The Metro

When I was in Milan, the Metro blew my mind.  Living in a small town by the sea, I'd never experienced the London Underground, so this was my first taste of true city transport.  I'd recommend getting the Metro to everywhere as almost everything you'll want to do is a five minute walk or less.  It has four lines: Red, Yellow, Green and Blue.  The red, yellow and green lines are all very simple to understand, they'll be a map at the entrance to each platform showing the stops in the direction of that particular train - make sure you look at these so you don't end up travelling in the opposite direction.  The blue line is pretty confusing, the train seems to have two floors (how cool!).  We had to ask somebody who luckily turned out to know English, and even then the only reason we got to our detestation was by intently counting the stops.  The trains usually stop running at about midnight. 

There's a variety of tickets to suit your needs, here's the main ones:

Urban Ticket € 1.50

Single journey

10 Journey Ticket  € 13.80

This will buy you a ticket which will allow you to take 10 journeys.

One Day Ticket € 4.50

This will last for 24 hours, so if you buy it at 5pm, it will be valid until 5pm the next day.  If your going to a lot of different places in one day, its worth buying this over the 10 Journeys ticket.

The Sights

I'd like to think that although, our main priorities are probably drinking (we are students after all), that the majority of you would also be interested in Milans' culture and attractions.  Milan is one of of the financial capitals of Italy, and this is clear to see as you wonder through the historical, designer-shop clad streets of Milans' city centre.  

Just to give you a heads up, Milan is NOT the capital of Italy, as was discovered after a relatively loud, wine-fuelled debate over a table of Pizza...even if it is one of the four fashion capitals of the world!

So What do you Want to do?

The Duomo - FREE

The Duomo is a Gothic cathedral first constructed in the 14th century.  You can go and take a look round for free, however if you want to go up to the roof it costs 4 Euros.  Its still a religious monument in Milan, so dress decently!

Metro Stop: Duomo (Yellow/Red Line)

Sforzesco castle - FREE

A very impressive castle which houses several 'mini' museums.  When we went in November 2012, they were renovating the castle to its former glory.  On one side of the castle is a park, through which you can see the Piazza Sempione.  This park is extremely beautiful, so its definitely worth taking a walk. Its also extremely close to Corsa Sempione, further described on The Food and Drinks post, which is great for food and coffee.   

Metro Stop: Cadorna (Red/Green) - Walk down Via Minghetti. 

Santa Maria della Grazie - 6 Euros

This is a museum which contains Da Vinci's 'The Last Supper'.  You have to book to get in and waiting times for admission can vary, which is why we didn't go as we were only there for a few days. 

Metro stop: Conciliazione (Red) - Walk down Via Boccaccio and then Via Riffini (second right). 

Pinacoteca di Brera - 3 - 6 Euros

The Pinacoteca di Brera is a prestigious art gallery which contains centuries-old Italian paintings.  Although we didn't visit this, from what and heard from others, it is brilliant if you have a love of art.  The official admission price is 6 Euros, however if you bring your student card you can apparently get in for 3 Euros.  Nobody I know who went actually realised this though, so its yet to be tried and tested!

Metro Stop: Lanza (Green) - Walk down Via Trivoli, straight onto Via Pontaccio then turn onto Via Brera (second right).  

The Food and Drink

The first thing to know is if your a student in Milan with a time limit, do NOT go looking for specific restaurants   Milan is so big you'll never find it.  And even if you do, its very hard direction groups of five or more people around the street, one wrong turn and the whole group rebels.  Also, a lot of the restaurants mentioned on websites and in magazines are for people who can actually afford to splurge on dinner; we cant.  

Important: There will ALWAYS be a service charge on food, so expect to add an extra 2 - 3 Euros per person to your bill.  

Top Tip: Get a hot chocolate, its actually melted chocolate in Milan! Perfect after a morning of sight seeing. 

Corso Sempione

This street is full of café's and restaurants perfect for day time relaxation, an evening meal or a couple of drinks.  If you go in Milans 'happy hour' ( approx. 6 - 8 pm), there will be a spread of nibbles laid out, so while your enjoying a cocktail, beer or glass of wine, you can grab a bite to eat.  If your running low on money you can do this for dinner, however its considered inappropriate to go up too many times.  

Metro: Its best to go here after visiting the Castle and Piazza Sempione (pictured).  Get off at Cadorna (red/green) and walk through the castle and the park.  (More detail on The Sites page).

Via Brera

We went to Via Brera for lunch one day after visiting the Duomo.  At the end of the street are a handful of little restaurants   They all served food at various prices, I think my food came to about 9 euros for pasta and a drink.  I can imagine it would be a bit more busy at night though.

Metro: Lanza (green). Walk down Rivoli onto Via Pontaccio and take the third right onto Via Brera, the restaurant will be at this end.

Corso Como

This had a variety of restaurants on one side, and bars on the other.  We ate in a homely Pizzeria, with the bill coming to about 15 Euros per person for a pizza and drink.   I think almost all of our course ate here on the last night.  

Metro: Garibaldi F.S. (Green/Blue) Walk onto Viale Luigi Sturzo, and cross the road onto Corso Como.

There's restaurants almost everywhere in Milan, do a bit of exploring yourself.  But beware, the ones by the Duomo are very expensive!

The Shopping

Love to shop? Milan can cater for any of your needs, weather you love to splash the cash, or prefer the something a bit more on budget.

Designer

Galleria Vittorio Emanuelle II

This is one of the most famous shopping spots in Milan.  Even if you don't have the money for designer, its right next to the Duomo so it's worth a taking a wander as the interior is pretty breathtaking.  Stores in this centre include Prada's flagship (est 1913), Gucci and YSL.  

Metro: Duomo (Red/Yellow), to the left as you face the Duomo. 

Corso Venezia

Absolutely full of Designer stores: Armani, Burberry, Vivienne Westwood and many more.  Walking down this street you will see many an elegant shopper; we were shocked at the amount of glamorous elder woman we saw casually sauntering about.  

Metro:  Palestro (Red)

There's a lot of designer stores around the Duomo, explore for yourself!

High Street

Yes, Milan does actually cater for us normal people too!  For the highest variety of high street stores, head to the Duomo.  They're mixed amongst the designer so you can stare in awe at the luxurious window displays, and then carry on to something a little bit more affordable.  

Metro: Duomo (Red/Yellow)

Vintage

If its vintage your after, head to the canals.  Be warned: not all of this vintage is as cheap as you'd expect it to be.  Imagine the amount of designer hand-me-downs in Milan: this vintage can come at a price! You may also have to take a wonder to find the best ones.  

Metro: P.ta Genova (Green) - walk down Corso Colombo.

Tip: The canal is also a great place for night life from Thursdays.  And don't be alarmed if there's no water in the canals!

The Nightlife

Milan is full of stylish little bars.  The popular nights for going out is Thursday - Sunday, however find a bar with a group of mates, get a couple of drinks down you and I don't see what the problem is!  The bar staff seem really friendly.  One night down by the canals we found a bar who let us put our iPod on and make our own cocktails.  Another bar allowed us to dance on the tables whilst fuelling us with free shots: pretty messy!

The Canals

We went here on a Wednesday night and, although there were people out, it wasn't very busy.  However there were multiple bars to choose from, with drinks prices being about 2 Euros for a shot and 6 Euros for a cocktail.  

Metro: P.ta Genova (Green) - walk down Corso Colombo.

Corso Sempione

You may recognise this street name from The Food and Drink post.  Many cafés during the day time turn into bars at night.  We never actually went here but others did and said there was a variety of bars to choose from.

Metro: Cadorna (red/green). Walk up Via Paleocapa, left onto Vale Zola and onto Via Mario Pagano. Head right on this road until you read the Piazza Sempione (big archway mentioned on The Sights).  The main road opposit this is Corso Sempione. 

Corso Como - Our Favourite!

We went here on our last night, a Thursday, after having dinner on the same strip.  All the bars seem very sophisticated and fashionable.  It can be pretty pricey round here, with shots being as much as 5 Euros, so have a look around.  We managed to strike gold, with a bar offering us one cocktail and two shots for 10 Euros, which we shared in twos.  Because we were a group of 8 girls, we started to attract the locals.  Although cocktails were 10 Euros here, every time we went to the bar they'd offer us free shots, we think it was to keep us in there! They had their own promotions person who, despite being a bit creepy, told us there were clubs round the corner if we wanted to carry on partying - it costs about 10 Euros entry for these.  We texted round the rest of our course and pretty soon we were all mingling with the locals, some even got a bit too close!  Compared to other bars, it was packed in here, which made the atmosphere even better.  Another group of people from our course were in a bar on the same strip, and were also dancing on the tables, so we assumed it must be a popular place for nightlife!  

Metro: Garibaldi F.S. (Green/Blue) Walk onto Viale Luigi Sturzo, and cross the road onto Corso Como.