Milan Travel Guide: Art, Food & Day Trips to the Italian Lakes

Milan confounds expectations in the best possible way. Italy’s fashion and financial capital gets dismissed by some as ‘not the real Italy’ — too busy, too expensive, not enough ruins. We’d push back. Milan is one of the most sophisticated cities in Europe, with world-class art, food that rivals anywhere in the country, and a design culture unlike anywhere else.

Start at the Duomo — one of the largest Gothic cathedrals in the world. The rooftop walk among the marble spires is extraordinary. Book rooftop access separately. The Piazza del Duomo itself is the city’s living room: chaotic, beautiful, and the best spot for people-watching.

Leonardo’s The Last Supper is a pilgrimage. It’s housed in the refectory of Santa Maria delle Grazie and can only be seen by timed-entry groups of 25. Book months in advance. Standing before the actual painting, at actual scale, is humbling in a way no reproduction quite conveys.

The Navigli canals in the evening are the antidote to all the high culture — aperitivo hour along the canal banks, Aperol spritzes, cicchetti and charcuterie. This is Milan letting its hair down. Lake Como is 45 minutes by train and among the most beautiful places on Earth.