Must-see attractions in Milan

  • Leonardo Da Vinci's 'The Last Supper' in the Santa Maria delle Grazie.

    The Last Supper

    Corso Magenta & Sant'Ambrogio

    Milan's most famous mural, Leonardo da Vinci’s The Last Supper, is hidden away on a wall of the refectory adjoining the Basilica di Santa Maria delle…

  • Facade of The Duomo ( Cathedral ) - Milano, Lombardy

    Duomo

    Duomo & San Babila

    A vision in pink Candoglia marble, Milan's extravagant Gothic cathedral, 600 years in the making, aptly reflects the city's creativity and ambition. Its…

  • Entrance to Cimitero Monumentale.
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    Cimitero Monumentale

    Porta Garibaldi & Isola

    Behind striking Renaissance-revival black-and-white walls, Milan’s wealthy have kept their dynastic ambitions alive long after death with grand sculptural…

  • Courtyard of Pinacoteca di Brera.

    Pinacoteca di Brera

    Milan

    Located upstairs from one of Italy’s most prestigious art schools, this gallery houses Milan’s collection of Old Masters, much of it ‘lifted’ from Venice…

  • Prada shop front in Quadrilateral del’Oro

    Quadrilatero d'Oro

    Milan

    A stroll around the Quadrilatero d'Oro, the world's most famous shopping district, is a must even for those not sartorially inclined. The quaintly cobbled…

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Sforza Castle, Milan, Lombardy, Italy.

    Castello Sforzesco

    Milan

    Originally a Visconti fortress, this iconic red-brick castle was later home to the mighty Sforza dynasty, who ruled Renaissance Milan. The castle's…

  • Italy, Lombardy, Milan, on the Left Museo del Nove

    Museo del Novecento

    Duomo & San Babila

    Overlooking Piazza del Duomo, with fabulous views of the cathedral, is Mussolini's Arengario, from where he would harangue huge crowds in his heyday. Now…

  • Fondazione Prada building complex exterior.

    Fondazione Prada

    Milan

    Conceived by designer Miuccia Prada and architect Rem Koolhaas, this museum is as innovative and creative as the minds that gave it shape. Seven renovated…

  • MILAN, ITALY - JUNE 22:  A general view of the atmosphere at GQ Celebrates Jim Nelson's 10th Anniversary as Editor-in-Chief Party on June 22, 2013 in Milan at Villa Necchi on June 22, 2013 in Milan, Italy.  (Photo by Victor Boyko/Getty Images for GQ)

    Villa Necchi Campiglio

    Milan

    Designed by homegrown talent Piero Portaluppi, this exquisitely restored 1930s villa was commissioned by Pavian heiresses Nedda and Gigina Necchi (of the…

  • Milan, Gae Aulenti square, people on electric push scooter. Pedestrian zone in modern Milan square with glass buildings and people on electric scooters
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    Piazza Gae Aulenti

    Porta Garibaldi & Isola

    Join locals sightseeing at this landmark square named after Italy's most famous female architect. The linchpin of Milan’s Porta Nuova regeneration project…

  • Interior of Casa Museo Boschi-di Stefano

    Casa Museo Boschi-di Stefano

    Milan

    Milan’s most eccentric museum of 20th-century Italian painting is crowded in a 1930s apartment that still has the appearance of the haute-bourgeois home…

  • Milan, Italy - June 16, 2019: Bosco Verticale (Vertical Forest) in Milan city, Italy
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    Bosco Verticale

    Porta Garibaldi & Isola

    Stefano Boeri’s ‘Vertical Forest’ consists of two high-rise apartment blocks whose many reinforced balconies overflow with around 700 trees and 20,000…

  • Inside the Galleria d’Italia

    Gallerie d'Italia

    Duomo & San Babila

    This fabulously decorated palazzo (mansion) is home to part of the enormous collection of Fondazione Cariplo and Intesa Sanpaolo bank, which pays homage…

  • View of Parco Sempione

    Parco Sempione

    Milan

    Situated behind Castello Sforzesco, Parco Sempione was once the preserve of hunting Sforza dukes. Then Napoleon came to town and set about landscaping…

  • Close-up of the Fondazione Feltrinelli building

    Fondazione Feltrinelli

    Porta Garibaldi & Isola

    Herzog & de Meuron’s first public buildings in Italy, these two elongated, slanted structures look reminiscent of greenhouses. The Feltrinelli Foundation,…

  • Brick belltowers (short one dates to 9th century) of Basilica di Sant' Ambrogio.

    Basilica di Sant'Ambrogio

    Corso Magenta & Sant'Ambrogio

    St Ambrose, Milan’s patron saint and one-time superstar bishop, is buried in the crypt of this red-brick cathedral, which he founded in AD 379. It’s a…

  • Milan, Italy - July 16, 2016: Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II is one of the most popular shopping areas in Milan.
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    Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II

    Duomo & San Babila

    So much more than a shopping arcade, the neoclassical Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II is a soaring structure of iron and glass. Nicknamed 'il salotto di…

  • Chiesa di San Maurizio

    Corso Magenta & Sant'Ambrogio

    This 16th-century royal chapel and one-time Benedictine convent is Milan's hidden crown jewel. Its somewhat sombre facade belies a gorgeous interior,…

  • MILAN - APRIL 15: People at Triennale during Fuorisalone, international furnishing accessories exhibition April 15, 2010 in Milan, Italy.; Shutterstock ID 54193582; Your name (First / Last): Josh Vogel; GL account no.: 56530; Netsuite department name: Online Design; Full Product or Project name including edition: Digital Content/Sights

    Triennale di Milano

    Milan

    Italy’s first Triennale took place in 1923 in Monza. It aimed to promote Italian design and applied arts, and its success led to the construction of…

  • Exterior of Biblioteca e Pinacoteca Ambrosiana.

    Biblioteca e Pinacoteca Ambrosiana

    Duomo & San Babila

    One of Europe’s earliest public libraries (built 1609), the Biblioteca Ambrosiana was more a symbol of intellectual ferment than of quiet scholarship. It…

  • Entrance to Palazzo Clerici

    Palazzo Clerici

    Duomo & San Babila

    The blank façade of this 18th-century palace disguises the most extravagant interiors in Milan, including a golden hall frescoed by Tiepolo. It was owned…

  • Milan, Italy - August 21, 2021: Milan, Lombardy, Italy: cloister of the Santa Maria delle Grazie church
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    Basilica di Santa Maria delle Grazie

    Corso Magenta & Sant'Ambrogio

    Begun by Guiniforte Solari in 1463, with later additions by Bramante, this handsome Lombard church encapsulates the magnificence of the Milanese court of…

  • View of the Palazzo Reale

    Palazzo Reale

    Duomo & San Babila

    Empress Maria Theresa’s favourite architect, Giuseppe Piermarini, gave this town hall and Visconti palace a neoclassical overhaul in the late 18th century…

  • Interior of Museo Poldi Pezzoli.

    Museo Poldi Pezzoli

    Milan

    At the age of 24 Gian Giacomo Poldi Pezzoli had inherited not only his family fortune, but also his mother’s love of art. After extensive travels in which…

  • Chiesa di Santa Maria Presso di San Satiro exterior.

    Chiesa di Santa Maria Presso di San Satiro

    Duomo & San Babila

    Here’s an escape from the Zara/Benetton/H&M maelstrom on Via Torino. Ludovico Sforza saw potential in this little church built on top of the 9th-century…

  • Entrance to the Torre Branca

    Torre Branca

    Milan

    Giò Ponti's spindly 1933 steel tower (built in two months flat for a Triennale exhibition) provides a fantastic 108m-high viewing platform over Parco…

  • Pirelli HangarBicocca

    Milan

    This stunning, multipurpose exhibition space inhabits a huge former locomotive factory on the outskirts of Milan. Temporary exhibits include smartly…

  • Studio Museo Achille Castiglioni

    Milan

    Architect, designer and teacher Achille Castiglioni was one of Italy’s most influential 20th-century thinkers. This is the studio where he worked until…

  • Fiera Milano

    Milan

    Massimiliano Fuksas’ brilliantly engineered exhibition space was built on the Agip oil refinery in Rho-Pero, around 40 minutes out of town by metro. In…

  • Basilica di Sant’Eustorgio exterior.

    Basilica di Sant'Eustorgio

    Milan

    Built in the 4th century to house the bones of the Three Kings, Sant'Eustorgio is one of Milan's oldest churches. Its harmonious exterior belies its…

  • Street view of Mudec museum of culture.

    Museo delle Culture

    Milan

    Aiming to be a place of dialogue between people and world cultures, Milan's Museum of Culture, housed in the ex-Ansaldo factory, has an ambitious remit…

  • View of the Piazza degli Affari

    Piazza degli Affari

    Corso Magenta & Sant'Ambrogio

    Home to the Italian stock exchange (Palazzo della Borsa), this square is a famous hub of financial activity. But that’s not all it’s known for. In the…

  • Milan,  Italy - July 15, 2020: generally crowded with tourists and office men on their lunch break is very peaceful and quiet desert
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    Biblioteca degli Alberi

    Porta Garibaldi & Isola

    Against a backdrop of shimmering skyscrapers and the Bosco Verticale, this modern urban park bustles with activity. Sprawling lawns, a rich variety of…

  • Il Grande Museo del Duomo (museum) entrance.

    Il Grande Museo del Duomo

    Duomo & San Babila

    Stepping through Guido Canali’s glowing spaces in the Duomo's museum is like coming upon the sets for a Game of Thrones episode. Gargoyles leer down…

  • The Giardini Pubblici Indro Montanelli entrance.

    Giardini Pubblici Indro Montanelli

    Milan

    A life story unfolds as you follow pebble paths past bumper cars and a carousel, onwards past games of football, kissing teens, a beer kiosk, babies in…

  • Grand entrance to Civico Museo Archeologico

    Civico Museo Archeologico

    Corso Magenta & Sant'Ambrogio

    The 8th-century Monastero Maggiore, once the most important Benedictine convent in the city, is now home to Milan's archaeological museum. Access is via a…

  • La Vigna di Leonardo entrance

    La Vigna di Leonardo

    Corso Magenta & Sant'Ambrogio

    Behind the 15th-century Casa degli Atellani, home of Renaissance courtiers dell’Atella, lies one of the most interesting gardens in Milan. Set within them…

  • View of Arco della Pace

    Arco della Pace

    Milan

    Situated at the northwestern edge of Parco Sempione is Napoleon's 25m-high triumphal arch. Designed by Luigi Cagnola in 1807, it echoes Paris' Arc de…

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