Nearby Attractions
Milan is fashion, design, finance and also art thanks to its precious heritage sites, famous architecture and esteemed masterpieces safeguarded in the city’s many museums.
Milan offers any number of inspirations for cultural routes.
Duomo and Historical Centre
The Duomo, majestically overlooking the large eponymous piazza, is unquestionably one of the major symbols of Milan, together with the Teatro alla Scala and the Castello Sforzesco. However, the city centre, which has long been identified with the economy and finance of Piazza degli Affari, has a lot more to offer visitors: to the eastern side of the piazza lies Corso Vittorio Emanuele which is one of the city’s busiest shopping thoroughfares ; to the north is the stunning Galleria Vittorio Emanuele, Milan’s sitting room; to the south, via Torino, a major commercial artery from which narrow and picturesque streets branch off leading to enticing tucked-away corners of Milan; then to the west is the medieval Piazza dei Mercanti and the scenic Via Dante from which visitors can admire the Castello Sforzesco.
Castello Sforzesco and Parco Sempione
Parco Sempione - a green lung in the centre of Milan - is also strategic for planning a city visit. It constitutes a gateway to the centre, through the Castello, and to other places of interest that are well worth visiting: from the Arena Civica to the Arco della Pace, the Triennale and the Torre Branca. It is also an advantageous starting point for a stroll through Chinatown.
Grandiose symbol of Sforza’s Milan, the Castello is the city’s most important defensive monument.
The Castello, however, is not only a testimony of the past but also a cultural centre as it hosts the Milanese civic museums
The Brera district and San Marco
The name Brera evokes the artists and intellectuals who regularly frequented the quarter at the turn of the century, but it also brings to mind its current identity as a fashionable and popular haunt steeped in culture: from the Pinacoteca to the Teatro Strehler and the historic headquarters of the Corriere della Sera. Not to mention the churches of San Marco and San Simpliciano with their musical events.
The district spans out around via Brera in the area between the ancient Roman and medieval city walls and its name derives from "Braida", a term of Lombard origin which indicated a field near the city. In fact, during the Middle Ages, the area upon which the current district stands was a free space within the walls.
Ticinese district and the Navigli
The district, which extends along the Via Torino and corso di Porta Ticinese axis, is one of the oldest in Milan and owes its name to the eponymous city gate. The historical and cultural heritage present in the vicinity, including the Roman circus, the amphitheatre, the basilicas of San Lorenzo and Sant'Eustorgio and the Diocesan Museum, reveals a stratified urban fabric where the ancient city and contemporary style meet and live side by side. It is a very popular evening meeting place for young people and, over time, the district has developed a strong commercial inclination with an enormous choice of bars, cafes and restaurants.
Isola, Garibaldi and Porta Nuova
This urban area is a fusion of tradition and modernity, a melange of history and of innovation. On the one hand there is the Isola district - which conserves its own independent identity - and on the other the newly redeveloped Porta Nuova district that has changed the face of a large portion of Milan, fostering new connections between places that were previously completely separated. And then there is Porta Garibaldi with its buzzing nightlife and Cimitero Monumentale, Milan’s open-air museum.
