How well do you know Milan? It’s Italy’s fashion capital, an immaculately tailored city that embraces elegant style and innovative design. It’s also a business capital, a dynamic powerhouse and Italy’s wealthiest city in its wealthiest region of Lombardy. Then there’s Milan’s famous majestic Cathedral, a Gothic beauty of white marble and 135 steeples, the largest church in Italy that took 600 years to complete.

Yet Milan offers so much more. It might not display its beauty as brazenly as Venice or Florence but visitors prepared to look a little deeper will find a forward-thinking city with an intriguing past. Come to explore its beautiful art and design, to shop in a city overflowing with exuberant style and to sample a culinary scene that encompasses both affogato and Michelin stars. For a luxurious short break that packs a spirit-soaring Italian punch, look to Milan.

Art and Architecture

Milan boasts sculptures by Michelangelo, churches by Bramante and modern art by Picasso but above all it is closely associated with Leonardo da Vinci. He arrived in Milan in 1482 as an engineer to redesign the canal network and today his legacy is seen in the Codex Atlantico, a collection of 400 folios of his writings and drawings and most notably The Last Supper, the stirring fresco painted on a refectory wall in the convent of Santa Maria delle Grazie.

Other artistic highlights include the Brera Gallery with one of Italy’s most important collections showing works by Raphael, Caravaggio and Bellini. Mantegna’s Dead Christ, a mastery of perspective, is a particular highlight. Dive into San Maurizio al Monastero Maggiore to see the luminous frescos by Leonardo’s student Luini and the Museo del Novecento for an overview of 20th Century Italian art.

Milan is a walkable, compact city. Beautiful Liberty buildings, Italy’s Art Nouveau, are matched by more modern design but there is medieval, baroque and renaissance architecture too. Climb to the roof of the Cathedral to be rewarded with mesmerising views of the city and its architecture.

The Cathedral aside, Milan is generally understated rather like its fashionable inhabitants. It has grand spectacles and spell-binding artistry but you need to know where to look. San Satiro is an excellent example, a quiet Renaissance church only five minutes-walk from the Duomo with a magical illusionary apse by Bramante.

Gourmet Milan

Milan has the highest number of restaurants in Italy per resident and no stay would be complete without sampling some of its legendary dishes. Risotto alla Milanese is one of the best, wonderfully glossy yellow saffron rice often topped with ossobuco or veal shanks. Traditional dishes are hearty, warming casseroles, chunky meatballs (mondeghili), cutlets (cotoletta) and minestrone soup. Bring home a panettone, another Milanese original, now traditionally given as a Christmas treat.

Milan celebrated 2020 with a total of 20 restaurants receiving Michelin stars. Top billing goes to three-star Enrico Bartolini at MUDEC, a flavour-filled mix of traditional recipes and sophisticated presentation.

Milan might be business-minded by day but it is also the city that developed the aperitivo, the drink that marks the start of evening relaxation. It is the birthplace of the negroni, a heady mix of campari, vermouth and gin, not shaken but stirred. Or perhaps try a dry zucca, a bittersweet liquor named after a Milanese bar and the drink of choice of Verdi back in 1850 before he headed off to work at La Scala.

Shopping

Milan is a city with soul and nowhere more so than its prestigious and world famed Quadrilatero della Moda, an area filled with illustrious designer names and small unique boutiques. Walk up the Via Manzoni, the Via Montenapoleone or Via dell Spiga to discover why Milan is the capital of fashion. The Corsa Venezia is Milan’s Fifth Avenue, a noble street of Liberty buildings filled with elegance and style.

Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II is nicknamed Milan’s drawing room, a magnificent nineteenth century covered arcade regarded as Italy’s oldest shopping mall. Its grand steel and glass canopy inspired the Eiffel Tower and its beautiful mosaic floors and uniform gold lettering on a black background along with luxury shops and cafés provide a dramatic and elegant shopping experience.

After all that shopping you’ll need a sophisticated city centre base. Five-star hotels include the Mandarin Oriental, perfectly placed for Quadrilatero della Moda and Four Seasons Milan in the centre of the Fashion District. Other options include Hotel Principe di Savoie, Hotel Manzoni, the Bulgari and of course the Armani Hotel, named for the designer who has arguably done more than anyone in modern times to put Milan firmly on the world’s radar.

For further details on Milan head to http://www.italia.it/en/home.html

Before arrival, all travellers should ensure they are fully up to date and compliant with the latest COVID-19 regulations.

One Night Free Promotion

Milan is waiting for you. To help you extend your stay, enjoy a night on us. Fly into either of Milan’s two airports, Linate or Malpensa, and show your ticket to a participating hotel to receive a night’s accommodation for free. For full details and all terms and conditions: https://www.yesmilano.it/en/fly-to-milano