Milan: The Duomo, the Galleria and aperitivo

Milan is Italy's business and fashion capital, and it does not try as hard to charm you as Rome or Florence. Give it a day or two anyway. The Duomo is one of the great buildings of Europe and the aperitivo culture is the best in the country. It is also the rail hub for the lakes and the Alps, so most trips through northern Italy pass through it at some point.

Getting There and Around

• Malpensa is the main airport; the Malpensa Express train reaches Cadorna and Centrale in under an hour
• Linate is much closer, on the M4 metro line into the centre
• Bergamo airport, used by the budget airlines, has buses to Centrale in about an hour
• The metro is quick and simple, and you can tap in and out with a contactless card
• Fast trains from Centrale reach Venice, Bologna, Florence and Turin, and slower ones run to the lakes

What to See

• The Duomo — six centuries in the making, and the rooftop terraces, by stairs or lift, put you among the spires
• Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II — the glass-roofed arcade beside the Duomo; spin on your heel on the bull mosaic for luck
• The Last Supper — Leonardo's fresco at Santa Maria delle Grazie, seen in short timed slots that sell out weeks ahead
• Castello Sforzesco — a huge brick castle with free courtyards and Parco Sempione behind it
• Brera — the prettiest quarter, with the Pinacoteca gallery and cobbled streets full of bars
• The Navigli — the old canals in the south of the city, where everybody goes for aperitivo

Go to the Duomo first thing in the morning. The square fills fast, the security queue for the cathedral grows through the day, and in summer the marble roof gets very hot by early afternoon. Shoulders and knees need to be covered to go inside.

Food and Aperitivo

• Aperitivo — buy a drink in the early evening and the bar lays out snacks; at some places it is a whole buffet
• Risotto alla milanese — golden with saffron, and the dish the city is proudest of
• Cotoletta alla milanese — a breaded veal cutlet, bone in, as wide as the plate
• Panzerotti — small fried pastries stuffed with tomato and mozzarella, the classic cheap snack near the Duomo
• The Negroni sbagliato was invented here, and is the drink to order at least once

Where to Stay

• Navigli — the liveliest evenings, and a short metro ride into the centre
• Porta Venezia — good bars and restaurants, and well connected
• Around Centrale — the cheapest beds and the easiest trains out, but not much atmosphere
• Milan is the most expensive city in Italy, so book well ahead around trade fairs and fashion weeks

Day Trips

• Lake Como — trains run to Varenna and Como in about an hour
• Bergamo — a walled hilltop old town, under an hour away and much quieter
• Lake Garda — fast trains reach Desenzano and Peschiera, the gateways to Sirmione, in under an hour
• Verona — Roman arena and old town, about an hour and a quarter on the fast train

Book the Last Supper before you book anything else in Milan; it is the one thing you cannot sort out on the day. Then spend the evenings on the Navigli, where aperitivo turns a drink into dinner.