Spring break continues! Welcome back to the mid-point of our 10-day travel journey in eastern and central Europe. If I am going to be honest, I’m pretty sure if you ask anyone how they feel about Milan, it will usually be a negative review. I think that Milan is a pretty good place to be if you know what you are going to experience. For example, don’t picture yourself wandering around a historic Italian city like Florence; think of Milan as more of a globalized city—there’s not much that is distinctly “Italian” here. Lots of shopping, lots of eating, a few historical sites, and not much else. However, since our plans for spring break got messed up due to Prague, we were happy to extend our stay in Milan if it meant a day trip to Lake Como.
Following the narrative is a list of our trip in bullet points, other suggestions for visiting Milan, as well as a list of helpful links
thanks for reading!
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Our flight from Vienna landed promptly at 12:05 PM at one of Milan’s two main airports—Milan Bergamo. When planning trips, always check to see how far away the airport is from the city center. In a few cases (like London and Chamonix) additional transportation is required to get you closer to where you are staying. We weren’t quite sure how large this airport was and since Daisy and I had a difficult time finding the bus station at the airport in Geneva, we wanted to give ourselves ample time before our bus departed. So, before leaving for spring break, we booked a bus that left the Bergamo airport at 1:00 PM and would drop us off at Milan’s central train station. To our surprise, this airportwas the quickest and most efficient one of all our travels. Before we had even gotten to baggage claim (which was extremely close to our gate) the carrousel was already full of luggage from our flight. Alyssa grabbed her bag seamlessly—thank goodness—and we met Lilly and Laine outside of the airport. At this point, it was about 12:25 and we did not feel like waiting for our 1:00 bus. Lilly and Laine looked on Omio and rebooked a bus that was departing at 12:40. Alyssa and I soon followed in their footsteps, and we were bound for central Milan! (*tip: If you are a big planner, I would book a bus that leaves the airport around 30 minutes after your flight lands. However, if I could go back, I would wait to book the bus until I landed at the airport—it will save you money in case your flight gets delayed).
Around an hour later, we arrived at the train station. There were plenty of cabs outside of the bus stop, so we separated into groups and took two separate cabs to Babila Hostel (around an 8-euro fare). We checked-in, dropped off our bags upstairs, then set out to find a nearby lunch spot. Sandwiches seemed to be something that we could all agree on, so we ended up at Café Vergnano 1882—a little panini shop about a 6-minute walk away from our hostel. I honestly could not tell you the last time that I had a classic, toasted sandwich…I would highly recommend coming here if have this craving. Conveniently next door was a delicious gelato shop (Pavé Milano). If you are a gelato connoisseur, I am sure that you have heard that the best, most authentic gelato isn’t all whipped-up on display for everyone to see. If you want to do it right, find a store like Pavé Milano—somewhere that serves their delicious treats in a silver container with a lid. I opted for the lemon and the strawberry and was not disappointed in the slightest.
After our late lunch, we began to walk towards the Milan Cathedral (the Duomo). The square offers some incredible views of the impressive, gothic church. Surrounding the square are streets upon streets of pure shopping and restaurants. If you are looking at the front of the cathedral, look to the left and you’ll see one of the world’s oldest shopping malls, Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, home to the original Prada store and countless other luxury designers. We took our time strolling through this area and went into a few stores. A little over an hour later, the “shop till you drop” effect began glooming over us. So we took our purchases over to Castillo Sforzesco, and soaked up the beautiful sun and 70 degree weather in the grass outside of the castle (*If you ever get to spend extended time in Europe, I would highly suggest a park nap—they cannot be beat). After feeling rejuvenated, we began to make our 25-minute walk back to Babila to get ready for dinner.
This hostel was actually very nice; the bathroom was the most updated and largest of all that we stayed in during spring break. We all took our showers, got ready, and were soon on the hunt for an aperitivo before dinner. During our day of shopping, we noticed there were several restaurants near the Duomo that were offering an enticing deal—5-euro aperol spritzes. How could you say no to that? We found ourselves back in the area of those cafes and asking for a table for four. Our waiter was very nice; he said that he loved Americans and that we were his favorite kind of people. We ordered a pizza to share, however, when placing our drink orders, he asked us if we wanted a small, medium, or large spritz. Being the “we always want it big” Americans, we collectively said large without a hesitation. I didn’t think much of this until I saw our waiter typing the order in his phone: “XXL spritz.” Dear goodness, what had we done? About 5 minutes later, I spot a tray of 4 CHALICES of aperol spritz headed our way. I kid you not, these were the biggest drinks that I have seen in my entire life. Although we were never upset or made a comment to our waiter, I think he felt bad for ripping us off, so he gave us two extra pizzas. Once the bill arrived, we actually were pretty mad—20 euros for each spritz AND they only took cash. I believe that it is needless to say that we fell HARD for this tourist trap.
*the feeling of pure pain + embarrassment*
We dropped the euros on the table and called an Uber to take us to our 9:15 reservation at Ratana—a nice little restaurant in the business district of Milan. We had a lovely dinner of red wine and risotto. After our long day of travel, we were exhausted; we took another Uber back to Babila and called it a night.
The next morning, I woke up a little bit before everyone else in order to make it to my 10:30 reservation to go inside of the Duomo (I’m usually the one making everyone wait on me, so I decided to get a head start lol). I bought my ticket through GetYourGuide and added a rooftop access ticket in addition to my entrance into the church ($18 USD). On my way, I grabbed an americano at our favorite Milanese bakery, Rose by Mary (we probably went there 5 times during the 3 days that we were there lol). I enjoyed my lovely cup of coffee on the steps of the Duomo, then hopped in line for my entry. Once I got inside, I was actually a little bit confused—the church looks much larger on the outside than it does on the inside. I purchased the 7-euro audio tour guide and began learning about the beauty and history of the church. While it was an interesting tour, I don’t know if I would recommend purchasing the audio guide unless you are wanting to spend at least two hours inside of the cathedral. It started to frustrate me several times as the tour was very ambiguous about where to find the sites they were referring to. There was also very little flow and it wanted you to go back and forth and all over the church. But I do believe, that if you are wanting to get the most out of your visit, the audio guide or a guided tour is the best way to do it. However, here are the two most interesting tidbits of information I learned:
1) When you enter the church, look straight ahead. Above the circular stained-glass window, there is a small gold circle above with a small red dot beaming down. Inside here is a nail from Jesus’s cross.
2) The organs in this church are the oldest in all of Europe
During my tour, the rest of the crew arrived for their time slot. They took a lap around the Duomo, then went out the front of the church and around the left-hand side (if you are facing the church), to the stairs for the rooftop access. About 15 minutes—and a lot of flights of stairs—later, I met them up there and we all enjoyed the incredible views the roof offered of Milan.
Once we had finished, it was a little after 12:00. I quickly went down the stairs, dropped off my audio guide in the cathedral, then met back up with everyone for our 12:30 lunch reservation at SignorVino. This is one of the closest restaurants to the Duomo, so it was the perfect place for us to take a break while having a fantastic view of the church. Their menu had something to offer everyone—pasta, salad, meat skewers, paninis, amazing deserts, and LOTS of wine. Once we had finished, we broke back up into groups; Lilly and Laine had a tour of The Last Supper at 2:15, and Alyssa and I had one at 2:45. During our downtime, Alyssa wanted to see if she could return some of the items that she bought at Zara in Vienna. To our dismay, we found out that if you purchase an item from Zara in one country, it cannot be returned in another.
After browsing around, it was time for us to walk over to the meeting point for the tour of The Last Supper, the Plazza Santa Maria delle Grazie square. As requested, we arrived about 15 minutes before our tour began, met the tour guide, and got the audio guide / headphone situation set up. The tour seemed to be very time-oriented, and at first, I was confused as to why this was the case. However, we soon came to learn that in order to preserve The Last Supper, visitors are only allowed in small groups for 15 minutes at a time. This painting is in extremely delicate and fragile shape, even after its extensive 21-year restoration in 1976. After we had all received our tickets, we waited in the hallway outside of the room until it was time for us to go in. Once it was time, the doors opened and we were able to view the massive painting displayed on the plastered wall. It was truly magnificent to see a painting that has survived since it was commissioned in 1494—especially through the WWII bombings of the church where it is housed. The guide pointed out some key elements of the painting and also identified each disciple.
As for the tour itself, I am not quite sure if it is worth the $45 USD price tag. While it was informative and we did learn a few things that we wouldn’t have known before, I’m not sure that I would do it again. While it was nice that we did not have to worry about buying tickets or making it to the correct time slot, I don’t think that the tour was worth the $30 difference. I would opt to buy the tickets ahead of time (15 euros) and read up on The Last Supper before viewing it. I’ll link the GetYourGuide tour as well as the website to just purchase the tickets to The Last Supper below.
After the tour, Alyssa and I started to make our way to meet up with Lilly and Laine at Starbucks Reserve. However, we had to have a gelato break on our 15-minute walk back towards the Duomo. We enjoyed overpriced lattes in the cool yet warming Milan sun on the outdoor patio of the Starbucks, then used our caffeine kick to do a little more shopping at a couple of the surrounding stores. Since this was closer to the middle of the trip—and since we had done a lot of touristy things—we were exhausted and decided to make our way back towards our hostel. After we rested for a bit, we decided to go to a nearby sandwich shop—Panini de Santis. After dinner, we ran by Carrefour (grocery store) on the way home and picked up a couple of bottles of wine to enjoy on the rooftop of Babila to end our night.
The next morning, we woke up at 6:45 AM (ouch) for our day trip to Lake Como! We threw on our clothes and were soon out the door and walking to our pickup spot—a little café by the Duomo. Side note: when plugging in the location of the café, do it on Google Maps, not Apple Maps (Apple Maps takes you to the wrong side of the square). We made it just on time for the 7:45 requested arrival, walked to the bus, and were on our way for the hour-long drive to Lake Como! We booked this tour through GetYourGuide as well; I truly do believe that if you don’t have a lot of time to spend in Lake Como, this is the way to go. We got to see four different areas—Lake Como, Villa Olmo, Belagio, and Varenna—in just 10 hours. However, the best part of this guided tour was the transportation; Lake Como does not seem to have many taxis or public transportation options, so if you are wanting to do a day trip, again, guided is the way to go.
Once we arrived in Como, we had a small walking tour of the town, then had some free time. We quickly sat down for coffee at the square with the statue of Alessandro Volta, the man who created the electrical battery. We then paid the check, quickly grabbed a pastry from another café, then ran to make sure that we made it back on the bus in time (there was very little mercy for tardiness). We then made our way to Villa Olmo, a beautiful park near Lake Como with the most stunning views. We took a few pictures and admired the scenery, then headed right back on the bus to continue our drive to one of the boat docks. After about a 20-minute drive, we arrived at the boat, and had a relaxing ride around the lake. We saw the villa where The House of Gucci was filmed, as well as George Clooney’s house!
We then were let off at Bellagio and were given a short walking tour before our allotted free time. It was close to lunch, so we decided to have a bite to eat at one of the outdoor cafes overlooking the water. While this wasn’t the most delicious, authentic Italian meal, it did the trick to satisfy our hunger (mostly pizza and sandwiches). We then treated ourselves to some incredible gelato and spent the rest of our free time strolling the streets of Bellagio and window shopping. We ended our time here at a really cool lookout at the edge of the town (right next to the restaurant La Punta)—I would definitely recommend spending some time here to really soak in the views! We then made our way back to the boat to go to our final destination, Varenna, which is only a short 10-minute boat ride from Bellagio. This was such a quaint, sweet little town. We enjoyed our time here skipping rocks by the water and of course, eating gelato. After about 30 minutes it was time for us to hop back on the bus and head back to Milan. Lake Como was truly a wonderful visit; if you are spending a few days in Milan, I would definitely take a day trip here. However, if I could go back, I would have loved to spend an entire week in Lake Como!
We made it back to Milan in about an hour and a half and were exhausted! We stopped by our little nearby café and grabbed a small cup of coffee and pastry. After our snack, none of us were super hungry or really knew what we were in the mood for. However, we did know that we wanted something quick and near our hostel. So, we opted for…Panini de Santis! I think we have a tendency to go where we are comfortable sometimes (lol). Anyway, we had a quick bite to eat, then once again, made our way to Carrefour for some snacks to prepare for our 5-hour bus ride to Nice. We went back to Babila and once again found ourselves having a night cap on the roof, then got a good night’s rest for our long travel day ahead. However, around 4 AM, I woke up to some bangs on our wall. While I thought that this was someone trying to get into our room, it was actually Lilly trying to kill the 6+ mosquitos that were surrounding her. BIG NOTE: do not sleep with your windows open in Milan! The mosquitos are ruthless...Lilly had bite marks for an entire week after that night. After a good middle-of-the-night laugh, we all fell back asleep and our alarms soon went off and told us that it was time to get ready for Nice!
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While I did love this part of spring break, I can confidently say that I don’t think I
have to go back to Milan again. It was so cool to see The Last Supper in person and the Duomo was absolutely stunning, however, I still don’t consider Milan to be a very Italian city. It is a very fun place for a shopping spree though!
Our very final destination of spring break is up next: Nice! Stay tuned for one of the best and most relaxing places in the world…
Safe travels,
Mp
Our Trip To Milan & Lake Como in a List:
- Food
- Cafe Vergano (good paninis)
- Pave Milano (amazing gelato)
- 5-euro aperol spritz cafe (READ ABOVE BEFORE GOING)
- Ratana (nice dinner)
- SignorVino (good lunch near the Duomo)
- Starbucks Reserve
- Panini de Santis (good paninis)
- Places
- Galleria Vittorio Emmanuel II (shopping mall)
- Castillo Sforenzo
- The Milan Cathedral (Duomo)
- The Last Supper painting tour
- Lake Como day trip! (MUST GO)
Helpful Links / Tips:
- Link to the Duomo tickets: https://www.getyourguide.com/milan-l139/duomo-and-terraces-ticket-with-audioguide-t153354/
- Link to The Last Supper tickets: https://cenacolovinciano.org/en/visit/#Book
- Link to The Last Supper tickets AND guided tour: https://www.getyourguide.com/milan-l139/milan-leonardo-da-vinci-s-last-supper-guided-tour-t179522/
- Link to our day trip to Lake Como: https://www.getyourguide.com/milan-l139/lake-como-bellagio-and-varenna-from-milan-t146676/
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