Two days are enough to see the Milan that matters – Leonardo and the Duomo, Brera and La Scala, the fashion streets and the canals – if you book the right things before you travel. An itinerary, morning by evening, with the tables and the aperitivo stops to match.
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Milan rewards planning. Its greatest sights are close together – the Duomo, the Galleria and La Scala lie within a few minutes' walk – but the two that matter most, Leonardo's Last Supper and the cathedral's rooftops, need booking, and several of the best museums close on Mondays. Get those right and two days are enough for a first, complete portrait of the city.
This itinerary runs from Tuesday to Sunday and moves from the centre on day one to the west and south of the city on day two, ending each evening at a table worth the trip.
3 places
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Before you go
Book The Last Supper first. Booking is compulsory, tickets are named and cannot be changed or refunded, and each visit lasts fifteen minutes for up to forty people. Then book the Duomo, buying only through the Veneranda Fabbrica's own channels or its listed resellers. Reserve dinner as soon as your dates are fixed, especially during the fashion and design weeks, when the starred tables go weeks ahead.
Day one: the Duomo, the Galleria and Brera
Start early at the Duomo. The Fast-Track tour takes ninety minutes through the cathedral, the archaeological area beneath it and up on to the rooftops, where you walk among the marble spires below the gilded Madonnina. The Museo del Duomo, in the Palazzo Reale next door, shows the statues and stained glass taken down over six centuries; it is closed on Wednesdays.
Walk through the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, Giuseppe Mengoni's glass-roofed arcade of 1865–1877, and stop at the Camparino at its corner for a Campari soda taken standing at the Bar di Passo. On the far side, Piazza della Scala opens up in front of the opera house; from there it is a short walk to Via Montenapoleone, where Cova and the Marchesi pasticceria face each other across the street.
Spend the afternoon in Brera. The Pinacoteca di Brera, on Via Brera, holds Mantegna's Lamentation over the Dead Christ, Raphael's Marriage of the Virgin, Caravaggio's Supper at Emmaus and Hayez's The Kiss; behind it lies the botanical garden of 1774. If Leonardo is your priority, swap Brera for the Ambrosiana, a few streets from the Duomo, where his Codex Atlanticus is kept.
In the evening, take an aperitivo in the courtyard Mandarin Bar on Via Andegari, then go to La Scala – the 2026–27 season opens with Verdi's Otello on 7 December 2026 – or dine above the Duomo at Verso Capitaneo or at Seta, both with two MICHELIN stars.
Day two: Leonardo, Sant'Ambrogio and the south
Arrive at Santa Maria delle Grazie at least thirty minutes before your Last Supper slot to collect your ticket, or you lose it. Afterwards, walk round the corner for a coffee at Marchesi's original shop on Via Santa Maria alla Porta, then on to the Basilica of Sant'Ambrogio, with its Romanesque atrium and the golden altar made by Volvinius in the ninth century.
Continue to the Castello Sforzesco, whose museums hold Michelangelo's last Pietà, and walk out through Parco Sempione towards the Triennale. In the afternoon, take metro line M3 south to Lodi T.I.B.B. for Fondazione Prada: the gold-leaf Haunted House, the white Torre with its rooftop bar, and coffee at Wes Anderson's Bar Luce. If contemporary architecture appeals more than contemporary art, go north instead to Porta Nuova and the Bosco Verticale.
End the day on the Navigli, the canals that once carried marble for the Duomo, with an aperitivo along the Naviglio Grande as the light goes. Dinner is a short taxi ride away on Via Tortona, at Enrico Bartolini al Mudec, the city's only restaurant with three MICHELIN stars. If you still have energy afterwards, Bar Basso on Via Plinio, home of the Negroni Sbagliato, stays open late.
Where to stay
For a first visit, stay within walking distance of the Duomo and La Scala: the Grand Hotel et de Milan on Via Manzoni, where Verdi lived, or the Mandarin Oriental on Via Andegari. The Four Seasons, in a fifteenth-century convent, puts you in the fashion district, and the Bulgari, with its private garden beside Brera's botanical garden, is the calmest address in the centre.
At a glance
48 hours at a glance
| When | Where | Good to know |
|---|---|---|
| Day 1, morning | Duomo and its rooftops | Fast-Track tour €35, 90 minutes; book with the Veneranda Fabbrica |
| Day 1, late morning | Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, Camparino | The Galleria is free to walk through |
| Day 1, midday | Via Montenapoleone | Coffee at Cova or Marchesi |
| Day 1, afternoon | Pinacoteca di Brera | Via Brera 28; Tuesday–Sunday 8.30–19.15 |
| Day 1, evening | La Scala, or dinner above the Duomo | 2026–27 season opens with Otello on 7 December 2026 |
| Day 2, morning | The Last Supper | €15 from age 25; collect your ticket 30 minutes before; closed Mondays |
| Day 2, late morning | Sant'Ambrogio and the Castello Sforzesco | Castle museums Tuesday–Sunday 10.00–17.30, €10 |
| Day 2, afternoon | Fondazione Prada | Metro M3 to Lodi T.I.B.B. |
| Day 2, evening | Navigli, then Enrico Bartolini al Mudec | Three MICHELIN stars, Via Tortona 56 |
Duomo di Milano
Start here: the rooftops and the Madonnina
Milan Cathedral, with guided tours that include the archaeological area and the rooftops among the spires.
Piazza del Duomo, 20122 Milano
Insider tipGo early, before the crowds reach the terraces.
Santa Maria delle Grazie
Leonardo's Last Supper
The refectory where Leonardo painted The Last Supper: fifteen-minute visits for up to forty people, booking compulsory.
Piazza di Santa Maria delle Grazie, 20123 Milano
Insider tipCollect your ticket at least 30 minutes before your slot.
Pinacoteca di Brera
Mantegna, Raphael, Caravaggio and Hayez
Milan's great picture gallery, open Tuesday to Sunday, with the botanical garden behind it.
Via Brera 28, 20121 Milano
Insider tipAllow two hours, and end in the botanical garden.
