MILAN · ITALY
Masterpieces in the morning, a lake by lunch.
Leonardo's Last Supper, the Duomo rooftops and a night at La Scala, then cooking classes, aperitivo on the Navigli and the boat to Bellagio an hour up the line. Milan, the Italian lakes and the Alpine railways beyond.
Only in Milan
The Milan that doesn't travel.
Cooking classes and canal cruises turn up in plenty of Italian cities. Leonardo's mural, a walk across the cathedral roof and a night under the chandeliers at La Scala belong to Milan alone. Book all three early; they fill up.
Leonardo, in person
The Last Supper
Leonardo painted the Cenacolo straight onto a refectory wall beside Santa Maria delle Grazie, and it has held that room for five centuries while the world outside changed beyond recognition. Twenty-five people are let in at a time, for fifteen minutes, and the slots book out weeks ahead. Standing in front of it is nothing like the postcard.
- 1 Milan: Guided Walking Tour & Last Supper Visit with Ticket
- 2 Milan’s Must See: Half-Day Tour of Last Supper, Duomo & La Scala
- 3 Milan: Last Supper Guided Visit
Up on the marble
The Duomo Terraces
No other cathedral lets you walk its roof. Stairs and a lift climb to the terraces of the Duomo, out among 135 spires and the carved saints, with the gilded Madonnina over your shoulder and the Alps on the skyline on a clear day. Six centuries in the building, and the marble is best at opening, before the crowds.
- 1 Milan: Cathedral and Duomo’s Terraces Entrance Ticket
- 2 Milan Cathedral: Duomo Terraces Ticket (No Church Access)
- 3 Milan: Milan Cathedral Direct Entrance – Terrace Excluded
Since 1778
A Night at La Scala
Teatro alla Scala has set the standard for opera houses since 1778. Verdi premiered here, Toscanini conducted here, and an opening night still stops the city. Box and backstage tours take in the gilded horseshoe auditorium and the theatre museum, even on the days when nothing is on the bill.
- 1 Milan’s Must See: Half-Day Tour of Last Supper, Duomo & La Scala
- 2 Milan: La Scala Theater & Museum Guided Experience
- 3 Milan: “Museo Teatrale Alla Scala” Guided Tour
If you book one thing
Start with the ticket everyone wants.
More travellers build a Milan trip around this one than anything else, and it pays to have it in hand before you land.
The classics
Milan's Most Popular Tours
The Duomo and its terraces, the Last Supper, the Lake Como boat day and a hands-on pasta class. The days most people come to Milan for.
Where to begin
The days a Milan trip is built around.
The cathedral and Leonardo's mural, a boat day on Lake Como, a pasta class in a back-street kitchen, the little red railway over the Alps. The handful of days most trips are planned around, and the best way to do each.
The big day trip
Which Lake Como day trip?
Como is an hour from the Duomo and the most-booked escape from the city. Three ways to spend the day, depending on whether you want the boat, a second country, or the Alps stacked on top.
Milan on a plate
A cooking class, then aperitivo.
Milan eats well, and late. Spend a morning rolling fresh pasta or stirring a saffron risotto alla milanese in a back-street kitchen, then fall into the evening ritual the city all but invented: a spritz or a Negroni sbagliato and a spread of nibbles as the Navigli fills up and the light goes gold.
Read the guide: the best cooking classes in Milan →Over the Alps
The little red train over the Alps.
An hour past Como at Tirano, the Bernina Express climbs into Switzerland on one of the highest rail crossings in Europe, no rack rail, just spiralling viaducts and a horseshoe of glaciers above Alp Grüm. It runs all year. In winter it threads a white, silent world the whole way up to St Moritz.
See the Bernina & St Moritz day trips →An hour north
Where the lake forks under the mountains.
Lake Como bends like an upside-down Y between steep, wooded mountains, its villages strung along the water and joined by ferry. The Romans summered here; Bellagio still sits at the fork like a film set. Forty minutes by fast train from Milan, which is why the boat day is the one travellers add to every trip.
Lake Como day trips →By place
The city and the lakes, six ways.
Milan for the masterpieces. Lake Como for the boat days. Bellagio for the villas. Lugano for a hop into Switzerland. St Moritz for the Alpine railway. Garda and Verona for the big lake east of the city.
By activity
Pick how to spend the day.
Up on the Duomo roof or in front of the Last Supper. A boat across the lake or a bike through the lanes. A pasta class, a food tour, or a night under the chandeliers at La Scala.
Plan it
Three perfect days.
First time in Milan? A long weekend that takes in the city, the lake and the Alps without a wasted hour.
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