Milan Travel Guide

Milan is the engine room of the country's economy and home of its stock exchange, yet it isn't driven by tourism. Treasures that survived WWII's extensive damage include its elaborate cathedral, Leonardo da Vinci's The Last Supper, La Scala opera house and Castello Sforzesco. What really sets Milan apart, though, is its creative streak.

Armani, Versace, Prada, Dolce & Gabbana, Pucci, Gucci and many more took off on Milan's runways. Fashionistas make a pilgrimage here to shop at the designers' flagship stores in the Quadrilatero d'Oro (Golden Quad). Boutiques stocking emerging labels, and chic concept shops also line the city's streets, while discount outlets selling samples, seconds and last season's cast-offs are a bargain-hunter's Holy Grail. Milan is also the world capital of furniture and homewares (the beanbag is a Milanese brainchild), and a hub for risk-taking contemporary art. By night there's an avant-garde theatre scene, a fabulous aperitivi scene (extended 'happy hour' with platters of bar food laid on) and hip, hot clubs.

Milan enjoys a typically Mediterranean climate. Summers (from June to September) are hot and dry. The city is at its hottest - weather-wise - in August, when locals take holidays, and many places close; though it can provide a tranquil alternative to the crowded coast.

Milan is relatively safe, but pickpockets (including young children) prey on its main shopping areas, train stations and busiest public transport routes. Pay extra attention on metro Line 3 between the Stazione Centrale and Duomo stops. Touts in the street often approach selling booklets, bracelets and the like - often as a cover to pick your pocket too. Keep a close eye on your belongings at all times.

Beware the bird-seed sellers on Piazza del Duomo who sneak seeds into tourists' pockets, prompting pigeons to dive-bomb the victim, who is then encouraged to buy seed to escape further bombardment.

EU citizens do not need a visa to enter Italy. Nationals of some other countries, including Australia, Brazil, Canada, Israel, Japan, New Zealand, Switzerland and the USA, do not need visas for stays of up to 90 days in Italy, or in any Schengen country. Italy is one of the 15 signatories of the Schengen Convention, an agreement whereby participating countries abolished customs checks at common borders. The Schengen countries are Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain and Sweden.

The standard tourist visa for a Schengen country is valid for up to 90 days. As a rule, a Schengen visa issued by one Schengen country is valid for travel in other Schengen countries, although it's always worth checking as individual countries may impose additional restrictions on certain nationalities. You must apply for a Schengen visa in your country of residence and you can apply for no more than two in any 12-month period. They are not renewable inside Italy.

Technically all foreign visitors to Italy are supposed to register with the local police within eight days of arrival. However, if you're staying in a hotel you don't need to bother as the hotel does this for you - this is why they always take your passport details.

Kids of every age ooh and ahh over the latest, greatest inventions from Leonardo da Vinci to today. Downstairs are spooky medieval forges, upstairs are robotics and models testing Leonardo's outlandish designs - those starched wings don't fly, but that anteater-shaped copper cooling device works. Out back is a train station full of steam engines and a 1940s submarine you can tour, if you book ahead.

Discover where great Italian designs come from at the studio of the Castiglioni brothers, whose historic designs range from the streetlight-turned-pendulum Arco floor lamp for Flos to cheeky downward-spiralling Alessi ashtrays. See prototypes from its 1960s-80s heyday and the objects that inspired them, including bicycle seats and toys made of Iranian beer cans.

Like charming old gents chatting on the front steps weekdays, this place has only got better-looking since the fall of Rome. A freestanding row of 16 Corinthian columns salvaged from Milan's pagan past hints at the crumbling Roman grandeur inside, including the octagonal Cappella di Sant'Aquilino's expressive 4th-century mosaics of big-eared saints.

Block out the Vespa traffic and shoppers hauling Dolce & Gabbana bags, and you can imagine from this classic Lombard edifice what this street must've looked like eight centuries ago. Ornamental cotto (baked clay) window frames attributed to Bramante grace the spare exterior, while scowling masks in the capitals above the stone door make a dramatic entrance.

Rush past the watchful eyes of Milanese neoclassical portraits and anatomically correct miniatures, upstairs past medieval Madonnas and lonesome Buddhas, and emerge facing Volpedo's pointillist marching workers in The Fourth Estate . From here, leapfrog the French Impressionists to Giacomo Balla's Futurist masterworks and Medardo Rosso's creepy, cackling wax children from the Palazzo Reale's 20th-century collection.

You half expect to glimpse Van Gogh shooting pool in the corner of this vibrant green and red gallery, with its curvaceous lipstick-coloured Ron Arad armchairs, verdant Venus flytrap chair, and a couch spontaneously combusting into a swirling, unstable floral pattern of red, brown and turquoise.

Talk about versatile: Milan's medieval Town Hall became a Visconti villa in the 13th-century, Spanish hacienda in the 16th, Empress Maria Theresa's palace in the 18th, and World War II bombing target. Now it's being remodelled to house Milan's art collections. Meanwhile, the ground floor hosts touring exhibitions ranging from Helmut Newton: Sex & Landscapes to Caravaggio.

Bus stops are scattered throughout the city, so unless you know exactly which one you need, it's simpler to travel by train.

For many national and international destinations, buses (operated by numerous different companies) leave from the bus station (02 63 79 01; Piazza Sigmund Freud) opposite the main entrance to the Stazione Porta Garibaldi. Eurolines (02 637 90 299; Piazza Sigmund Freud) has a ticketing desk here.

Most European and other international flights use Malpensa airport, 50km northwest of the city. The majority of domestic and a handful of European flights use the more convenient Linate airport, 7km east of the city centre. For flight information, call 02 748 52 200 (both Malpensa and Linate airports).

An increasing number of budget airlines also use Orio al Serio airport, near Bergamo.

GMT/UTC plus one hour (Central European time).

Metric

Daylight Saving Start: Last Sunday in March
Daylight Saving End: Last Sunday in October

220V 50Hz

Local area code: 02

Official: Italian

Euro (€)