transportation routes. For the most part, I found it to be quite clean, impressive, and packed with interesting sites. I wouldn’t choose to live here : clearly a place of highs and lows, economically speaking, moving fast and lacking a lot of the civility you find in other metro areas.

Avoid the airport at all costs – it’s really far from the city, and arrival by train is far easier. Map view here.

Dining

As a disclaimer: service in Milan is challenging. Lower your expectations.

• **Al Fresco: Beautiful outdoor terrace, excellent food and service. Traditional Italian cuisine.
• *Bacco di Brera is a nice location, fairly average food.
• **Bar Il Cigno Nero is rather perfect: a little hideaway on a busy street, perfect for people watching if you can get one of the two outdoor tables.
• *Ristorante Berton: Good but unremarkable. Service, like so many other places, was disinterested in our party. Corporate setting. One Michelin star.
• *DaV Milano had excellent food and horrible service (forgot our drinks, forgot three main courses for the party, lied about the bill credits). Wouldn’t go back.
• **Giacomo Bistrot: 2 star verging on 3. Excellent service, food, wine, lovely setting.
• *Gino’s 1928 is a pretty perfunctory place near Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II. On the upside, easy to get a table.
• **Hostaria Romana: Small, local, casual spot. Food was good but kind of unremarkable.
• **Il Piccolo – Milano: excellent vitello tonnato. Very good food, pretty wallpaper – small, cute venue with a local crowd. Acceptable service.
• *LI SOMARI | Milano: Nice setting, OK service, food was uninspiring: one star.
• **Marchesi 1824: high fashion meets amazing sweets. Acquired by Prada in 2015.
• **Rovello 18: Piedmontese classics. The restaurant is small and the well appointed, very clean kitchen is front and center. Eating at the bar is a fun experience to watch the cooks at work. Service wasn’t amazing, but the food was good.
• **SlowSud is a pasta chain with several locations throughout the city (I ate at Isola). It’s not outstanding, but for a casual lunch it’s fine.
• **Terrazza Duomo 21 is definitely a tourist magnet, but why not go anyway? A bar overlooking the Duomo, several stories up. I had no trouble getting a patio table.

Hotels

• *Rosa Grand: Expensive for the quality, felt like a business hotel (in a prime tourism spot) and a bit ragged.
• I stayed at the *Novotel Milano Linate Aeroporto, which was generically bad. I wouldn’t recommend the location (though it’s close to the “Gucci Hub,” where I attended a conference”) or the ambiance.
• *Quark Hotel Milano continues our tradition of out of the way, affordable hotels for work events. It’s a truly inconvenient location. On the plus side, good breakfast spread, big rooms, and the restaurant is actually quite decent. If you’re passing by Milan (without trying to go into it), it’s a nice option, if you don’t mind being surrounded by abandoned buildings.

Churches

Milan really excels in churches, but keep in mind most close mid-day (12ish – 3ish) and time your visits well.

• The construction of the *Basilica of Sant’Ambrogio began in 379 and lasted more than sixteen centuries. The parent building of the Lombard Romanesque and one of the most influential in Europe at the time. I give this fairly low marks for having very little left of its origins (lots of renovations, heavy bombing in WWII), but if you’re in the area stop in and read about the history.
• **Basilica di Sant’Eustorgio has a storied history: an important stop for pilgrims on their journey to Rome or to the Holy Land, because it was said to contain the tomb of the Three Kings. The huge tomb is still there, though the actual remains were moved in the 12th century. For a reasonable fee, you can see the Portinari Chapel with the tomb of Saint Peter Martyr (worth it) as well as the parts of the early Christian buildings below the Basilica itself. Overall, I think this is a worthwhile visit.
• *Basilica di San Babila was a Romanesque-style Roman Catholic – built around 1095. It’s very central and easy to get to, but has been heavily renovated and lacks much in the way of its original style.
• *Basilica di San Lorenzo is not one of my top sites – perhaps worth a quick visit to appreciate the unique layout. It served as the parish church of the Medici family. The present basilica – dating to the 1400s – is considered a milestone in the development of Renaissance architecture. Heavily under construction at the moment (2025).
• **The Basilica of San Simpliciano is right up my alley: a Romanesque church in the centre of Milan. Commissioned by the 4th century bishop St Ambrose, it is the second-oldest known Christian church with a Latin cross layout. When the building was modified between the 12th and 13th centuries, giving it the present Romanesque appearance, the original walls were preserved to a height of 22 meters. There are clear signs of renovation, but the overall effect is coherent and not overbuilt.
• **Chiesa di San Cristoforo sul Naviglio is one of the oldest churches in Milan. It’s a bit out of the way – in the Middle Ages, this was a small church a few kilometers from the medieval walls of Milan. Its bell tower, visible from a distance, announced to the travelers that the city was now close. The building spans two churches – the left one is the most ancient, a Romanesque reconstruction of a far more ancient edifice. In 1099 the Lombards left precisely from this church, towards the Holy Land, to fight the first crusade. General impressions: it’s small but striking, with well preserved frescos.
• *Cripta di San Sepolcro (accessed by the Pinacoteca Ambrosiana) was surprisingly a skip for me. Billed as “a plunge into the history of Roman antiquity,” it repurposes paving from the ancient Roman forum from the 4th century. Reopened to the public after fifty years in 2016, the crypt was restored and has frescoes and decorations dating back to the late 13th century. It’s a bit underwhelming.
• ***Il Duomo: It’s huge and impressive, though I far preferred the roof tour, which gave a great view of the multiple layers of construction. My guidebooks mention that there are over 3000 statues on the building, which seems believable considering that each spire has about 8-12. On my second visit, I was surprised by the color (pink!) – a major change after a very impressive cleaning job.
• **Santuario di Santa Maria dei Miracoli presso San Celso is not my normal favorite style, but stop in to look up and down: wonderful inlaid floor, and wooden decorative ceiling. Beautiful! According to Wikipedia, “a remarkable example of Renaissance architecture in Milan.”

Museums & Interesting Sites

• **Armani/Silos: very grand and formal; emphasis on dresses as art. Takes itself very seriously. Give yourself extra time to get in; they pace the crowds carefully.
• *Bagatti Valsecchi Museum: A very minor experience, a personal collection that was changed into a museum in order to keep the holdings intact. The original owners – barons Fausto and Giuseppe Bagatti Valsecchi – sought “to reconstruct a lordly mansion of the mid 16th century” in their family home. It’s quite over the top and not entirely harmonious. The much more modern temporary exhibit didn’t really help, creating a disjointed viewing experience.
• **Casa Museo Boschi Di Stefano is charming – a well curated twentieth-century art collection collected by Antonio Boschi and Marieda Di Stefano for their home – in spaces where it was originally hung. It’s a big apartment, in a building with other residents, and the experience feels intimate. It’s a quick, but worthwhile visit.
• **Colonne di San Lorenzo are a photogenic pass-through: 16 columns repurposed from a Roman temple in a grand square. The neighborhood is a bit on the gritty side and the adjacent church is under major renovation.
• **Gallerie d’Italia is spread throughout three adjacent palaces filled with 19th- and 20th-century Italian art. For the most part it’s high quality (with some more random pieces scattered in) – I especially appreciated the paintings of rural/alpen scenes and Milanese life. Best of all, it is nearly empty of crowds. Don’t miss the gorgeous courtyard cafe, a perfect hideaway in a busy part of town.
• **Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II houses top luxury brands in a beautiful arcade. Don’t miss walking through.
• *Palazzo Morando is on the random side, in the middle of a very fancy shopping district. It’s free, and the staff outnumbered the guests. I didn’t find it particularly outstanding, but if you’re in the neighborhood there are some interesting street life scenes of 1700s and 1800s Milanese life.
• **Pinacoteca Ambrosiana is pretty good – a high quality collection, leaning heavily towards religious art, in an especially lovely building. Don’t miss the library.
• *Pinacoteca di Brera was surprisingly not one of my favorites. While it’s full of religious art, including some very important paintings, the emphasis is on quality of preservation over quality of the art itself. The final galleries have some gems, but the general impression is a bit meh. Lovely neighborhood/location though.
• **Poldi Pezzoli Museum: a gem! “The house-museum par excellence.” The core of the collection is the personal purchases of Count Giacomo Poldi Pezzoli, who donated his holdings to the founding of the museum in 1881. Where did the money come from? Family money from serving in the eighteenth century as tax collectors of the Duchy of Milan. Pezzoli had diverse interests and excellent taste – everything is top quality, from the armour to the porcelain to the paintings. For religious art of Italy, I preferred this museum to the Pinacoteca di Brera.

Shopping

**Pettinaroli is a perennial on lists of favorite shops: specializing in Alpine prints and photography. There’s also a lot of lovely leather gifts, like coin purses and diaries. It’s pretty and worthwhile.

Further Reading

https://italysegreta.com/an-art-historians-guide-to-milans-museums