Milan’s most stylish addresses are not even remotely limited to Via Monte Napoleone. This fashion capital is most certainly having a moment, and our authoritative guide to its unmissable restaurants, bars, shops, hotels, and sights will ensure that you experience the very best of the city. Andiamo!
Milan
Hotels
Repubblica
Principe Di Savoia
It’s not just the always-bustling scene at the bar that makes this Dorchester hotel the unofficial headquarters of the style set. Its Art Deco-style rooms and central location, looming over Piazza della Repubblica, are another draw. Beauty lovers flock to its rooftop oasis, Club 10 Fitness and Beauty Center—and not just for the massages and facials. A well-appointed gym that’s not relegated to a basement? Smart!
Ticinese
Vico Milano
Milan has no shortage of grande dames, but cozy guesthouses remain in short supply. Vico, located on the former site of a factory that made Legnano racing bikes, has only seven bedrooms, and the welcoming, helpful staff is among its many virtues. The sister property of Castello di Vicarello, an elegant retreat in the Maremma region of Tuscany, its aesthetic skews Milanese modern, with tiled walls, a verdant garden, and indulgently high-quality linens. And all this within a short walk of the Duomo.
Brera
Portrait Milano
In Milan, hotels with character are almost as rare as a three-euro espresso. It’s especially hard to find an appealing patina in a new hotel, but, somehow, the new Portrait, from the Ferragamo family’s Lungarno Collection, has done it. It’s a sprawling affair—three restaurants, a 73-room hotel, a pool, a spa, and 10,000 square feet of retail space surround a 30,000-square-foot, 17th-century courtyard in the high-style Quadrilatero della Moda neighborhood. The architect Michele Bönan has converted the once somber seminary rooms on the second and third floors into spacious bedrooms. Generously sized bathrooms awash in Carrara marble add to the feeling of extravagance.
Brera
Grand Hotel et de Milan
Built in 1863, this elegant, neo-Gothic building is a few steps away from La Scala and Via Manzoni. The Milanese composer Giuseppe Verdi took up residence in one of its sumptuous rooms, and many other bohemians followed. Over the decades, its lobby became a stomping ground for the city’s artists, such as opera singer Enrico Caruso, Ernest Hemingway, and Rudolf Nureyev.
Brera
Senato Hotel
Housed in a quiet building just around the corner from central Piazza Cavour, this local favorite has belonged to the Ranza family for four generations. With only 43 bedrooms, its décor is modern and sparse—a welcome antidote to the crowded streets nearby. With starting rates of around $400, it still provides five-star service. You’ll have plenty of budget left over for a great meal at nearby LùBar.
Restaurants
Risorgimento
Pasticceria Sissi
This venerable pâtisserie is also a bohemian haven, decorated in pink with small wooden tables and a charming, flower-studded courtyard out back. The owner, Sissi, opened the place more than 25 years ago alongside her Senegalese husband, Zig. Though the interiors are charming, it’s the brioches that have made it beloved by locals. The pastries aren’t clotted with cream in advance but filled directly at the counter, a trick that means they never go soggy. Don’t miss out on the ham-and-cheese toast either—it’s wonderfully thick, filled with butter, and warmed to perfection.
Risorgimento
Le Specialità
Some regulars claim they love it for the pages-long menu, traditional atmosphere, and attentive service. But don’t be fooled—the real draw is the pizza, which comes in over 50 different varieties. The wafer-thin, slightly floury crust, flavorful pomodoro sauce, and fresh mozzarella leave first-timers planning their next visit. And because it’s not a particularly salty pie, don’t be afraid of trying toppings like prosciutto (only because they sound so similar to Americans). Die-hard Neapolitans might sniff at the prices—one pie can cost as much as $40—and it’s possible that you’ll spot soccer stars in the dining room. But ambiance comes at a price!
Porta Romana
Trattoria Trippa
At first glance, the tiled floors and yellow walls of Diego Rossi and Pietro Caroli’s faithful—and famed—re-interpretation of the classic trattoria may appear rather quaint. But a closer look reveals that its design is more modern, and unexpectedly stylish, than it appears. Its good looks are only part of its charm—its vitello tonnato, carciofi, and cotoletta alla Milanese are addictive. Among its many virtues, it possesses a certain cool factor—very rare for a trattoria.
Brera
Ristorante il Consolare
With Mediobanca and Banca Intesa located just around the corner, men in well-cut suits have been sauntering in for lunch and dinner since Ristorante il Consolare opened, in 1972. The bankers have never done much for the ambiance, but this seafood restaurant has plenty of its own. Owner Giovanni Ralli is rumored to be close friends with Mina, one of Italy’s top pop stars. The décor is rather stark and severe, but that ensures that all focus remains on the plate, where some of Milan’s best meals will manifest—impossibly tender octopus with potatoes, calamari gratinati,tuna and salmon carpaccios, and spaghetti alle vongole topped with bottarga.
Porta Venezia
LùBar
Siblings Lucrezia and Ludovico Bonaccorsi (the children of fashion designer Luisa Beccaria) opened this Sicilian-inspired restaurant in the courtyard of Milan’s Modern Art in 2017. It’s been a hot spot for tourists and locals alike ever since. Celebratory drinks, morning meetings—anything goes in this 16th-century dining room, which is decorated with potted plants and flowers. (Those who relish outdoor seating will love the courtyard.) One of those rare institutions whose kitchen is open all day, it draws the style set from eight A.M. to midnight, and there’s plenty to please all palates—oat-milk lattes with avocado toast, rice and curry, and a perfect vodka martini, extra dirty.
Sights
Morivione
Fondazione Prada
In 1993, a former gin distillery in Largo Isarco, a few minutes away from the center of the city, was converted into a space for showing contemporary art. Miuccia Prada and her husband, Patrizio Bertelli, began co-chairing the institution two years later. In 2015, the Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas began renovations, and today, the collection (which includes work from Louise Bourgeois and Anish Kapoor) is spread out across the Fondazione Prada’s seven buildings. There’s vintage movie programming in the cinema, and a great bookstore.
Brera
Pinacoteca Di Brera
Even though the Brera neighborhood has arguably become Milan’s hang-out epicenter, the Pinacoteca, a sprawling museum opposite the old-school Bar Brera, is often overlooked. The 18th-century building is home to The Kiss, by Francesco Hayez, Lamentation of Christ, by Andrea Mantegna, The Marriage of the Virgin, by Raphael, and more wonders by Giovanni Bellini, Rembrandt, and Caravaggio. Tickets cost just $15, and more often than not, you’ll be admiring the masterpieces without a crowd.
Duomo
Santuario di San Bernardino Alle Ossa
In 1210, when a cemetery opposite the Basilica di Santo Stefano Maggiore ran out of space, a small chamber was constructed nearby to handle the overflow. In 1679, the Italian sculptor Giovanni Andrea Biffi renovated the space, adorning the octagonal interiors with human skulls. Sixteen years later, Sebastiano Ricci frescoed the vaulted ceiling. The entire chamber remains intact, skeletons and all, and it’s an eerie and fascinating time capsule of Milan’s history.
Duomo
Pinacoteca Ambrosiana
Visitors line up around the block at Santa Maria delle Grazie to see Leonardo da Vinci’s The Last Supper. But you’ll be hard-pressed to find a crowd at the 17th-century Ambrosian library across town, which houses the artist’s Codex Atlanticus manuscript and other technical drawings from the mid–18th century. Don’t miss the artist’s Portrait of a Musician, Caravaggio’s Basket of Fruit, and several works by Titian, Jan Brueghel the Elder, and Botticelli.
Shops
Duomo
Peck
Welcome to Milan’s most expensive grocery store. It’s the subject of many rumors: Is the wine cellar in the basement really so large that it stretches all the way to the Duomo? Is it true that they never fail to acquire the absolute best produce in the world? (Yes.) Some of the prices are laughable—one jar of artichokes can go for almost $400—but for the ultimate produce, olive oil, and prosciutto that money can buy, we’ll take it. Any Milanese host will be glad to catch a glimpse of that yellow-and-gold gift bag peeking out of your suitcase.
Brera
D’Adda
After years of working with Oscar de la Renta, Alberta Ferretti, and, most recently, Dolce & Gabbana Alta Moda, the Italian designer Coco Brandolini d’Adda has finally opened her own boutique. Located above a small storefront on Via Monte Napoleone, d’Adda’s space reflects her eclectic style, complete with floral prints and colorful furniture. Her clothing, made from fine silks and brocades from Italy’s highest-quality mills, is exuberant as well.
Magenta
Pupi Solari
Pupi Solari opened her eponymous children’s clothing store in Piazza Tommaseo in the 1970s, and when she died, in late April, Milan mourned. Gianni Agnelli, Giorgio Armani, and members of the Borromeo and Loro Piana families were among her many loyal clients. The store lives on, now in the capable hands of her granddaughter Margherita Host Ivessich and its charming petticoats, onesies, and shoes hearken back to simpler times. As Solari told Women’s Wear Daily in 1997, “The clothes in my shop are not ‘classic,’ but ‘classy.’”
Duomo
Lorenzi
This esoteric, family-run store opened its doors in 1929 with a simple premise: to sell all things male and made with rare materials. Polished ram’s horns, grooming tools, truffle sets made from deer antlers, zebu horns, lobster shears—that sort of thing. It earned a cult following in the 1960s, counting Prince Philip and Silvio Berlusconi among its regulars. Today, Giovanni Lorenzi’s grandson, Mauro Lorenzi, together with his daughters, Serena and Linda, has brought a touch of modernity to the offerings—after all, women like leather notebooks, too.
Magenta
Bernardini Milano
Bernardini Milano—a dealer’s dealer, the collector’s collector—is the ultimate destination for those who love watches. The shop offers a vintage Longines monopusher chronograph to rose-gold rarities by Patek Philippe. The owner, Max Bernardini—who the Financial Times once dubbed “the professor of time”—also briefly traded in emeralds across Latin America. If watches aren’t your thing, he has wonderful, hard-to-find vintage objects—like sterling-silver whisks for drinks, by Hermès. The shop, clad with cracked-leather sofas and luxurious bookcases, is a gorgeous place to hang out in for hours.
Bars
Città Studi
Bar Basso
In the 1950s, Bar Basso was a haunt of writers, artists, designers, and gangsters who convened in the evenings under the red neon sign to share drinks and cigarettes. The owner, Maurizio Stocchetto, is best known as the inventor of the Negroni sbagliato (“sbagliato” is Italian for “wrong”), which substitutes prosecco for gin. They are best enjoyed standing on the sidewalk.
Nolo
Dandelion
Milan’s hardest-to-access speakeasy is futuristic in style and very much worth finding. The décor is sparse, the metal tables are sleek, and one bottle rack is seductively lit in orange, creating a halo effect around patrons. Our favorite drink is the Monet on Ice, for which a bartender carves an approximation of the artist’s 1872 painting Impression, Soleil Levant onto an ice cube, colors it, then plops it into your glass.
Duomo
Camparino
Campari’s flagship, in Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, just opposite the Duomo, is an institution; the bar has been included on the 50 Best Cocktail Bar list for years now. While the design is modern, a table by the window offers an unobstructed view of the gallery’s gilded ceilings. You can’t go wrong with a Milano- Torino, which pairs Campari with sweet vermouth and club soda. Alternatively, stick to Negronis.
Navigli
Backdoor 43
Navigli has become a hangout for wayward Bocconi students who crowd by the canals, beers in hand, as the sun sets over the water. (It’s especially beautiful at nighttime.) There are no nuisances at this bar, which is the world’s smallest—there’s only one table for four. When the bartender isn’t busy, he wears a Guy Fawkes mask and walks over to a tiny window to serve to-go drinks to passersby.
Morivione
Bar Luce
No mention of Milan’s watering holes would be complete without referencing Bar Luce, the Wes Anderson–designed café at Fondazione Prada. The wallpaper is a nod to the arches and vaulted ceilings of Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, and Steve Zissou pinball machines dot the room. Sip on cocktails or an espresso in Formica chairs, a stalwart of Milanese design.
