Milan?

Stayed there a decade ago. Wasn’t bored, ate well, walked a lot. Was there for 36 hours.

Think about how you like to spend your days, how much packing/moving you prefer, etc. Milan just never grabbed me, but that’s pretty meaningless—what is important is what you want to see and do. If I was going to be heading out each day though, I’d probably rather stay somewhere else, but if it is the flexibility you want, you would have that. You could do a week in one place with day trips, or two stays with a week at your disposal. I would not split it more than that, unless just a night before flying out.

I've spent about 3 weeks in Milan since 2024. It's a very good destination if you like art museums and/or Art Nouveau architecture. The Duomo and the Cimitero Monumentale are both spectacular.

Hi Sheila, my honest feedback is that I’ve stayed in 50 cities in Italy, and Milan would be in my bottom 10. There’s nothing wrong with Milan; I just like others much more. You have some good day trips planned. Be sure to take the fastest train to Bologna - an hour vs. three hours. For simplicity, you probably want to stay somewhere like Hotel Berna which is close to Milano Centrale train station. It’s not fancy but convenient.

A few more day trip options from Milan:

• 1 hr to Torino. Lots to do here including a palace, excellent food tour, Egyptian museum, overall grand city. The noble House of Savoy lived here & the opulence shows.
• 1 hr to Cremona. This is a lovely one! The Cathedral & clock tower has such an iconic look, and the church interior is one of the prettiest with the amazing frescoes (look it up on Google images). Also, it’s the city of Stradavari, and there’s an excellent violin museum with short concerts on weekends. This smaller city center will give you that “Italian wow factor” and rarely busy.
• 1 hr to Bergamo. Take the ground funicular or a taxi up to the higher Bergamo Ciita Alta medieval section of the city. Some gorgeous architecture including the stunning Colleoni Chapel made of multiple colors of pink, etc. marble.

We stayed one night many years ago, followed by three nights on a second trip. Haven’t been back since then, with lots of other places to go, but visiting at least once is rewarding. Popular sights we saw:

The renowned Cathedral - some climb to the roof; I haven’t done that

The Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, a 19th Century shopping arcade is across the street from the cathedral. It has a mosaic of zodiac signs on the floor, and a tradition is to spin on Taurus’s testicles on one foot for luck. Apparently they’ve had to repair the tiles repeatedly over the last decade because of this. Lucky for you, not for the bull

If there’s some major sporting event happening at the time, a FanZone will be set up in the piazza in front of the cathedral

da Vinci’s Last Supper (Cenacolo in italian) - this is the only place to see it! Get reserved tickets Online, well ahead of time

At one time, Milan had an extensive canal system. Not quite Venice (it’s inland, so the circumstances were different), but seeing the remaining parts of it was surprisingly interesting

La Scala Opera House - iconic

I stayed 6 days in Milan in April ‘25 and thought it had a lot to offer. I stayed at Hotel Berna, very nice hotel and convenient to the central train station which makes getting to the airport easy, by the way. I loved the churches and the art museums and the general bigger city vibe. The Duomo is spectacular, get the roof tour tickets. Don’t forget the Last Supper. If you are planning to do day trips out of the city you will have no trouble filling your time. I was a solo 75 year old traveler at the time.

I think Milan is a great choice, especially if you’re planning lots of day trips!

I’d recommend spending 2 days exploring Milan itself. There’s plenty to see, and it’s a really nice city to just walk around, enjoy the restaurants, shopping, and local atmosphere.

For day trips, you have so many options! Lake Como, Varenna, Verona, Bologna, Parma, and even Lugano in Switzerland are all easy to reach by train.

Another beautiful option is Lake Maggiore, which I think is often overlooked by tourists. You can arrange a private transfer and spend the day exploring Stresa, visiting the beautiful Borromean Islands, and enjoying the lake views.

Late May is a wonderful time for northern Italy, especially the lakes!

I'm not a fan of Milan but I wouldn't say it's a bad place or not worth visiting. Milan is a big, busy, bustling city full of people going about their Milan business and they have zero interest in your tourist trip. So combine traffic, sometimes crowded metros and the fact that Milan is light on 'must see' sights and it doesn't have a lot of what a lot tourists go to Italy for.

Now if you enjoy urban areas and bustle there are plenty of things to see and do there. There are upscale shopping areas and tons of Italian design and showcase stores and if you like fashion don't miss the Armani Silos - a custom built museum to Armani where you can wander in and around the clothes all out on customs built mannequins. There's a lot of nightlife in several areas including the Navigli - something people find lacking in many smaller Italian cities - so do your homework and enjoy yourselves.

The area around the main train station Milano Centrale is not the best so if you are planning on a lot of day trips I would look for a place near a metro line that will easily get you to the train station for easy access rather than staying near the station itself. The M2 and M3 stop there as well as some of the trams and many buses so there are a lot of options. And I would choose something with easy 'getting home from a long day' access rather than a challenge.

Get the Trenitalia app for the trains and have a great trip,
=Tod

Can you move your time in Milan up a little … to mid May?

Piano City is May 15-17. https://pianocitymilano.it/?lang=en

Piano City was an unexpected surprise and a delight for us in 2015. Free concerts in parks, homes, even on one city tram. Classical and Jazz. Solos and Duets.

Bellissimo.

LATE NOTE - we also enjoyed a tour of the Biblioteca Ambrosiana during our two day/three night stay, as well as the sights we had planned in advance: The Last Supper, the Duomo, the Galleria and a fashionable department store. After all, Milan is a major center for Italian fashion. With only 2-1/2 days and the considerable time we spent enjoying Piano City, we did not take in the Pinacoteca Ambrosiana, La Scala or the Sforza Castle.