A weekend in Milan has been a longtime dream of mine. A city renowned for fashion and design — I could not wait to explore and was the top choice for my first visit to Italy.
Things to do in Milan
Milan is a gorgeous city just to wander around and explore, there is beautiful architecture and history everywhere.
The Duomo and Galleria Vittorio Emanuele IIÂ are obvious choices for exploration and, conveniently, they are right next door to each other.
We ticked this off the list early so we could be prepared for the crowds and not feel too overwhelmed. I would advise buying tickets online for Duomo early to skip on queuing. Also to avoid disappointment, it is Milan’s number one attraction so pays to be organised.
Be aware if you are visiting you will have to cover up from shoulder to knee. Don’t worry if you have your holiday shorts and t-shirts on, the cathedral does provide coverups. I know you are all sensible people and would never BUT please do not touch beautiful old things as a general rule in life. The amount of people I saw rubbing their hands on the bronze doors and other parts of the cathedral was infuriating.
Very close to Duomo is San Bernardino alle Ossa otherwise known as Milan’s Bone Chapel.
A small but impactful ossuary where bones and human skulls are displayed from wall to ceiling until they reach the frescoed painting Triumph of Souls and Flying Angels by Sebastiano Ricci. This was one of my personal favourite place in Milan, a stunning display of life and death.
There are so many museums and galleries to choose from. It was hard to pick just one a day, but after much deliberation we settled on Triennale di Milano and Fondazione Prada.
Triennale di Milano — a museum of art and design located in Parc Sempione. We went especially to see an interesting exhibition visualising inequalities within society.
Fondazione Prada — described as a “a cultural institution created in 1993 by Miuccia Prada and Patrizio Bertelli” its Milan location spans over 10 buildings which include a cinema and Bar Luce by Wes Anderson.
After buying our tickets we received a little map and were free to explore. Now I totally get that modern art is not for everyone but we had an absolute blast exploring the variety of weird and wonderful exhibitions.
High on my list for next trip is Pirelli HangarBicocca, Museo Novecento and Museo delle Culture di Milano.
Neighbourhoods in Milan
Mainly we just wandered the streets to try and discover Milan’s cool areas. Some of our favourite finds were:
Ticinese — once the gateway to Milan, Ticinese is a super cool neighbourhood with lots of vintage and independent shops. It’s also where you will find the later mentioned Nowhere Coffee.
Navigli — an area with stunning canals with many bars and restaurants to choose from. A little touristy in my opinion, but worth a visit for the views alone.
Isola — a vibrant area with loads of bars, restaurants, and independent shops. This was our favourite place to spend the evening.
Via Lecco Porta Venezia — full of packed out gay bars, super friendly and fun atmosphere.
Drinking Spots in Milan
There are many beautiful bars in Milan. As we were only in town for a couple of days I prioritised seeking out craft beer.
Bierfabrik is a lively casual bar with a great beer selection. To make it even better they also had many dog visitors.
Birrificio Milan is a classy bar for craft beer lovers. Serving their own brews as well as a few guest beers.
Frida was absolutely buzzing on Frida night with a lovely outside space. It’s the perfect place to enjoy a summer evening. Frida is not just a bar but a creative to space with a concept store, Sunday market, street art, as well as food and drink, making it an awesome place to visit day or night.
As mention above Navigli is a lovely place to have a drink by the canals. There are loads of bars that (to be honest all looked very similar) so we just went for the first one with seats outside facing the view.
Coffee in Milan
Italians of course know their coffee, so finding a decent cup was extremely easy! My top 3 artisanal coffee spots:
Nowhere Coffee — coffee shop and micro roastery Nowhere is my favourite place to hangout in Milan, the vibe is super friendly and the staff all seemed to love being there which created such a joyful atmosphere. The service was excellent talking us through coffee options and making us feel so welcome despite rocking up half an hour before closing.
Orsonero — “Milan’s original speciality coffee shop” is a busy neighbourhood hangout. They serve up rotating single origin coffee and the staff are on hand to help if you don’t know what to choose from. It’s a buzzy place perfect for grabbing a quick coffee on the go. Alternatively if you’ve got a little more time, like we did, it’s also great for sitting in and people watching.
Nudo – a micro-roasting company that are passionate about roasting excellent coffee. They even offer courses, tasting, and consultation. The space is very cool and filled with creatives so was great for us to get a little bit of planning and work done before starting our day of exploration. They also host many events so it worthwhile checking out their Instagram before you go.
Vegan Eating in Milan
This was a little more of a struggle. My default for the first time anywhere is a little research but mainly to rely on local knowledge. Despite asking for advice we kept getting recommended small chains like Berbere, Marghe and Neat Burger which were all decent but I really wanted that authentic Italian experience since it was my first trip there.
My one big standout for vegan food was Nepa,a 100% plant based patisserie. They make the most delicious savoury and sweet baked goods. A perfect place to start the day.
Getting Around Milan
Public transport in Milan is super easy and cheap, you can tap in and tap out with contactless on ATM busses, trams, and metro making getting around super easily.
There are also city bikes for rent if you’d like to cycle around the city.
Uber is also available but they are pretty pricy and to be honest the public transport was so good we didn’t need to book a cab.
