Duomo di Milano and the rooftop
Duomo · 120 min
Take the timed opening slot and go up to the roof first while it is empty, then down into the nave. Shoulders and knees covered, hats off, no large bags; the check at the door turns people away.
€26
Milan · Italy · 2 days
2 days in Milan
Two days: the Duomo roof at opening, the Galleria, La Scala and Brera with an aperitivo, then The Last Supper (the slot you book months out), the castle and a canal-side evening. Two tickets before you fly, the rest on a tap of your card.
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Checked October 10, 2026. That’s the day we last confirmed the hours, prices and closed days.
- 2 days
- 17 stops
- 6 with a ticket
- from €100 a day
When to go
April to June and September to October are the months to come: mild, bright, and the terraces are out. Avoid the week of the Salone del Mobile in mid-April and the two fashion weeks (late February, late September) unless you are here for them; hotels triple. August is hot and half the city shuts around August 15. December has the lights, the Oh Bej! Oh Bej! fair at the castle and La Scala's opening night on December 7; January and February are gray and cold but empty.
Where to base yourself
Brera for the evenings and both days on foot; Porta Venezia for Liberty architecture, good restaurants and the M1 to the Duomo in five minutes; Navigli or Porta Genova for the canals and nightlife, ten minutes by M2 to the castle. The streets around Centrale are convenient for trains and dull after dark.
Getting around
Walk the center; the Duomo to Brera is 15 minutes. For anything longer, tap a contactless card or phone at the metro gate on the way in and again on the way out: €2.20 a ride, capped at €7.60 a day, one card per person. On trams and buses tap once as you board. Paper single tickets are being phased out in 2026, so the card or the ATM app is the way; a three-day ticket is €15.50 if you prefer one purchase. Taxis are at ranks and by app, not hailed.
Day 1
The Duomo, La Scala and Brera
- FromYour hotel in Brera
- 1
- 3 min · walk
- 2
Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II
Duomo · 30 min
The glass-roofed arcade between the Duomo and La Scala, where you spin a heel on the bull mosaic and drink a coffee standing at Camparino's bar. A table costs several times the price.
- 3 min · walk
- 3
Museo Teatrale alla Scala
Scala · 60 min
Verdi's and Puccini's rooms, then a third-tier box looking into the red and gold auditorium, as long as no rehearsal is on. Open daily 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., last entry 5 p.m.
€12
- 4 min · walk
- 4
Luini
Duomo · 45 min
The panzerotto shop on Via Santa Radegonda behind the Duomo: a fried pocket of tomato and mozzarella, eaten on the sidewalk, a few euros each. Monday to Saturday 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., closed Sunday; on a Sunday use the Rinascente food hall across the square.
- 12 min · walk
- 5
Pinacoteca di Brera
Brera · 120 min
A 15-minute walk north to Mantegna's Dead Christ, Raphael's Marriage of the Virgin, Caravaggio's Supper at Emmaus and Hayez's Kiss. Open Tuesday to Sunday 8:30 a.m. to 7:15 p.m., last entry 6 p.m., and the Palazzo Citterio modern collection next door takes a combined ticket.
€15
- 3 min · walk
- 6
Brera's streets and the botanical garden
Brera · 75 min
Via Fiori Chiari and Via Madonnina for the galleries and the shops, then the free, quiet Orto Botanico hidden behind the Pinacoteca. The courtyard of the Palazzo di Brera itself is open without a ticket.
- 5 min · walk
- 7
Aperitivo at N'Ombra de Vin
Brera · 90 min
A wine bar in a vaulted cellar on Via San Marco, where one glass comes with a plate. Order the wine, not the cocktail, and stand if the tables are gone; Bar Jamaica on Via Brera is the older, scruffier alternative.
- 11 min · walk
- 8
Osteria Brunello
Garibaldi · 90 min
Ten minutes up Corso Garibaldi for the cotoletta alla milanese, bone in, with the vegetables of the day. Open every day with the kitchen from 7 p.m.; book a table online, as it fills by 8:30 p.m.
Day 2
The Last Supper, the castle and the Navigli
- FromYour hotel in Brera
- 1
The Last Supper (Cenacolo Vinciano)
Magenta · 60 min
Fifteen minutes in the refectory, 40 people at a time, so take the first slot and arrive 30 minutes early with the ID you booked under. Open Tuesday to Sunday 8:15 a.m. to 7 p.m., closed Monday.
€15
- 9 min · walk
- 2
Basilica di Sant'Ambrogio
Sant'Ambrogio · 45 min
Ten minutes south: the fourth-century church of Milan's patron saint, rebuilt in Romanesque brick, with the gold altar and the atrium. Free; dress as for the Duomo.
- 6 min · walk
- 3
Museo della Scienza e della Tecnologia Leonardo da Vinci
Sant'Ambrogio · 90 min
Around the corner from the basilica: the gallery of Leonardo's machines built from his drawings, then the submarine Toti in the yard. Closed Monday; an hour and a half is enough.
- 12 min · walk
- 4
De Santis, Corso Magenta
Magenta · 60 min
A panino shop that has been making the same hundred sandwiches since 1964, back up Corso Magenta towards the Cenacolo. Order at the counter and eat at the bar, with a pastry at Pasticceria Marchesi a few doors along.
- 9 min · walk
- 5
Castello Sforzesco
Castello · 105 min
Fifteen minutes north through Largo Cairoli; the courtyards are free and the one room that matters is Michelangelo's Rondanini Pietà, the last thing he carved. The museums are open Tuesday to Sunday 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., last entry 5 p.m., closed Monday.
€5
- 13 min · walk
- 6
Parco Sempione and the Arco della Pace
Sempione · 75 min
Out of the back gate of the castle and across the park to Napoleon's arch, with the Triennale design museum on the left if it rains. Milanese walk dogs and run here, and sit on the grass.
- 2.8 km · transit or taxi
- 7
Navigli by M2
Navigli · 60 min
Take the green line from Cadorna to Porta Genova (three stops), then walk the Naviglio Grande from the Darsena, with a detour into Vicolo dei Lavandai, the covered washhouse. On the last Sunday of the month an antiques market fills both banks.
€2.20
- 10 min · walk
- 8
Aperitivo at Rita
Navigli · 75 min
A cocktail bar on Via Angelo Fumagalli, a street back from the canal, that mixes properly and feeds you with the drink; Monday to Saturday from 5:30 p.m., closed Sunday. On a Sunday take any bar on Ripa di Porta Ticinese with a canal-side table, where the drink is the ticket to the buffet.
- 3 min · walk
- 9
Risotto alla milanese at Al Pont de Ferr
Navigli · 90 min
On Ripa di Porta Ticinese by the iron bridge, cooking the saffron risotto since the 1980s; order it al salto if they have it, the leftover risotto fried into a crisp cake. Book ahead, or try El Brellin in Vicolo dei Lavandai for the same dish with a garden.
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Pins are approximate. Tap one for the stop; the directions links open Google Maps.
The practical bits
From the airport
From Malpensa (MXP), the Malpensa Express runs every 15 minutes: 37 minutes to Cadorna, which is beside the castle and Brera, or 51 minutes to Centrale, €15 single and €25 round-trip. The coaches to Centrale take about an hour for around €10; a taxi is a fixed €110. From Linate (LIN), the M4 metro runs to San Babila in about 15 minutes for the ordinary €2.20 fare; tap a contactless card at the gate. From Bergamo Orio al Serio (BGY), coaches to Centrale take about an hour for around €10. Trains from Rome, Florence and Venice arrive at Centrale; some Turin and Genoa services use Porta Garibaldi, one M2 stop from Centrale.
What a day costs
About €100 to €150 a day per person. Day one's tickets come to around €53 (Duomo combo €26; La Scala museum €12 with a fixed date or €15 open; Brera €15, with a reservation required even for walk-ins) and day two's to around €30 (The Last Supper €15, castle museums €5, science museum around €10; the castle is free after 2 p.m. on the first and third Tuesday). A panzerotto lunch is under €10, an aperitivo €10 to €15, a trattoria dinner €35 to €55 with wine. Transit is at most €7.60 a day. The tourist tax is paid at the hotel, a few euros a night.
Where to stay
Got a day to spare?
Worth knowing
- The Last Supper sells by the quarter: tickets for the next three or four months appear on cenacolovinciano.vivaticket.it on a set date at noon, and weekends go within days. Set a reminder for the release, and if you missed it try Wednesday at noon for the following week. Be at the ticket office 30 minutes before your slot with the ID you booked under, or the ticket is forfeit.
- Book the Duomo as a timed combined ticket (€22 by the stairs, €26 by elevator) rather than waiting in line for the cathedral alone; it covers the cathedral, the terraces and the Duomo Museum over two days. The roof is the reason to go, and the Duomo Museum is closed on Wednesday.
- Monday closes The Last Supper, the Pinacoteca di Brera, the castle museums and the science museum. If one of your two days is a Monday, make it day one and swap Brera for a longer afternoon in the Duomo Museum and the Galleria; La Scala's museum and the Duomo open every day.
- Tap the same bank card or phone in and out of the metro, one per person; the gate at the exit needs the tap too, and the day is capped at €7.60. Paper single tickets are on their way out in 2026, so do not plan on buying one.
- Aperitivo runs 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. and the drink pays for the food: €10 to €15 buys a spritz or a glass and a plate or a buffet. Dinner is late, from 8 p.m., and kitchens take the last order around 10:30 p.m.
Things you can ask once it’s in the app
Plans change. Ask Chat and it proposes a reshuffled day you can apply, or just answers the question.
The Last Supper is sold out for our dates, what are the alternatives?We land at Malpensa at 10 a.m. on day one, rebuild the Duomo slot around thatWe have Sunday and Monday in Milan. What still works on the Monday?Find a trattoria near Brera that does risotto alla milanese without a reservationWhat is the last train back from Varenna if we spend a day at Lake Como?
Questions
Is two days enough for Milan?
Two days cover the Duomo, Brera, The Last Supper, the castle and two good evenings. If you can stretch to a third, Lake Como is an hour away by train, and the Fondazione Prada and the Porta Venezia Liberty houses fill a day in town.
Which day works in the rain?
Day one: the Duomo, La Scala's museum and the Pinacoteca di Brera are all indoors and ten minutes apart, and the Galleria has a roof. On day two the Triennale beside the park replaces the stroll. Waystop's Chat can draft a rain version of day 2; you accept it as a card and switch to it from the day menu.
How far ahead do I need The Last Supper?
Tickets are released a quarter at a time on the official site and weekends sell out within days of each release, so book the day they appear if you can. Weekday mornings last longest. A few extra tickets go on sale every Wednesday at noon for the following week, and guided tours hold their own allocation at a higher price.
Malpensa or Linate?
Linate if you have the choice: it is in the city and the M4 metro reaches San Babila in about 15 minutes for €2.20. Malpensa is 50 kilometers out; the Malpensa Express is €15 and takes 37 minutes to Cadorna or 51 to Centrale, every 15 minutes. Bergamo's airport is an hour by coach to Centrale for around €10.
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