# Milan: map, what to do and when to go

Milan holds Leonardo's Last Supper, the Duomo and the Pinacoteca di Brera within a historic center of 2 km radius. Lombardy's capital, with about 1.37 million residents, stands on the Po Plain, with some of its old canals buried beneath the streets.

Canonical: https://nilopelomundo.com/en/place/milao/
Language: en. Extended author commentary and itinerary notes may remain in Portuguese. Dates below belong to individual sources; this is not live availability.

## Direct answer
- **Milan: Is the metro's magnetic ticket still valid?** No.
- **Milan: How do you get from Malpensa to downtown?** Trenord's Malpensa Express train runs every 15 to 30 minutes and takes about 37 minutes to Milano Cadorna and about 50 minutes to Centrale, for around €13 one way.
- **Milan: How do you get to Lake Como and Varenna?** Take the Trenord train from Milano Centrale to Varenna-Esino, in about 1 hour 5 minutes; from there the ferry crosses to Bellagio and Menaggio in 15 to 25 minutes.

## Duomo, Last Supper, and Brera
Start at the Duomo at 9am, when it opens and the line is still short; buy the pass that includes the terraces.
- Cenacolo Vinciano and Santa Maria delle Grazie
- Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II
- Pinacoteca di Brera
- Museo del Novecento

## Leonardo, the Sforza and the west
Return to Santa Maria delle Grazie for Bramante's tribune, the Renaissance part of the church whose refectory holds the Last Supper.
- Castello Sforzesco and Parco Sempione
- Basilica di Sant'Ambrogio

## Converted factories and new neighborhoods
Start at the Fondazione Prada, a 1910 distillery converted by Rem Koolhaas in 2015, with the gold-leaf-clad Haunted House.
- Fondazione Prada

## Duomo di Milano
https://nilopelomundo.com/en/place/milao/#g-lugar-duomo-di-milano
Milão
Gothic cathedral begun in 1386 in Candoglia marble, with 135 spires and about 3,400 statues; the golden Madonnina, from 1774, stands at 108.5 m. The part that justifies the ticket is the terraces: you walk among the flying buttresses, on the roof, and see the Alps on a clear day. Beneath the square is the baptistery where Ambrose baptized Augustine in 387.
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## Cenacolo Vinciano and Santa Maria delle Grazie
https://nilopelomundo.com/en/place/milao/#g-lugar-cenacolo-vinciano
Milão · Up to half an hour
The Last Supper, painted by Leonardo between 1495 and 1498 on the refectory wall in tempera on dry plaster, a technique that began to deteriorate in his own lifetime and required a restoration from 1978 to 1999. Visits are in groups, last a strictly timed 15 minutes, and only people with a reservation get in; a full-price ticket runs around €15. The church next door has a tribune by Bramante.
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## Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II
https://nilopelomundo.com/en/place/milao/#g-lugar-galleria-vittorio-emanuele-ii
Milão · Up to half an hour
A covered iron-and-glass arcade designed by Giuseppe Mengoni, opened in 1867 and completed in 1877; the architect died in a fall from the scaffolding days before the inauguration. In the central octagon, the Turin bull mosaic is worn down by the heels of thousands of people who spin on it for luck.
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## Teatro alla Scala
https://nilopelomundo.com/en/place/milao/#g-lugar-teatro-alla-scala
Milão
Inaugurated on August 3, 1778, designed by Piermarini, destroyed by the 1943 bombing and reopened on May 11, 1946 with Toscanini conducting. The season always opens on December 7. Without an opera ticket, you can still get in through the museum and peek into a box.
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## Castello Sforzesco and Parco Sempione
https://nilopelomundo.com/en/place/milao/#g-lugar-castello-sforzesco
Milão
Visconti fortress rebuilt by Francesco Sforza from 1450, with the Filarete tower redone in 1905. The museums inside, cheap and rarely crowded, hold the “Pietà Rondanini,” which Michelangelo was carving days before he died in 1564, and the Sala delle Asse painted by Leonardo. Behind it, the 38-hectare park ends at the Arco della Pace.
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## Pinacoteca di Brera
https://nilopelomundo.com/en/place/milao/#g-lugar-pinacoteca-di-brera
Milão
Opened in 1809 by Napoleonic decree with works confiscated from churches in the north. The 38 rooms hold Mantegna's “Dead Christ,” Piero della Francesca's Montefeltro altarpiece, Raphael's “Marriage of the Virgin” (1504), Caravaggio's “Supper at Emmaus,” and Hayez's “The Kiss” (1859). The Palazzo Citterio next door opened in December 2024 with the 20th-century collection.
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## Basilica di Sant'Ambrogio
https://nilopelomundo.com/en/place/milao/#g-lugar-basilica-di-sant-ambrogio
Milão · Up to half an hour
Founded by Ambrose himself between 379 and 386 and rebuilt in Lombard Romanesque style in the 11th and 12th centuries, with a columned atrium and two mismatched towers. In the crypt lies the bishop's body, between the martyrs Gervasius and Protasius; on the altar, Vuolvinio's 9th-century goldwork.
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## San Lorenzo Maggiore and the Colonne
https://nilopelomundo.com/en/place/milao/#g-lugar-san-lorenzo-maggiore
Milão
A 4th-century central-plan basilica, one of the oldest in the West, preceded by sixteen 2nd-century Roman columns re-erected there in the Middle Ages. The Sant'Aquilino chapel preserves early Christian mosaics; the square in front is a nighttime gathering spot year-round.
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## Museo del Novecento
https://nilopelomundo.com/en/place/milao/#g-lugar-museo-del-novecento
Milão
Opened in 2010 in the Palazzo dell'Arengario, with 20th-century Italian art: the Futurists, Morandi, De Chirico and Lucio Fontana's room with neon on the ceiling. The final window faces the Duomo's facade. Pellizza da Volpedo's The Fourth Estate (1901) has been at the GAM, a different museum, since 2022.
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## Fondazione Prada
https://nilopelomundo.com/en/place/milao/#g-lugar-fondazione-prada
Milão
A 1910 distillery converted by Rem Koolhaas and opened in 2015, with the gold-leaf-clad Haunted House and a nine-story tower added in 2018. A demanding program of contemporary exhibitions; the ground-floor café was decorated by Wes Anderson as a 1950s Milanese bar.
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**Milan: Is the metro's magnetic ticket still valid?**
No. Since January 1, 2026, the old paper magnetic ticket is no longer valid. You can tap a card or phone, buy through the app, or top up a RicaricaMi. On the metro, validate on the way out too.

**Milan: How do you get from Malpensa to downtown?**
Trenord's Malpensa Express train runs every 15 to 30 minutes and takes about 37 minutes to Milano Cadorna and about 50 minutes to Centrale, for around €13 one way.

**Milan: How do you get to Lake Como and Varenna?**
Take the Trenord train from Milano Centrale to Varenna-Esino, in about 1 hour 5 minutes; from there the ferry crosses to Bellagio and Menaggio in 15 to 25 minutes.

**Milan: How much does a coffee cost?**
An espresso at the counter costs €1.20 to 1.80, and the same coffee sitting at a table on Piazza del Duomo can run €5 to €7, because table service is charged separately and, by law, must be printed on the menu.

**Milan: When's the best time to go?**
Come from late April to early June or from mid-September to late October, when highs sit between 18 and 25°C.


## In the Nilo app
- Plan this day on the map: https://nilopelomundo.com/en/app/guide/milao/?utm_source=llm&utm_medium=markdown&utm_content=door-itinerary
- Mark your hotel on the map: https://nilopelomundo.com/en/app/map/milao/?utm_source=llm&utm_medium=markdown&utm_content=door-stay

## Full editorial guide (Portuguese)
https://nilopelomundo.com/llm/milao.md