Milan in 1 day
From the Duomo to the canals in one loop: the cathedral, the Last Supper, the Castello and Brera — a day built around one time slot.
- How long
- 1 for the centre
- Getting around
- M1 from Duomo to Conciliazione
- Book ahead
- The Last Supper
A day in Milan is a loop from the Duomo to the Navigli, and all of it hangs on your Last Supper slot, which sets the rest of the schedule. It also has to avoid a Monday, when the Last Supper, the Brera gallery and the Castello museums all close.
From the cathedral to the canals
The Duomo, then straight up to the terraces. The official site allows at least 1 h for the roof, so the cathedral and the terraces take the whole morning until the Galleria.
Through the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II to Piazza della Scala and back, then metro M1 from Duomo to Conciliazione.
The ticket desk at Santa Maria delle Grazie. For a noon slot you are here half an hour early with the ticket in your name — arrive late and you lose it. Inside you get 15 min, in a group of up to forty.
Lunch on the way, then on foot to the Castello Sforzesco.
The Castello courtyards are open and free every day; the museums open 10 am to 5.30 pm, Mondays excepted. The one piece to go in for is the Rondanini Pietà, Michelangelo's last sculpture, which he was still carving when he died.
On foot to Brera and its picture gallery, entry €15. Last entry is at 6 pm, so this slot suits it better than the morning, which the Duomo and the Last Supper already claim.
Metro M2 from Lanza to Porta Genova, then on foot to the Navigli, along the Naviglio Grande, for aperitivo and dinner.
If your slot is not at noon
The Last Supper slot is the pivot and the rest turns around it. If it is in the morning, start at Santa Maria delle Grazie and the Castello, and take the Duomo and Brera in the afternoon — the cathedral's last admission is 6.10 pm, the gallery's 6 pm. If it is late afternoon, do the Castello and Brera first, since the Castello museums close at 5.30 pm, and go straight from the Last Supper to the Navigli.
Before you go
Short answers to what people ask most before setting out.
Is one day enough for Milan?
For this loop, yes, if the Last Supper slot is bought and the day is not a Monday. A second day is better spent out of town than in another museum — on Lake Como or in Bergamo.
What if there are no Last Supper slots?
There is no entry without a ticket and no queue to join. What is left is the top-up released on Wednesdays at noon for the following week, and resellers' tours, which cost more because a guide is included.
Ready for Milan?
Where to next
Day trips from Milan
→Como, Bergamo, Verona, Maggiore and the Certosa — five trips by train, and which Milan station each one…
Lake Como · 39 km
→A cathedral and a funicular in the town itself, then a boat up the lake to Bellagio, Varenna and the villas on the shore — all from one base.
How well does Milan suit you?
→Six questions: a score for this place and others like it.
Front row for the next trip
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