8-9 hours in Milan

Try to make an appointment to see The Last Supper. Tickets sell out fast but, if you look early, you might be able to get them. It is very much worth seeing and it doesn't take much time. The Ambrosiana and Brera art galleries are nice, if you are into art, and they don't require tickets purchased in advance. On the other hand, it is nice to just walk around and go where the wind takes you so no matter what you choose I think you will enjoy Milan.

We did a tour that included the Last Supper and glad we did. We got to see other thing of interest (La Scala, the Galleria) and since the time you are actually allowed in the room with the Last Supper is only 15 minutes, it would have been disappointing to see only that.

I guess I'm wondering if the tours are worth the cost and the potential risk of doing that on arrival day.

If we did choose a tour, is one preferable? Any ideas for how to spend the evening?

what's your experience with jet lag? Yeah arrival day is tough. But on the other hand, a tour means you don't have to think or plan too much.

I spent 7.5 hours in Milan in December. It was worth it.

I saw the Duomo and went to the Duomo museum (included in ticket) and it was very cool and you could spend a while or zip right through.

I chose not to sit down for food so that I could see more and unless there is a specific restaurant you've got to have or you need a break, I wouldn't take the time for a formal midday meal. I say have some of the fun casual (All'antico Vinnaio, Panzerotti Luini, or sit at the old school counter at Panini di Santis) and/or gelato options and then have dinner at or around your hotel before you crash.

Some say you don't have time for a tour if you only have a few hours but I felt I didn't have time not to. I took a guruwalk overview (1.5-1 hours, not the 3 hour variety) and I got such fun details and historic context that everything I saw the rest of the time was more meaningful.

I went to the Starbucks Reserve Roastery because my sister is a Starbucks fanatic and it's cool if that's your thing. I wouldn't spend time on it if you don't like Starbucks, but if you do, they have some amazing looking pastry and lunch fare and it's a sight to behold.

After the Duomo, when you walk through the Galleria you can turn your heal on the bull mosaic if you're superstitious or feeling silly. When I was there, the Christmas markets were open and there were a lot of street musicians and even a comedy puppet show, but if I had walked around more, I would have spent my time central even if there were things I'd have liked to see further out. With only 8-9 hours, I wouldn't want to spend 1 or 2 of them on the bus or metro. The walking tour also took me by some of the more famous sites I wouldn't have had time to go inside and gave me a quick overview like
Sforzesco Castle, Arco della Pace (from a distance), Teatro alla Scala, past Via Montenapoleone and Via della Spiga, etc...

I went to Mercato Centrale, but it's just a high end food court. If you need to use a clean restroom (free) and get out of weather or people who want to eat different things, it's great, but I wouldn't include it as a destination.

I hope you have a blast!

Stan- on our last two trips with similar time differences we both did pretty well and managed to enjoy the day. I'm fairly confident that the same will be true this time around.

Sleight- do you have the name of the tour you took? Did it include the Last Supper? How much walking was involved and at what pace?

Mom can walk most of the day but needs to do so at her own pace and with flexible breaks. She doesn't do well with lots of stairs or repetitive inclines.

Make sure you visit the Duomo roof as it's really interesting and a lot of fun. I visited in the early afternoon and there were groups of teenagers and families eating picnic lunches on the roof! I was a bit surprised but my niece's Milan friend said "everyone does it". So if you want lunch with a difference buy some takeout and head for the roof.

Hi everyone

I've mapped out a rough idea of how we're planning to spend our short time there - realizing we may be exhausted and have a very full itinerary afterwards.

How does this look for a brief overview of the city? Note, we could not get tickets to the Last Supper..

Saturday, March 18th -MILAN
Flight lands at MXP 9:40am
Take Malpensa Express to Milano Centrale, walk to hotel - Spice Hotel - 2 mins
Can we buy tickets once we arrive? How?
12:30pm: Leave hotel, take Metro to Piazza del Duomo (9 mins)
1:30pm: Lunch (where?)
2:30pm: Duomo
Tour cathedral and go up to the terrace
4:00pm: Galleria Vittorio Emanuelle
Take a spin on the bull in the floor for good luck
4:30pm: See La Scala Theatre (outside)
5:30pm: Sforzesco Castle (outside)
Dinner - where?
Explore, pick up a few souvenirs
Back to hotel

I think this seems reasonable - what do you think?

PQ

Take Malpensa Express to Milano Centrale, walk to hotel - Spice Hotel - 2 mins
Can we buy tickets once we arrive? How?

There is a ticket window at the airport train station, also a Trenord ticket machine. You can also download the Trenitalia app and buy the tickets while waiting for your luggage to come off the carousel.

Dinner - where?

Antica Osteria Cavallini is just 3 blocks from your hotel is excellent. Dinner at 7:00 pm and walk to your hotel.
https://www.anticaosteriacavallini.it/

I've visited a LOT of churches and a lot of church museums and enjoyed them all, but if you are looking for something to skip (I've read your other posts!), I would skip the interior of Milan's duomo and just take the elevator to the roof. If you ask, you might be able to take the elevator down, too (I'm thinking about your mother, although I walked up and down the stairs OK with a bad hip).

It's hard to "get a feel" for Milan --- it's very big and has a lot of very different neighborhoods. Take one of the old streetcars, if you can --- more fun than the metro.

Speaking of transport, you can get a day ticket for central Milan for 4.50 EUR per person. Buy at a Tabac (news stand) to avoid the "helpers" that hang around the Metro ticket machines. 3 trips and it pays for itself. You can take the No 1 tram from the front of Cadorna station (near Castello Sforza) to Piazza Cincinnato, one block from aforementioned Antica Osteria Cavallini.

Thanks so much for the feedback!

The inside of the Duomo is a must see for us but I can understand why some might skip it!

For lunch, I was looking at a panini spot called Cesarino- any experience with it?

Sam- that spot looks beautiful, albeit a bit fancy for our tastes I think. Any recommendations for a more mom and pop type place that wouldn't mind two exhausted travelers?

Thanks again to you both!

PQ

If you need a destination to kill some time and you do not feel like walking a lot, about 7 minutes walking from the Duomo there is the baroque church of San Bernardino alle Ossa. A whole chapel is decorated using skulls and bones from a nearby hospital cimitery ground. It is a really weird place, and out of the main tourist circuits; a sort of five-minutes gothic nightmare. I was astounded in visiting it for the first time; in spite of having attended five years of superior music school in a nearby district, it was completely new to me till a friend brought me there.

Once upon a time, a visit to Milan was not successful without having a look the to La Rinascente, the luxury shop on the left side of the Duomo. Their top floor restaurants are a good if a bit expensive choice for a quick lunch. The -1 floor is full of small design trinkets that could be good souvenirs.

A good idea to get the feel could be https://atmosfera.atm.it - having a dinner on a 1928 tram (very like the ones in San Francisco) going around the city. But I am afraid that by dinner time you will be exhausted.

Your plan sounds great... a brisk but reasonable pace.

I gotta laugh, because churches in Italy are one of those things people tend not to agree on and no one is right or wrong, which I know is no help if you've never been to one and want advice. I personally loved the interior of the Milan Duomo and have it in my top 3 for Italy, and (gasp) strongly preferred it to St. Peter's. (It's a lot more gothic feeling.)