Milan is known as a hub for fashion and design. From cars to clothes, Milan is a visual city. This guide is from our trip to Milan with the goal of doing some history, second hand shopping and a side of Italian Grand Prix in Monza. For this trip we stayed in Milan where the kids and I adventured during the day while my husband attended the F1 race.
Getting Here:
Milano Centrale Station is an incredibly beautiful building. If you are taking the train, make sure you spend a little time here on your way out. We are taking the train for Naples to Milan. It takes about twice as long as flying, but was significantly cheaper. It’s a 4:15 hour train ride with Trenitalia.
This station integrates well with the metro and bus systems. Many restaurants, little shops, and cafes in the main concourse.
Metro:
The metro is very easy to get around with. All you do is pick your favorite card and tap in to the turnstiles. For families, kids under 14 are free with a paying adult and they have larger gates for families, wheelchairs or those traveling with bags. The system will automatically adjust to the ticket fare (single ride, half day or daily) that is best for you.
There is a mix of street cars (indicated by the orange lines on google maps) and underground trains (all the other colored lines). We mostly used the red and green lines, with a couple of street car trips in between. There were a couple occasions where it was easier to Uber because of the number of transfers we would have had to make.
WARNING! Make SURE that your payment has gone through at the gate. There was one family gate I entered the metro through which opened but apparently did not take my AMEX card. When we went to leave they had metro police checking people’s cards to make sure that they were scanned in and mine came up empty, earning me a $50 ticket. Probably 50% of our metro stops, especially near the duomo had metro police checking tickets. https://www.atm.it/en/Pages/default.aspx
Where to Stay:
We stayed in an airbnb while we were in Milan, but the location wasn’t super convenient to the sites that we wanted to see. However with the metro system we were able to access it all pretty easily. Next time we will likely stay in a hotel or look for an apartment in Brera, which was a really cute little neighborhood.
Milan Marriott Hotel – Military rate
Where to Eat:
Milan is known for Beef! Make sure you try a veal cutlet (costoletta di vitello) or osso buco a stewed beef shank. Saffron risotto is also a staple here. Due to the very international nature of this city, I’m there are also many Ethnic foods here which are really good. Indian, Chinese, and Japanese restaurants are worth a visit as well.
Osteria dell’Oca Giuliva – get the saffron pasta
Osteria Fiaschetto – I highly recommend this restaurant. They were great with the kids and their veal cutlet was the best one I had by far in Milan. It was so good that we came back for dinner on Sunday with my husband so that he could get it too. There’s a lovely church courtyard nearby and a playground around the corner for the kids to get their crazy out before sitting for dinner.
Ofelé – this little cafe was near the Mercato Ortofrutticolo di Viale Papiniano and was a great find. The had delicious coffee and both regular and vegan pancakes! My little egg allergy girl was SO happy.
Risoelatte – We didn’t get to try this restaurant, but it’s on my list for next time. The saffron risotto is supposed to be amazing.
Friday: Museums
Friday was our main museum day. There are a number of art, science and design museums in Milan to check out. I’ve listed a few of them here.
Leonardo da Vinci Museum of Science and Technology – Tickets were pretty easy to get the day before. The lower levels focus on technology developed in Italy from early industrial age to modern technology. The upper floors focus on a lot of the work of Leonardo Da Vinci, as well as some more modern science.
In addition to the exhibits, they have trains, rockets, ships, airplanes, and a submarine on display.
Sforesco Castle – This is a fun castle to visit and explore. There is a large collection of armor and religious art, as well as a sculpture from Michelangelo. Even if you are not an art fan, it’s fun to walk through the courtyard and imagine Leonardo da Vinci strolling along the castle walls. And for any Alfa Romeo fans, the castle’s crest might look familiar.
Santa Maria della Gracia– Home of The Last Supper, get tickets in advance if you are interested in seeing it. I have heard it’s a bit of an ordeal to view because it is in a specialized chamber that requires shoe covers and pressurized chambers. We opted not to do it this time, however if you have older children that might be interested, this is where to go.
After we had our fill of the museum we walked along the Navigli for apertivo before heading out to dinner. This was a great area to walk around in the evening. The kids had lots of space to run and chase pigeons. The majority of the river is not fenced, so younger kids will need more supervision here, but there was enough space along the banks that I felt comfortable letting my kids have some freedom while my husband and I had a drink at Vista Darsena. This bar is along the banks of the river with a lovely sunset view and lots of room for kids to play without fear of them falling in the river. My kids enjoyed chasing pigeons and petting all the dogs that were out for a walk.
Saturday: Shopping
Being the fashion icon that it is, shopping is a must when in Milano. This can be exploring the designer ateliers near the Duomo or digging through second hand clothes at a vintage street market. Personally, I’m more inclined to treasure hunting (and I’m cheap) and it’s fun to take my girls into some of these thrift shops to let them do a little shopping of their own. While in Milan they picked out matching purses at one of the markets. For a full list of the stores we explored, as well as the runners up, check out the post here.
Sunday: F1 Racing
We chose to come to Milan during/for the Formula 1 Italian Grand Prix at Monza Autodromo. My husband attended the race while I stayed in Milan and shopped with my kids. We met up again later in the evening for dinner in the little neighborhood of Brera. Next time we visit I would love to stay in this neighborhood. It has a lovely slow, local feel. There was also an impressive vintage market.
If you are interested in F1, there are a couple things to see even if there isn’t a race in town.
Ferrari Flagship Store – Located near the Duomo and Galleria Vittorio, this store has lots of high end merchandise for sale, as well as a car hanging in the stairwell.
Alfa Romeo Museum – this museum is a little outside of Milan, but accessible by taxi or train. The train ride is a bit long, so you will probably want to plan on spending a chunk of time there.
Monza National Autodrome – If you are lucky enough to be in town for the race like we were, it’s a pretty easy train ride from Rome to Monza. During the weekend there were several events throughout the city for F1.
Objects in Motion Travel 
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