{travel guide} What to See and Eat in Milan

My friends and I were in Milan for just about 24 hours. We arrived a little after 10 and left on a train at 9:55 the next morning. Lucky for us, our airbnb was in a great location so we were able to get everywhere we needed to go by walking.

What To Do

Leonardo da Vinci's 'Last Supper'

You can't go to Milan and not see this incredible work of art. Don't forget to look at the painting on the other side as well! Unfortunately when we were planning our trip we forgot that most places are closed on Mondays so we almost didn't get to see it! You'll want to book this as far in advance as you can so you can buy directly from the museum and avoid up-charges for tours who buy up tickets and resell them. Sadly we had to do the latter, with Tickitaly, but I really enjoyed our guide and, in all honesty, seeing the painting would have been worth double what I paid.

Luckily I was checking tour sites a week before out trip and saw that there were exactly 3 spots left at an 8:15am group tour. We adjusted our schedule a tiny bit to accommodate the 45 minutes required to see the painting. We had to get to the church early, the tour guide talked for about 15 minutes and then we had 15 minutes to view the painting.

Milan Cathedral

One of the most beautiful churches I have ever seen. We almost didn't get to go inside because as we were in line to buy tickets they closed the church for an hour because President Obama was visiting (so funny!) So we walked around to some other places and checked back later in the afternoon and we were able to squeeze it in before the cathedral closed for the day.

Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II

If you want to do some designer shopping, look no further than the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II. Even if you don't shop it is worth it to walk through for the gorgeous ceiling and architecture.

Other Spots

We also took the time to walk by some other churches and monuments. Here's a quick list: Teatro alla Scala theater, Piazza della Scala to see a statue of da Vinci, Sacrario dei Caduti Milanesi.

Where To Eat

We only at two meals in Milan but both are worth mentioning. And we started off our trip on the right track with gelato twice in one day.

Lunch at De Santis Paninis

Panini's aren't really my jam (I'm not much of a condiments/cheese fan) but both of my friends really loved them! The bread and ham on mine were delicious, though. ;)

Gelato at il Massimo del Gelato

I tried the jamaica chocolate and pistachio gelato here. I wasn't a huge fan of the pistachio (just weird to be eating them as ice cream I guess!) but one friend loved it. So, if you like pistachios, you should give it a try and see if you found it as weird as I did. (I need to eat some regular ones, stat!)

Dinner at Hosteria della Musica

At this restaurant we had some DELICIOUS bruschetta followed by pizza for two of us and this delicious gnocchi for our other friend. I wish I had ordered it for myself, but at least I had a taste! We ate outside but apparently they do live music inside the restaurant.

Gelato at Amorino Gelato

This was one of my favorite gelatos of the trip because they put the it in the shape of a flower and top with a macaron also filled with gelato. I got chocolate and strawberry, mmm!