Milan for a day

Hello there! Today’s post is about one of the most touristy places in Italy – Milan. When I was planning a trip, I honestly wanted to stay here at least for 3 days, so we would have enough time to explore everything. But, there were places like Florence and Bologna where I have never been as well. Long story short, all I was trying to do was finally check Duomo Milano and “Last Supper” by Leonardo Da Vinci off my bucket list. There are so many things to do/ try in Milan that I’m sure you may need at least a week for everything. However, if you have only one full day in Milan, here are a few suggestions:

1. Plan wisely: you came all this way to see beautiful Milan, and you only have limited time to do it. So, pick a few main attractions and make reservations in advance. For example, our trip to Milan was in August, so I tried to book a couple of tickets to see “Last Supper” by Leonardo Da Vinci in June. There were no tickets available anymore.

ACCOMMODATION
We stayed at the hotel called “Barcelo Milan” just outside the city center and were pleasantly surprised! If you also like getting away from touristic areas, I highly recommend it!

FOOD
Milan is not cheap, and I didn’t have luck finding authentic places where only locals would dine like it happened last year in Rome. However, here are a few suggestions where both locals and tourists eat.

Breakfast:
– Pavé
– Bar Pasticceria Rovida
– Maria Marinoni (conveniently located next to train station)

COFFEE:
– Caffé Napoli Brera
– Starbucks Reserve (Even if you’re not a fan of Starbucks in the USA, trust me, this one will surprise you).

GELATO:
– Gelateria Toldo
– Gelato Giusto.

LUNCH:
– Piz Milan (really good & cheap pizza)
– Pasta Fresca da Giovanni (the best pasta but opened only a couple of days per week).

APERITIVO:
– Café Madeira
– Yguana Café.

TRANSPORTATION:
1. Use Google Maps to make the routes;
2. To get from the airport to the city center, you will have to take a train or bus. You can purchase the tickets for any of them in the airport, just make sure you have cash (preferably) or debit card to use.
3. 24-hour pass for the bus, metro, and tram costs €4.50 and can be purchased at only Newsstands or Tabacchi stores.

What to visit:
– Duomo Milano (get the “fast pass”, so you can skip the long line and see everything in less time)
– La Scala Opera
– Brera&Braidense National Library
– Navigli Canals (in the evening)
– Santa Maria Delle Grazie for “Last Supper”
– Museo Leonardo Da Vinci
– Galleria Vittorio Emanuelle II
– Museum San Siro Milan (my husband is a soccer fan, so he had a blast there). 

This was my day in Milan, Italy. I hope your adventure will be as amazing as mine was. And, the last but not least: no matter what your “must visit” list looks like, there is one thing I learned about Italy – you always find something else to see on the way to another museum or basilica. That’s just how the things are here. No wonder we are never able to stick to the plan – we end up somewhere else sooner or later, and manage to see a lot of places that were didn’t plan to see. I think that’s the beauty of traveling to Italy!

XX,
Gena.