🇮🇹Milan Travel Guide: What to Do With One or Two Days, and How to Book The Last Supper

Photographed on site, 1 September 2025

Milan is Italy's business and fashion capital, and it has fewer conventional sights than Rome, Florence or Venice. That's not a criticism — it just means you should plan it as a short, well-targeted stop rather than a long stay. Most people arrive here anyway, because Malpensa handles the bulk of Italy's long-haul flights.

How long, and what to do

Two nights is about right: one day in the city, one day out at Lake Como.

For the city day: the cathedral and the Galleria in the morning, then either shopping or Sforza Castle in the afternoon. The Last Supper needs booking two to three months ahead, and the visit itself lasts exactly 15 minutes.

Getting there

By train. The main station is Milano Centrale. Venice 2.5 hrs, Florence 2 hrs, Rome 3 hrs 40 min.

Photographed on site — Deposito Bagagli (left luggage) is on the same side as the Biglietteria; useful if you are doing Lake Como as a day trip

By air. Three airports:

• Malpensa (MXP) — the major international one. Malpensa Express to Centrale takes 1 hour (€13), or 45 minutes to Cadorna. Coach €10, 1 hour. Taxi around €110, 50 minutes.
• Bergamo Orio al Serio (BGY) — low-cost carriers. Coach to Centrale, 1 hour, €10.
• Linate (LIN) — domestic and short-haul European. Metro M4 to near the cathedral in 12 minutes, €2.20; coach to Centrale 25 minutes, €5.

Where to stay

Near Milano Centrale — the most practical base. All airport trains and coaches arrive here, it's an M2/M3 interchange, and there's a huge range of hotels.

Around the Duomo — everything within walking distance and the best shopping, at a price.

Near Cadorna — handy for Lake Como trains, The Last Supper and Sforza Castle, and an M1/M2 interchange, though there are fewer hotels.

Getting around

Single ticket €2.20, 24-hour pass €7.60, 3-day €15.50, carnet of ten €19.50. The three interchanges you'll actually use: Duomo (M1/M3, at the cathedral), Centrale FS (M2/M3, main station) and Cadorna FN (M1/M2, airport express and Lake Como trains).

Photographed on site — AI TRENI is Italian for "to the trains"; follow that sign to the platforms. The yellow grid ceiling and red panels are the metro's 1960s house style

The sights worth your time

Milan Cathedral (Duomo di Milano) — Italy's largest cathedral and the fourth largest in the world, and you can walk on the roof. Ticket combinations: FAST TRACK PASS €32 (priority entry + museum + lift to the roof), Combo Lift €26, Combo Stairs €22, Duomo + Museum €10. Allow 2–3 hours.

Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II — the glass-roofed arcade on the north side of the cathedral, built between 1865 and 1877. Luxury shopping if you want it, and a genuinely beautiful piece of architecture even if you don't.

Photographed on site, 1 September 2025, around 11:00 — the galleria is a free public passage, no ticket; walking from the Duomo to La Scala takes you straight through it

The Last Supper — Leonardo's mural, in the refectory of Santa Maria delle Grazie. €15, 15 minutes, 35 people per slot. Tickets are released quarterly, in a single batch at midday in the middle of the first month of each quarter (September releases November–January, December releases February–April, March releases May–July, June releases August–October). Leftover tickets for the following week go on sale every Wednesday at noon, and the first Sunday of each month is free but still needs a reservation. If you miss out entirely, a guided tour (from about €98) is expensive but far more likely to be available.

Photographed on site, 2 September 2025, 15:02 — the painting is in the refectory beside Santa Maria delle Grazie and has to be booked ahead; see the booking guide

Sforza Castle — the Sforza family's residence, begun in the 14th century. The famous room is the Sala delle Asse, with a ceiling painted by Leonardo; the star exhibit is Michelangelo's final sculpture, the Rondanini Pietà. The courtyards are free; the museums are €5.

Photographed on site, 1 September 2025, around 14:00 — the castle courtyards are free to walk through; only the museums inside are ticketed

Day trip: Lake Como

Trains from Cadorna reach Como in about an hour. The classic day is boat-hopping between Bellagio, Varenna and Menaggio. It's Italy's third-largest lake, glacial, ringed by mountains, and has been Milan's summer escape for a couple of centuries.

Back to the Italy travel guide for the full route.