High-end shopping, uber-chic fashion, fabulous food and life-affirming historical treasures: if there’s a more stylishly absorbing place to spend 48 hours in than Milan, then we’ve yet to hear about it…
Think: soaking up jaw-dropping cultural treasures by day and tucking into gloriously good eats by night
Here’s How to Spend 48 Hours in Milan:
Day One:
Savour a Religious Experience at the Duomo
After checking into the centrally-located Castello Guest House, jump on the metro, observe how cool everyone looks in their sunglasses, and then alight at Duomo station.
As you ascend the stairs to the piazza, you’ll see the third largest cathedral in the world rise before you in all its ornate, white-marbled glory; its candle-esque spires pointing skyward like deified rockets. Head inside to climb the 250 steps (or take the lift). You’ll be rewarded with views that, on a clear day, extend to the Alps. Heavenly.
Visit the Spiritual Home of Opera
We know, we know: opera isn’t exactly the world’s most accessible form of entertainment. However, you simply cannot come to Milan and not stand humbly before the one opera house on Earth that even people who dislike opera want to visit – La Scala.
If you visit the box office an hour before a show starts, you may – may – just be lucky enough to buy leftover or returned tickets at a hefty discount.
Enjoy Milanese Aperitivo in Navigli
When the day’s ending and you see people finishing work, it’s time to make like the locals and wind down with aperitivo. This is a kind of Milanese ‘happy hour’. It involves kicking back in a bar with a few drinks and tucking into some buffet-style eats. Head for the attractive Navigli district if you have the option – the bars and cafes here boast seating.
Day Two:
Get Up Early to See The Last Supper
Located within the modest Santa Maria delle Grazie church, Leonardo da Vinci’s iconic Last Supper mural is a bucket-list-ticker of the very highest order. Booking ahead is the most sensible way to guarantee a viewing. But, you can also rock up at the ticket office before 8am on the day you’d like to visit.
Any unsold agency tickets will be put back on general sale at this time.
Check Out Europe’s Most Beautiful Shopping Arcade
With its stunning glass ceiling and fabulously ornate 19th century architecture, the impossibly magnificent Galleria Vittorio Emanuele shopping arcade is, quite simply, the Rolls Royce of retail venues. Once you’ve finished window-shopping, take a load off. Our fave activity? Day-dreaming about limitless credit cards in one of the arcade’s super-chic cafes.
Dine On a Luxury Vintage Tram
Is there a better way to round off an evening than eating dreamy Italian food on a gloriously evocative 1930s tram? Thanks to the good folk over at ATMosfera, you can tuck into a fab five-course meal, savour top-notch vino and soak up city vistas, all at the same time. The guest house is only a five-minute walk from where the tram picks up and drops off, too.
