The Ultimate Milan Bucket List: Top 30 things to do in Milan

Over the years, Milan has proved to be a popular day trip for our guests staying in one of our Italian Lakes villas. The city certainly has plenty to offer the discerning traveller. But, when you have a guide book stuffed full of ideas and inspiration, and a limited amount of time in which to see everything, there’s sometimes too much to choose from. So, we’ve compiled our very own, simple bucket list of the top 30 things to see and do in Milan when you visit. Take your pick of which of these appeals most and enjoy!

1. Visit the Duomo – enjoy both a tour inside as well as enjoying a rather different perspective of the Duomo from its rooftop
2. Enjoy an opera performance at the Teatro Alla Scala (or if there is no performance during your visit, enjoy a tour of this famous building instead)
3. Get hands on at Milan’s Science Museum where you will find the largest permanent exhibition in the world dedicated to Leonardo da Vinci
4. Admire the 20th century artwork in the Museo del Novecento
5. Go shopping in what we think must be the world’s most beautiful shopping centre – the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II
6. Enjoy some time spent people watching at a cafe in the Piazza del Duomo
7. Enjoy an aperitivo in the I Navigli canal district of Milan
8. Admire the fashions on display at the Armani Silos
9. Have a drink or a bite to eat at the Wes Anderson designed bar and cafe – Bar Luce. Reminiscent of his incredible film sets, think vintage jukeboxes and pinball machines along with bubblegum pink and powder blue Formica furniture
10. Visit the Basilica di Sant’ Ambrogio to view the remains of St Ambrose
11. Have a guided tour of Villa Necchi Campiglio, a museum that is home to an villa designed by renowned architect Piero Portaluppi in 1935
12. Dine like a king or queen at one of Milan’s 20 Michelin star restaurants
13. Glimpse a vision of the future when it comes to building at the Bosco Verticale (Vertical Forest), a contemporary pair of residential towers containing more than 900 trees, 5000 shrubs and 11,000 perennial plants
14. Admire the paintings and sculptures at the Pinacoteca
15. Find a rather different take on art in Isola, a grittier neighbourhood of Milan where there is some impressive street art and grafitti
16. Visit the other museums in the Sforzesco Castle – the Egyptian Museum, Museum of Musical Instruments and Museum of Ancient Art
17. Talk a stroll around the Parco Sempione
18. Catch a ride on a tram
19. Visit the 19th century Arco della Pace (Peace Arch)
20. Take a tour of the San Siro stadium or attend a football match there to support one of the clubs that use it – Inter Milan or A.C. Milan
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21. Enjoy a relaxing spa experience at QC Termemilano right in the heart of the city
22. Have a sobering experience at the Memoriale Della Shoah Di Milano, which remembers how the Jews, Roma and the disabled were deported to Nazi death camps from a hidden platform under Milan central train station in WWII
23. Fill up in Milan’s Chinatown
24. Enjoy a bike ride out of the city along the Naviglio della Martesana canal to the town of Gorgonzola, home of the famous cheese
25. Ogle all the designer brands in the so-called ‘Golden Triangle’ that includes the Via della Spiga, the Via Sant’ Andrea and the Via Montenapoleone
26. Pay your respects at the Monumental Cimiteri (Monumental Cemetery), an inspiring and peaceful resting place of Milan’s wealthy, great and good
27. Take a walk around the charming Brera district of Milan, home to numerous small artisan workshops and artist stores.
28. View Leonardo da Vinci’s famous painting of ‘The Last Supper’ in the Convent of Santa Maria delle Grazie
29. Gaze up at the ceiling of the Chiesa di San Maurizio al Monastero Maggiore, a tiny church in Milan that has earned the nickname of being home to the The Sistine chapel of Milano’
30. Enjoy a rather macabre view of the Ossarie – a room whose walls are made up of skulls and bones – at the Chiesa di San Bernardino alle Ossa

Feeling inspired? Then check out our full guide to spending 48 hours in Milan. Or take a look at our Italian Lakes villas which are a perfect base from which to enjoy a day trip to this beautiful northern Italian city.