Welcome to Milan. If you have only one day to dedicate to the fashion city of Milan, here is a wonderful itinerary that covers the most important sites in the city:

• Piazza Gae Aulenti
• Bosco Verticale
• Corso Como
• Eataly Milano Smeraldo
• Corso Garibaldi
• Brera
• Teatro alla Scala
• Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II
• Duomo di Milano
• Corso Vittorio Emanuele II
• QUADRILATERO DELLAMODA

Starting Point: Piazza Gae Aulenti

Ending Point: Via Monte Napoleone

Directions: Take a taxi straight to the escalators leading up to Piazza Gae Aulenti or take the metro to Garibaldi station.

If you arrive by car, park in a parking lot, walk the route, and return to the parking lot at the end of the day.

Parcheggio Gae Aulenti Viale Luigi Sturzo, 47 Milano

Start your tour in the city at the starting point in Piazza Gae Aulenti. A new, modern square – one of Milan’s new business centers, featuring a fountain in the middle and office buildings surrounding it. You can’t miss the square as it is home to the tallest skyscraper in Europe, the UniCredit Bank building.

Surround the skyscrapers in the square and admire one of the symbols of modern Milan – the pair of buildings covered in vegetation Bosco Verticale – the vertical forest. An innovative project by the architectural firm Stefano Boeri, an urban structure with an ecological approach, simulating living in a forest.

The square itself has many shops and cafes. An amazing gelateria in the square: Venchi – one of the best around. You can’t miss it.

Exit the square to Corso Como. At number 10, visit the stunning design complex established in 1990 by gallery owner and publisher Carla Sozzani, sister of the legendary Vogue editor Franca Sozzani. In the internal patio, you’ll find a charming cafe, an exclusive designer clothing store, fashion products, and lifestyle items. On the upper floor is a lovely gallery with rotating exhibitions and a bookstore. And if you really want to spend a night in this enchanting complex, three beautifully designed rooms await you. Entry to the complex is free. A must for lovers of Italian fashion and design. Even just to enjoy a real cappuccino in beautifully designed cups!!

Continue along Corso Como to the impressive gate at Piazza 25 Aprile. To your left is the culinary institution Eataly. Three floors of the best Italian food – based entirely on the slow food that this country knows how to offer. Impressive, colorful, and especially delicious.

The next avenue is one of the most important and special in Milan, Corso Garibaldi. A plethora of amazing boutique shops, vintage at its finest (LIPSTICK VINTAGE), and excellent STREET FOOD. Continue straight and cross the intersection with Pontaccio Street, then turn left into the first alley, Via Fiori Chiari.

Be careful not to miss the turn as it is very narrow and between buildings. The narrow alley will lead you to the charming Brera neighborhood, cobbled with stones, the heart of old Milan. Walking along Via Fiori Chiari, which you turned into, and which will widen later will lead you to the heart of Brera, housing the Academy of Fine Arts and the art museum, which contributed to its development as an artists’ neighborhood and a bohemian atmosphere, sometimes referred to as “the Milanese Montmartre.” At the intersection of the street with Via Brera is the Pinacoteca di Brera art museum, behind which is a lovely botanical garden Orto Botanico di Brera. Beyond the art and chic atmosphere, you’ll find in Brera restaurants, bars, nightclubs, antique and art shops, and colorful street markets.

Continue along Via Brera to the next intersection, cross the street that will now become Via Giuseppe Verdi and take you to Teatro alla Scala, Milan’s famous opera house. Most of Italy’s great opera artists and many of the best singers from around the world have performed on its stage. It is considered one of the leading opera and ballet theaters in the world. It houses a choir, ballet company, theater orchestra, and philharmonic orchestra. The structure from the outside may be misleading, but a visit and tour of the Museo Teatrale alla Scala and the viewing boxes will change the picture.

In front of the theater is a square with a statue of one of the greatest Renaissance artists, Leonardo da Vinci. He stands in the center of the square surrounded by his four students and facing the theater. His serious face and contemplative gaze derive from the fact that he does not know if you intend to enter the museum Leonardo3 – Il Mondo di Leonardo, located behind him at the entrance to the covered gallery. The museum showcases Leonardo’s inventions, who was also an architect and engineer, including the construction and creation of objects designed from the many drawings he left behind. Don’t miss it!

The covered gallery is named after the first king of united Italy, Vittorio Emanuele II,

Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, and it is the oldest active shopping gallery in Italy since its opening in 1877. The gallery connects Piazza della Scala with Piazza Duomo. The glass and iron roof allows light in, and the lavish interior design hosts the best of Italian haute couture designers like Prada, Gucci, Giorgio Armani, and more. When you stand in the center of the gallery under the impressive glass dome, look at the mosaic floor with the symbols of the cities that were the capitals of Italy after its unification. On the emblem of the bull from the city of Turin, it’s customary to step on the heel and turn around for good luck.

Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II in Milan

Upon exiting the gallery, you’ll find yourself gasping in awe at the sight of Milan’s cathedral, which is one of the most beautiful and impressive churches in the world!! Duomo di Milano. The construction took almost 600 years, and it is the largest church in Italy (St. Peter’s Basilica is larger but is located in Vatican City). You can stand and admire the architectural beauty, or buy an entrance ticket at the Duomo shop located on the street to the right of the cathedral – look for the red flags that say Tickets and you can buy a ticket for the lift that goes to the roof of the cathedral Terrazza del Duomo (unless you prefer to climb 250 steps) and walk among the hundreds of sculptures adorning the rooftop of the church. A highly recommended experience!

The Milan Cathedral

If you’re tired and all you want is to relax a bit and just admire the beauty of the cathedral from afar, there are several places around where you can sit and watch the passerby and those entering and going up to the rooftop.

Terrazza Aperol at the part of the gallery that faces the cathedral on the second floor, a terrace overlooking the cathedral while sipping an Aperol Spritz cocktail is often worth the line at the entrance.

Another option is the 7th floor of the large department store Rinascente, which is the adjacent building Rinascente Milano Piazza Duomo; the elevator goes to the 6th floor and from there you take the escalators to the food floor where a popular terrace awaits where you can eat while watching the travelers on the roof of the cathedral.

Ready for a little break? Let’s go. To the left of the cathedral is Corso Vittorio Emanuele II, which is the most popular shopping street in the city. Shops of all international fashion chains line both sides, shoes, bags, cosmetics, lingerie; keep in mind that if you’re a shopping enthusiast, it will take quite a while to walk the entire length of the street.

If you managed to walk down Corso Vittorio Emanuele and reached a small fountain, and you still have a free hand without shopping bags, you can pass by the fountain and cross the street right after it. Between the two buildings in front of you, Via Bagutta begins, which is the entrance to the Quadrilatero d’Oro, a complex of streets with high-end fashion and top fashion houses in the world. Anyone who is someone in the fashion world opens a store, studio, or showroom in one of the streets forming the square, hence the name. Turn right onto Via Sant’Andrea until the end, left on Via della Spiga, and you’re in the heart of the square. The shop windows along the route will surprise you with modern designs, colors, models, and the elegantly dressed security guards at the entrances to the boutiques. Take every left turn from Via della Spiga until you reach the main street Via Monte Napoleone, turn right until the end, and you will find yourself in front of the Emporio Armani hotel, store, and lovely popular bar on the roof Armani/Prive.

Golden Quadrilateral Milan

If you left your car in the parking lot at the beginning of the route, you can return to it by metro from Montenapoleone station to Garibaldi FS station (there is no direct line and you need to change metros at Centrale station).