Miles to Milan: Two Days Sightseeing and Shopping in Milan

On my trip to Europe a few weeks ago, my friend Rene and I spent two days in Milan and stayed at the Park Hyatt Milan, right in the center of the city. We shopped, had great Italian food, toured the city, saw centuries-old paintings and architecture and visited a few museums. A fun way to spend two days in August before heading off to Lake Como and taking a train ride through the Swiss Alps. 

This post is part of a multi-part series about my trip through northern Italy. Trip report index:

• A $10,000 Euro­pean Sum­mer Trip for $266
• Non-stop Flights in United Busi­ness­First Class on the Boe­ing 767
• Two Days Sight­see­ing and Shop­ping in Milan
• The Park Hyatt Milan
• An After­noon in Beau­ti­ful Lake Como

Fortunately, the Park Hyatt Milan has a super convenient location and our concierge was very helpful in helping us get things done. The hotel was right next to the Duomo di Milano, shopping and a close walk to Sforza Castle. As soon as we were off the plane (we slept well in our BusinessFirst flat-bed seats), we went off exploring and sightseeing. Here is how we spent our two days:

• The Last Supper
• Late lunch atop La Rinascente
• Shopping around Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II 
  
• Duomo di Milano (Milan Cathedral)
• Sforza Castle and the Museum of Ancient Art
• Basilica or Sant’Ambrogio
• Leonardo da Vinci Museum of Science and Technology
• Dinner in Navigli

All links are from Wikipedia, which was indispensable in the research for my trip!

The Last Supper

The Last Supper is an absolute must-see on any visit to Milan and was our first destination after checking into the Park Hyatt. It is quite probably the most famous historical painting and is certainly a highlight among works of art in Milan and throughout the world. Given its popularity, entry is very controlled with only 25 people allowed into the painting room every 15 minutes. It is necessary to purchase tickets in advance. Each ticket costs 8 euros. I wasn’t extremely organized in planning this trip well in advance so, by the time we had everything booked, tickets were completely sold out online for our dates. I emailed the Park Hyatt Milan concierge and asked if there was any way to still get tickets and the concierge managed to secure some for us and informed us we can pick them up at the concierge when we arrive. 

Leonardo da Vinci’s mural painting is housed in the convent of Santa Maria della Grazie. The 15 ft by 30ft painting takes up a full wall in the monastery. It was painted toward the end of the 15th century and it’s quite impressive how well it managed to be preserved amid massive restorations throughout the centuries. The refectory where it was stored was even struck by a bomb in World War II and damaged by vibrations. Yet it remains intact for our viewing pleasure.

Afternoon Snack at La Rinascente

We were quite hungry after getting back from The Last Supper and asked the hotel concierge for a recommendation for a late afternoon snack nearby. We informed them we’d like to do some shopping afterwards so anything conveniently located would be a big plus. Given August is not a very busy time and it was 4pm, we were directed to La Rinascente. This is a large shopping department store across from the Duomo di Milano similar to Macy’s in New York or Harrod’s in London. La The roof-top mozzarella bar is called Obiko and is perfectly situated outdoors with a view of the Duomo. We do have an Obiko branch in New York (we didn’t know that was where we were headed when the hotel informed us of this bar) so we weren’t amazed by the food, but the view over the Duomo was just awesome.

Shopping around Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II

After some coffee and late lunch atop La Rinascente, we headed out for some shopping. Milan is a major shopping and fashion capital so you can find just about any designer shop all in one place in the Fashion District right next to Park Hyatt Milan. I could even see the Louis Vuitton store when I looked out my hotel room window as we were located right next to Galleria Vittorio Emanuelle II. 

Galleria Vittorio Emanuelle II is the world’s oldest shopping mall and named after the first king of the Kingdom of Italy. It was built in the latter half of the 19th century. It surrounds shops restaurants and hotels among the intricate architecture and glass-vaulted ceiling. The streets around the Galleria are lined with just about every designer store you can imagine including Chanel, Dior, Gucci, Balenciaga, Louis Vuitton, Salvatore Ferragamo… ok, let’s not test my knowledge of how many I can list or we’ll be here a while!

When shopping for luxury goods, there is some good arbitrage to be had in terms of prices. It really depends on the individual merchant or designer, but prices in Europe can be much lower than in the United States when converting between currencies. This is definitely the case for Chanel and Dior bags and accessories and likely other designers as well. The Value Added Tax (VAT) is already included in the quoted price with no additional tax charged. In addition, non-EU passport holders leaving the EU within 90 days are eligible for a VAT refund on certain purchases. In Italy, this is 12%, which can easily amount to a sizeable and significant savings. 

You have to follow very very specific instructions (trust me, read the instructions ahead of time) and Rick Steves has a very detailed guide and you do need to bring your passport when you go shopping to fill out the paperwork. One mistake I’ve heard people make is to check their purchased luxury goods at the airport; this will not work as the customs agent needs to physically see it is leaving the country. I cannot for the life of me fathom why someone would put a $2000 Gucci bag into checked luggage, but I did have a friend that did this and missed out on her $200+ refund as a result. 

Duomo di Milano (Milan Cathedral)

The Duomo in Milan is one of only two gothic cathedrals in all of Europe. The other one is located in Cologne, which I visited in 2009 while spending a month in Universitat Bonn on a visiting research position. I do have to say, I like the one in Milan a lot better mainly because the white exterior is far more appealing to me than the black in Cologne. The Cathedral is meant to be the central point of the city with the other streets radiating from it. In Milan, all roads lead to the Duomo.

After a wonderfully cooked Diamond breakfast at the Park Hyatt Milan, the Milan Cathedral is where we began our second day. Even from a distance walking toward the Duomo, you can immediately see the fine detail and intricate design of the outside. Started at the end of the 14th century and not fully completed until 1965, the construction and finishing touches of the Duomo spanned nearly six centuries. It is the fifth largest cathedral in the world. 

Sforza Castle (Castello Sforzesco)

Sforza Castle was the main castle of the Sforza family, an Italian dynasty based in Milan. The castle was built during the 15th century stemming from a previous fortification. 

The Castello has a large impressive courtyard, around which are many of Milan’s civic museums:

• The Pinacoteca del Castello Sforzesco, with an art collection which includes Andrea Mantegna‘s Trivulzio Madonna and masterpieces by Canaletto, Tiepolo, Vincenzo Foppa, Tiziano Vecellio and Tintoretto.
• The Museum of Ancient Art which includes Michelangelo‘s last sculpture (the Rondanini Pietà), the armory, the tapestry room and some funerary monuments.
• The Museum of Musical Instruments.
• The Egyptian Museum.
• The Prehistoric collections of the Archaeological Museum of Milan.
• The Applied Arts Collection.
• The Antique Furniture & Wooden Sculpture Museum.
• The Achille Bertarelli Print Collection.

We chose the Museum of Ancient Art simply because we are both big fans of Roman and Renaissance sculptures.

After the castle, we took another lunch break and grabbed a quick sandwich. Our last two stops of the day were the Basilica of Sant’Ambrogio, the second largest cathedral in Milan, and the Leonardo da Vinci Museum of Science and Technology.

Dinner in Navigli

Navigli is the area in Milan by the canals and is a perfect setting for dinner. We chose a small restaurant with an extremely friendly owner, the name of which I unfortunately forgot to record. Regardless, the seafood I had was definitely a very high standard and we truly enjoyed the meal. We originally chose a Sancerre to accompany our fish, but the owner jokingly gave me a hard time that I came to Italy to drink French wine! (I’m sure he doesn’t react the same way to French patrons). He convinced us to get a Gewurtztraminer instead. 

Navigli was a wonderful setting for our second (and last) night in Milan. It was off to Lake Como the next morning!

You can check out the rest of my trip report series, including how we managed to arrange a $10,000 trip with non-stop first class flights for only $266!

• A $10,000 Euro­pean Sum­mer Trip for $266
• Non-stop Flights in United Busi­ness­First Class on the Boe­ing 767
• Two Days Sight­see­ing and Shop­ping in Milan
• The Park Hyatt Milan
• An After­noon in Beau­ti­ful Lake Como

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