4 Days in Milan — September 2026
My Milan trip from 9/3/2026 - 9/7/2026
Milan was the next stop after Copenhagen — a 2-hour flight south, and we stayed at an Airbnb for the week.
Duomo di Milano
A really popular area in Milan — lots of shops and stores are around this neighborhood. Construction on the Duomo started all the way back in 1386 and wasn't finished until 1965, which is wild to think about standing in front of it. We didn't get the chance to go inside, but seeing it from outside was already magnificent. Every time we passed by we took a picture — every angle of the church is really beautiful.
On the left side of the church is Assessorato Alla Cultura. Very crowded — you can find lots of stores and food here.
Church of Saint Nicholas of Flüe
From the outside it looks kind of like a Japanese temple, but once you get inside it's a completely different thing. The church was designed in the late 1960s by architects Ignazio Gardella and Anna Castelli Ferrieri — the sail-like concrete roof and the upturned-ship-hull interior make it one of Milan's more striking pieces of Brutalist architecture.
MUDEC
A museum that's been on my list for a while — the exhibitions weren't really why we went, though.
Agorà was the reason we went — the covered courtyard with the cloud-shaped vault, on the 1st floor at the center of the museum. Every angle of it is beautiful. But if you look closer, you can see leftover silicone residue on the glass.
Donkis are saying hi in the front of the building ...
Fondazione Prada
A huge place with cool exhibitions and architecture. The foundation moved into this former distillery complex in 2015, in a renovation designed by Rem Koolhaas's firm OMA — including the Haunted House, a four-story building entirely clad in gold leaf.
| Exhibition
| Elevators
The elevators in this place have a unique design, from the buttons to the wall material.
| Coat check & Restroom
The coat check desk and restroom are cool too — the walls and doors are built from a material that looks like drain-cover grating.
| Study Room
There is a free study room in the place.
| Café
And an old-school café.
Lake Como
We took a one-day trip to Lake Como during the trip. It's a huge lake not far from Milan, about an hour by train. We hopped on the train on a Friday morning since we'd heard weekends are more crowded.
Around 1 hour we got to the Varenna and took the ferry to Bellagio.
| La Brotta
We had lunch here in Varenna. Everything was OK but a bit pricey.
Shop
| 10 Corso Como
10 Corso Como is Milan's original concept store — part gallery, part bookstore, part fashion and design shop, all under one roof.
| Slam Jam
Slam Jam carries a strong streetwear lineup — brands like Stüssy alongside more directional labels. I went there only for ROA.
| Wok Store
Wok Store is a concept store in the Navigli area, mixing luxury, avant-garde, and streetwear labels. For ROA too.
| DMAG
A designer outlet with three locations in Milan — we visited all of them. It's a bit messy, so it's kind of hard to find what you want, but they have a system to check if another size is available at a different store.
| Anronia
A small boutique we stumbled into while wandering the neighborhood.
| Antonioli
Antonioli is a go-to for directional, avant-garde fashion in Milan.
| Biffi
One shop for men and another for women, across the street from each other, carrying a curated mix of high-end contemporary fashion.
| Ferrari Store
We visited Milan during the F1 weekend. The store was really crowded, we had to line up to get in (and people kept cutting in line...) — it's the official Ferrari flagship store in the city.
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Meals
| All'Antico Vinaio
A well-known focaccia sandwich shop — they have a few locations in the States too, with a ton of flavors. Our first visit was just okay, so we came back thinking we'd ordered the wrong thing — but the second try was still so-so.
| Osteria da Fortunata
Osteria da Fortunata is known around Milan for its handmade pasta — you can watch it being made fresh in the open kitchen.
| Osteria Dal Cornuto
We passed by this one. The pasta is good but pricey. We also ordered a tiramisu, but unfortunately didn't get a picture of it.
| Pizzeria Ciro Cascella 3.0 Isola
A well-regarded Neapolitan pizzeria in the Isola district, known for its light, airy dough. Pizza was a bit salty for us though.
| Sandi
A cute restaurant with a nice environment, but we didn't make a reservation, so the only available seats were outside. They change the menu daily.
We ordered their lunch set for two.
A cheesy little bun to start.
| Starter
Potato slices with chili oil, kind of like Lao Gan Ma.
Some kind of melon with a refreshing sauce.
| Main
Mushroom, egg yolk, and toast crunch.
Oyster spaghetti.
| Dessert
A slice of cheese with pecan sauce.
Peach and cream.
| Via Pasteria
A pasta shop with good food and seven types of noodles to choose from — the kitchen is spotless.
We ordered buffalo mozzarella with cherry tomatoes.
Fusilli with bolognese sauce.
Spaghetti with carbonara.
|
Dessert
| Gelsomina
Brioche is a famous dessert in Milan, and this shop serves it in a ton of flavors.
We got the plain brioche, but I wasn't a fan of the whipped cream filling.
| Vanilla Gelati Italiani
Best gelato of this trip — I ordered their Dubai chocolate, cheesecake, and pistachio. The Dubai chocolate has pistachio jam and crunchy kataifi bits, really good.
| Ciacco
A gelato shop, pretty crowded. Overl all was good.
| Gelateria Umberto
A famous gelato shop that's been open since 1934 — pretty crowded too.
We ordered an affogato and lime gelato. It was my first time trying affogato, and I liked having the espresso and gelato separate more.
|
Bakery & Cafe
| Alberto Magri
A famous bakery — pastry chef Alberto Magri built a huge following online before opening this, his first Milan shop, inside a Liberty-style building on Corso Italia.
We ordered a croissant and the lemon cake,
The lemon cake inside was really moist — they probably soak the sponge in some kind of syrup. Overall it was OK but pricey.
| Doca
We had breakfast there — the pastries were OK but the coffee was so-so.
| 10 Corso Como Café
A café right by the 10 Corso Como shop. The environment is green and leafy, but the coffee is so-so.
| The Coffee
A small specialty coffee spot we passed on one of our walks.
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Bar
| Nami bar
A listening bar — Nami HiFi is built around a restored analogue hi-fi system, with music programmed to move through jazz, soul, and ambient.
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Around the City
A few shots from wandering around.
I dropped all these spots into a list below — it also has a few places I didn't get a chance to check out this time, so take a look if you want to visit them yourself.
Hope you like Milan! ◡̈
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