Milan keeps its best material behind doors and courtyards, and two of its headline sights, The Last Supper and the Duomo rooftops, run on timed tickets that shape a trip before anything else does. Book those first, then build outward on foot and by metro through Brera, the castle, the western basilicas and the canals, which cost nothing and reward slow walking.
The top 15, ranked
Ranked by how consistently each pick appears across official Milan sources, the local destination marketing organization, and recent independent roundups.
- Top pick
#1Best for Architecture · #1 of 15Duomo di Milano and the rooftop terraces
Historic SiteThe Duomo and the historic centerOpen daily on timed entry with the terraces closing before the cathedral, and access is restricted during services and in severe weatherTicketedSix centuries of building produced the largest Gothic cathedral in Italy, a forest of pink Candoglia marble carrying more than three thousand statues and a gilded Madonnina on the highest spire. The rare part is that visitors can walk the roof itself, out among the flying buttresses and pinnacles at the level of the carving, with the Alps visible to the north on a clear day.
Local tipStairs and lift to the terraces are sold as separate tickets at different prices, so decide before buying, since the lift queue is usually longer than the two hundred and fifty step climb.
- Top pick
#2Best for Art · #2 of 15The Last Supper at Santa Maria delle Grazie
Historic SiteMagenta, Sant'Ambrogio and the westClosed one day a week and on some public holidays, with entry only by advance timed reservation and no walk up ticketsTicketedLeonardo painted the wall of a Dominican refectory between 1495 and 1498 using an experimental technique that began failing almost immediately, which is why the surviving image is faint and why the room is now climate controlled. Visitors pass through air locked chambers into a hall where the mural still governs the perspective of the whole space from the far end.
Local tipAdmission is a strictly timed fifteen minute slot for a small group, released in blocks a few months at a time, and the popular hours are gone within a day of release.
- Top pick
#3Best for Architecture · #3 of 15Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II
Neighborhood LandmarkThe Duomo and the historic centerThe arcade itself is open and free at all hours, while the shops and cafes inside keep normal retail hoursFreeGiuseppe Mengoni's arcade of 1865 links the cathedral square to the opera house under a glass and iron dome nearly fifty meters high, and it is usually called the oldest shopping mall in the world. Mosaic floors, painted lunettes and a central octagon of luxury houses and old cafes make it a landmark first and a shopping street second.
Local tipTradition says spinning a heel on the mosaic bull in the octagon brings luck, and generations of visitors have worn a visible hollow into the tiles doing it.
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#4Best for History · #4 of 15Castello Sforzesco
Historic SiteBrera, the castle and the northThe museums close one day a week and on major holidays, while the courtyards keep much longer daily hours and cost nothingFree with paid optionsThe Visconti fortress rebuilt by Francesco Sforza in the fifteenth century now holds a dozen municipal museums behind its brick walls and moat, covering ancient art, furniture, musical instruments, armor and Egyptian antiquities. Its single most important object is Michelangelo's unfinished Pieta Rondanini, still being carved in the last week of his life and shown alone in a former hospital hall.
Local tipThe courtyards and ramparts can be walked for nothing at any time of day, so the ticket is only needed for the museum rooms themselves.
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#5Best for Art · #5 of 15Pinacoteca di Brera
MuseumBrera, the castle and the northClosed one day a week and on some public holidays, with late openings on certain evenings and timed entry in busy periodsTicketedNapoleon founded this gallery in 1809 inside a Jesuit palace it still shares with the fine arts academy, and it holds one of the strongest collections of Italian painting anywhere. Mantegna's foreshortened Dead Christ, Piero della Francesca's Montefeltro altarpiece, Raphael's Marriage of the Virgin and Hayez's The Kiss all hang within a few rooms of each other.
Local tipThe surrounding Brera lanes are the most walkable part of central Milan, so treat the gallery as the anchor of an afternoon rather than a single stop.
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#6Best for Culture · #6 of 15Teatro alla Scala
Music VenueThe Duomo and the historic centerThe museum opens most days on its own timetable, while performances follow a season that runs from December through the following autumnTicketedThe opera house that opened in 1778 remains the most storied stage in Italy, tied to Verdi, Puccini, Toscanini and Callas, and it still runs a full season of opera, ballet and concerts. The theater museum next door holds instruments, costumes and portraits, and its route usually includes a look into the red and gold auditorium from a box.
Local tipRehearsals close the auditorium to museum visitors without notice, and restricted view gallery seats for performances are far cheaper than the stalls if you only want to hear the house.
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#7Best for Families · #7 of 15Museo Nazionale Scienza e Tecnologia Leonardo da Vinci
MuseumMagenta, Sant'Ambrogio and the westClosed one day a week, with longer hours at weekends and school holidays and the interactive labs running on their own timetableTicketedItaly's largest science and technology museum fills a sixteenth century monastery and its later halls with locomotives, aircraft, ships and the submarine Enrico Toti, which visitors can go inside. The Leonardo galleries hold the biggest collection of historical models built from his drawings, which makes this the practical companion to The Last Supper a few streets away.
Local tipThe submarine runs on separate timed tickets that sell out early in the day, so book that slot at the same time as general admission.
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#8Best for Nightlife · #8 of 15The Navigli
Neighborhood LandmarkNavigli and the southThe canal banks are open and free at all hours, with the bars and restaurants busiest from early evening onwardFree with paid optionsMilan was once laced with canals that carried the marble for the cathedral, and two of them survive south of the old walls, lined with low houses, artisan courtyards and the wide Darsena basin. The district is quiet and workmanlike by day and becomes the main aperitivo strip in the city after dark, when the water reflects the bar fronts along both banks.
Local tipA large antiques market takes over the Naviglio Grande towpath on the last Sunday of most months, which is the one day the district is worth crossing town for in daylight.
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#9Best for Families · #9 of 15San Siro stadium and museum
TourMagenta, Sant'Ambrogio and the westMuseum and tours run most days on a rolling timetable, with reduced access on matchdays and closures for concerts and major eventsTicketedOfficially the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza, San Siro has been shared by both Milan clubs since 1947 and seats around seventy five thousand under its distinctive spiral ramps and red girders. The tour takes in the stands, the tunnel and the dressing rooms when they are free, and the museum below holds trophies and shirts from both sides of the city rivalry.
Local tipTours are cut back or cancelled around fixtures and event days, so check the match calendar first and expect the dressing rooms to be off limits close to kickoff.
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#10Best for History · #10 of 15Basilica di Sant'Ambrogio
Historic SiteMagenta, Sant'Ambrogio and the westFree entry outside services on a split morning and afternoon pattern, with small charges for the treasury and the San Vittore chapelFree with paid optionsFounded by the city's patron bishop in the fourth century and rebuilt in brick in the eleventh, this is the model that Lombard Romanesque architecture across northern Italy was copied from. A colonnaded atrium opens onto a low, dim nave holding Vuolvinius's ninth century golden altar, and the crypt below displays the remains of Ambrose and two martyrs in a glass case.
Local tipIt closes for a long midday break like most working Milanese churches, so aim for the morning or the later afternoon rather than lunchtime.
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#11Best for Art · #11 of 15Museo del Novecento
MuseumThe Duomo and the historic centerClosed one day a week and on some holidays, with late evening opening on certain nights and reduced admission in the final hoursTicketedThe twentieth century collection occupies the Arengario on the cathedral square, entered by a spiral ramp that climbs to Pellizza da Volpedo's Fourth Estate. From there the rooms run through Futurism, the interwar years, Spatialism and Arte Povera, ending in a hall of Lucio Fontana neon with a full width window looking straight at the flank of the Duomo.
Local tipThe Fontana room and its cathedral view are the reason to come at dusk, when the marble outside is lit and the gallery is at its emptiest.
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#12Best for Art · #12 of 15Cimitero Monumentale
Historic SiteBrera, the castle and the northClosed one day a week, otherwise open free on a daytime pattern with the gates shut well before darkFreeMilan's great families commissioned tombs here from the 1860s onward and the result is an open air sculpture collection rather than a graveyard, with bronze Last Suppers, obelisks, temples and modernist slabs along gravel avenues. The Famedio at the entrance is a neo medieval hall of honor holding Alessandro Manzoni and other figures the city claims as its own.
Local tipAdmission is free and a printed map at the gate marks the notable monuments, which is the difference between a walk and an aimless wander.
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#13Best for Outdoors · #13 of 15Parco Sempione and the Arco della Pace
ParkBrera, the castle and the northThe park is free and open daily from early morning until late, with the tower, aquarium and design museum each keeping their own limited hoursFree with paid optionsThe old ducal hunting ground behind the castle was laid out as an English style park in the 1890s and runs forty hectares from the fortress walls to the pink marble Arco della Pace. Inside it stand the Triennale design museum, the civic aquarium, an arena built under Napoleon and the Torre Branca, a 1933 steel tower with a lift to a panoramic platform.
Local tipThe Torre Branca opens on a short and seasonal timetable, so treat the view as a bonus and the park itself as the reason to walk through.
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#14Best for Art · #14 of 15Fondazione Prada
MuseumNavigli and the southClosed one or two days a week depending on the season, with the exhibition program changing several times a yearTicketedRem Koolhaas converted a 1910 gin distillery south of the center into a contemporary art campus, keeping the industrial sheds and adding new volumes plus a four story tower clad in gold leaf. Exhibitions are ambitious and change often, and Bar Luce was designed by Wes Anderson as a pastel reconstruction of a mid century Milanese cafe.
Local tipIt sits well south of the tourist circuit but is a few minutes from the Lodi metro stop, and the bar can be visited without a gallery ticket.
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#15Best for Architecture · #15 of 15Porta Nuova and the Bosco Verticale
Neighborhood LandmarkBrera, the castle and the northThe piazzas, gardens and walkways are public and open at all hours, and the towers themselves are private residences and officesFreeA derelict rail yard north of the old city became Italy's most visible piece of new architecture in the 2010s, centered on the raised circle of Piazza Gae Aulenti below the Unicredit tower. Beside it stand the two towers of the Bosco Verticale, whose balconies carry several hundred mature trees, and a network of footbridges and gardens links the whole district to Isola.
Local tipGo at dusk when the fountains and the tower lighting come on, and walk north into Isola, which is where the neighborhood bars and shops actually are.
Where things cluster
Milan is compact enough to cross on foot, and these four clusters are the order most visitors end up working through.
- The Duomo and the historic centerThe cathedral square and the streets around it, holding the Duomo and its rooftops, the Galleria, La Scala, the Museo del Novecento and the luxury grid of the Quadrilatero a few blocks northeast. Everything here is within a ten minute walk.
- Brera, the castle and the northThe quarter above the center, from Castello Sforzesco and Parco Sempione through the gallery lanes of Brera to the Monumental Cemetery and the new towers of Porta Nuova. Walkable end to end, with one metro leg to the northern edge.
- Magenta, Sant'Ambrogio and the westThe western streets carrying Santa Maria delle Grazie and The Last Supper, the Romanesque basilica of Sant'Ambrogio and the science museum between them, with San Siro further out on the metro. Two of these fill a morning comfortably.
- Navigli and the southSouth of the old walls, where the surviving canals meet the Darsena basin and the aperitivo bars line both towpaths, with the Fondazione Prada campus a few metro stops southeast. Best from late afternoon onward.
Make it a day
Two booked slots and a walk between them
Take an early Duomo and rooftop ticket, cut through the Galleria to La Scala, then walk up to Castello Sforzesco and the Brera lanes for the middle of the day. Hold an afternoon slot for The Last Supper out west, and end on the Navigli when the bars put their tables out.
The center, then the edges
Day one covers the core, with the Duomo and its roof in the morning, the Galleria and La Scala at midday and Brera and the castle through the afternoon. Day two runs west for The Last Supper and Sant'Ambrogio, then south to Fondazione Prada or the Navigli, with the Monumental Cemetery slotted in if the weather is good.
A roof, a submarine and a stadium
Climb the Duomo terraces first, since walking on a cathedral roof beats looking at one from below, then spend the middle of the day at the science museum where the submarine and the locomotives are the draw. Keep the afternoon for the castle courtyards and Parco Sempione, or swap in a San Siro tour if there is a football fan in the group.
Map
Best time to visit
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Late spring and early autumn give warm, mostly dry days that suit walking between the western basilicas and the canals, and the light on the cathedral marble is at its best. August is hot, humid and half shuttered as the city empties for the holidays, winter brings cold and fog with the shortest queues of the year, and the design and fashion weeks fill every hotel in the city whenever they land.
Milan things to do FAQ
Parking, timing, cost, and weather answers for a smoother visit.
How far in advance do you need to book The Last Supper?
As far ahead as you can. Entry is a fixed fifteen minute slot for a small group, tickets are released in blocks covering a few months at a time, and the convenient hours are usually gone within a day or two of each release. There are no tickets at the door, and if the official window is sold out the only remaining route is a guided tour that has bought its allocation in advance, at a much higher price.
How many days do you need in Milan?
Two full days covers the cathedral and its roof, the Galleria, the castle, Brera and The Last Supper without rushing. A third day allows the science museum, the Navigli, Fondazione Prada or a stadium tour, and makes the ticket timings much easier to arrange. Milan is also the usual base for a day trip to Lake Como or Bergamo, which is worth budgeting for separately.
Should you take the stairs or the lift to the Duomo terraces?
They are sold as different tickets at different prices, so the choice has to be made at the point of buying. The stairs are around two hundred and fifty steps, cost noticeably less and usually move faster because the lift queue collects everyone who did not plan. Anyone with limited mobility, small children or a tight schedule should pay for the lift, and both tickets give the same access once you are on the roof.
What is the best way to get around Milan?
The historic core is small enough to cross on foot in about twenty minutes, and the metro handles everything beyond it, including San Siro and Fondazione Prada. A single urban ticket covers metro, tram and bus for a set period with changes, and daily and multi day passes are available. The old orange trams are ordinary public transport rather than a tourist ride, so they cost the same as anything else.
What can you see in Milan for free?
The Galleria, the castle courtyards and ramparts, Parco Sempione, the Navigli towpaths, the Monumental Cemetery, Piazza Gae Aulenti and the interior of Sant'Ambrogio all cost nothing. Several civic museums also drop their charge in the last hour or on set evenings. That is a full day in the city without a ticket, which is worth knowing given how much the booked sights add up.
Which day of the week do Milan's museums close?
Most of the big ones close on Monday, including The Last Supper, the Pinacoteca di Brera, the Castello Sforzesco museums and the Monumental Cemetery. The Duomo, the Galleria, the parks and the canals stay open, so a Monday is best spent outdoors or on the cathedral roof. Check individual sites before building a plan around any single museum, since holiday closures vary.
Keep planning
Use these nearby guides to extend your Milan trip with a different pace and a clear next stop.
Hero image: Duomo di Milano and the rooftop terraces, photograph by Jakub Hałun, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Cropped to 16:9. Image credits. #1 Duomo di Milano and the rooftop terraces: Jakub Hałun, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons. #2 The Last Supper at Santa Maria delle Grazie: Luca Aless, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons. #3 Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II: FrDr, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons. #4 Castello Sforzesco: Yorick39, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons. #5 Pinacoteca di Brera: Chabe01, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons. #6 Teatro alla Scala: Yair Haklai, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons. #7 Museo Nazionale Scienza e Tecnologia Leonardo da Vinci: Threecharlie, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons. #8 The Navigli: Chabe01, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons. #9 San Siro stadium and museum: Marco Assini, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons. #10 Basilica di Sant'Ambrogio: Andrzej Otrębski, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons. #11 Museo del Novecento: Fred Romero, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons. #12 Cimitero Monumentale: Pierre André Leclercq, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons. #13 Parco Sempione and the Arco della Pace: Jose Hidalgo from Punta Arenas y South Lake Tahoe, Chile y California, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons. #14 Fondazione Prada: Sailko, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons. #15 Porta Nuova and the Bosco Verticale: Daniel Case, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.