Milan and the Lakes

By Enrico Massetti

It's a guide for a visit to Milan lasting two, three, or more days. It also covers the two lakes closer to Milan: Lake Como and Maggiore.

In Lake Como, the towns of Como, Bellagio, Menaggio, and Varenna, in addition to the one-day trips you can make from one of these towns to Piona, Villa Carlotta, and Villa del Balbianello.

In Lake Maggiore, the town of Stresa, in addition to the one-day trips, you can make from one of these towns to the Borromean Islands, the Angera castle, Locarno, Mottarone, Villa Taranto, and the Centovalli railway.

There are extensive descriptions and photos of the attractions like museums, churches, nightlife, and other attractions.

The guide includes restaurant reviews, tourist resources, and recipe web pages. Use the digital edition on a smartphone, tablet, or desktop. Googling the correct information is frustrating because there are too many websites to see! Which one is the most appropriate? Enrico selected the suitable sites that apply to his guide and included them here. The links are active when you use the digital edition if you have an active internet connection.

Enrico included a chapter on food and recipes from Lombardy, with links, active in the digital version, to the relevant entries in an Italian recipe database.

There are descriptions of how to get to Milan by driving and parking in the city. Also, helpful info to stay there.

There are reviews of several restaurants.

The guide is presented into sections covering single days or half days, allowing you to combine several areas depending on the length of your stay and your preference of what to see.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Massetti Publishing
• Release date: Jul 29, 2022
• ISBN: 9798201110017

Enrico Massetti

Enrico Massetti nació en Milán, Italia, donde vivió durante más de 30 años, visitando innumerables destinos turísticos, desde las montañas de los Alpes hasta el mar de Sicilia. Ahora vive en Washington, Estados Unidos. Sin embargo, visita regularmente su ciudad natal y disfruta recorriendo todos los lugares de su país, especialmente aquellos a los que puede llegar en transporte público. Puede contactar con Enrico en [e-mail].

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Enrico Massetti

Milan and the Lakes

Lake Como and Lake Maggiore

Text Copyright © Enrico Massetti 2015-2021

Images ©, or CC Creative Commons license, as specified for each image

Cover image © Enrico Massetti, Adobe inc.

Published by Enrico Massetti

All Rights Reserved

2022-8 edition

dedicated to my family still living in Milan

With whom I made several visits

to the Lakes over the years

Milan on foot

Via Dante © enricodc

Taking a stroll around Milan is an excellent way of getting to know some fascinating corners. It is the only way to get acquainted with its flavor and lifestyle. It is true what is told about the Milanese, who are always in a hurry. However, even if nobody could deny Milan is a very vibrant city, its citizens have learned when to stop and how to enjoy a walk in the city center pedestrian areas while having an aperitif and a good chat with some good friends.

The city center pedestrian areas.

Castello Sforzesco © enricodc

Corso Vittorio Emanuele is a pedestrian precinct with two main cinemas, bookshops, fashion shops, and bars with open-air tables.

Piazza San Babila – Start the pedestrian precinct, a square surrounded by post-war architecture with many fashionable shops.

Via Della Spiga – the pedestrian street where the great stylists have their showrooms

Brera is one of the most attractive areas with fine private houses, art galleries, and original shops, most famous for its bars, clubs, restaurants, and nightlife.

Loggia dei Mercanti – via Mercanti © enricodc

Via Mercanti – pedestrian precinct with its attractive Piazzetta, the administrative and political center of Medieval Milan

Via Dante was created in the late 19th century to provide an evocative link between the Duomo (cathedral) and the Castle (Castello Sforzesco)

A recommended itinerary

Start from Piazza San Babila, easily reachable with the Metropolitana underground line 1, station San Babila. You walk in Corso Vittorio Emanuele, a fashionable street with many high-end shops, mainly clothing. Before the end of the Corso, turn right in via Cesare Beccaria to see the Piazzetta del Liberty with a Liberty-style palace, then return to the Corso.

The roof of the Duomo © enricodc

You arrive at the back of the Duomo at the end of Corso Vittorio Emanuele.

A visit to the roof of the Duomo is a must. Take the elevator in the back of the Duomo if you don’t want to gasp on an interminable stair! From the rooftop, you are in a magical world of marble and several thousand statues. Go to the front of the roof and look down at Duomo square. Look also at "the Madonnina," the golden statue on top of the highest guglia. It’s the most loved symbol of Milan. During World War II, it was covered so that it would not shine in the night, attracting the attention of the allied bombers.

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The Duomo from La Rinascente Cafe © enricodc

After getting down from the roof, do not miss a visit to the cafeteria of the La Rinascente store under the porticos on your right. You find it by going up to the last floor of the store; the cafeteria has a glass wall facing the top of the Duomo. The site is unique, and the Cappuccino is worth a visit, too, even if eating it is expensive.

Continuing North, you reach the main square Piazza Duomo, in front of Il Duomo. It would be best if you visited the cathedral.

Il Duomo

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Duomo di Milano © silviadc

The Duomo, which traditionally symbolizes the city of Milan, is the most extraordinary example of Italian late Gothic art. It ranks third in dimension after the Saint Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican in Rome and Seville’s Cathedral. Located in the very heart of the city, the Duomo di Milano represents both the town's core and the unavoidable destination of countless visitors from Italy and abroad.

Mark Twain, a great fan of the Duomo di Milano, can take over the description (from Innocents Abroad) from here:

What a wonder it is! So grand, so solemn, so vast! And yet so delicate, so airy, so graceful! A very world of solid weight, and yet it seems …a delusion of frostwork that might vanish with a breath!

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Stained Glass Windows © enricodc

The Duomo has five great doors. The central one is bordered with a bas-relief of birds and fruits and beasts and insects, which have been so ingeniously carved out of the marble that they seem like living creatures– and the figures are numerous. The design is so complex that one might study it for a week without exhausting its interest…everywhere that a niche or a perch can be found about the enormous building; from the summit to the base, there is a marble statue. Every sculpture is a study in itself…

Away above, on the lofty roof, rank on rank of carved and fretted spires spring high in the air, and through their rich tracery, one sees the sky beyond. … (Up on) the roof… bouncing from its broad marble flagstones, were the long files of spires, looking very tall close at hand, but diminishing in the distance…We could now see that the statue on the top of each was the size of a large man, though they all looked like dolls from the street.

They say that the Cathedral of Milan is second only to St. Peter’s in Rome. I cannot understand how it can be second to anything made by human hands.

Duomo – Interior © enricodc

The construction of the Duomo di Milano began in 1386, promoted by Gian Galeazzo Visconti, lord of Milan, and continued for centuries.

The Duomo di Milano is entirely covered from its base with pinkish-white marble. In the façade, five large portals are inserted, carrying high reliefs illustrating sacred and historical scenes such as The life of Sant’Ambrogio. Wide slabs of marble make up the roof of the Duomo, which can be reached by a steep external staircase consisting of 919 steps carved between the left side and the transept.

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From the Duomo roof © enricodc

The effort of climbing the Duomo is highly rewarded by the magnificent view of the surrounding plain up to the Alps; should the weather be ungenerous, it will still be possible to enjoy the vision of the Madonnina, the golden statue of the Virgin Mary, the 135 lace-like spires and the many sculptures which decorate the roof.

On entering the majestic interior of the cross-shaped cathedral of the Duomo di Milano, the sight is captured by the polychrome stained glass windows depicting scenes from the life of the saints. The eight naves of the Duomo Cathedral are divided by 52 gigantic pillars topped by a series of niches with statues.

You must pay for a ticket to enter the Duomo. You do not need a reservation, as the capacity of the Duomo is excellent. Lines are only present during the most frequented tourist seasons.

Duomo di Milano official site www.duomomilano.it - you can buy tickets here.

Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II

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Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II © silviadc

On the right, you then enter the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, the first mall realized in the 19th century and still a masterwork of artistic shopping.

The Galleria is Italy's oldest active shopping mall and a major landmark of Milan. A four-story double arcade in the center of town, its name comes from Victor Emmanuel II, the first king of the Kingdom of Italy.

On the side of the central octagonal, you should not miss the bull; Milan's tradition is that squeezing your feet on the bull's balls is supposed to bring you good luck!

There are several famous fashionable restaurants in the Galleria. Don't be fooled by their fame; they are usually overpriced and aiming for tourists with big pockets. There are many other opportunities to have an excellent dinner in Milan without paying.

Should you want an aperitivo, then you can afford the higher price to have it in the Galleria, it's worth the experience, and it costs you only a few more euros compared to an anonymous locale.

Walk on the roof of the Galleria.

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On the roof with the sight of the Madonnina © silviadc

I recommend a tour on the roof of the Galleria, in sight of Piazza Duomo and the Madonnina.

You can see the Duomo spires up close and enjoy breathtaking views of Milan.

The tour costs € 12.00. Check the website for the current price and opening schedule.

The tour is not accessible to people with disabilities.

Highline Galleria

Via Silvio Pellico 2, 20122, Milano

Tel. [phone] Fax. [phone]

E-mail. [e-mail]

Website. www.highlinegalleria.com

The Museum Gallerie d'Italia

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The inside of the museum Gallerie d'Italia © enricodc

At the end of the Galleria, there is Piazza Scala, with the La Scala famous opera theater.

In the right corner of the Piazza, at the end of the long grey building, is the entrance of the museum of '800 and '900 art Gallerie d'Italia. Admission is 10-15 €; the museum closes on Mondays. The Restaurant Voce Aimo e Nadia of the museum is always open and is a friendly and inexpensive place where you can rest.

Returning to Piazza Duomo, visit the Piazzetta Reale on the opposite side of the Palazzo Reale square. It's the place that holds most exhibitions of art in Milan.

Website. www.gallerieditalia.com

La Scala Theater

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La Scala Theater © enricodc

The Teatro alla Scala, without a doubt one of the most famous opera houses in the world, was founded with the support of Empress Maria Theresa of Austria to replace its predecessor, the Regio Teatro Ducale, built in 1589, which was destroyed by flames in 1776 but up until that time the home of opera in Milan. Designed and built by the great neoclassical architect Giuseppe Piermarini between 1776 and 1778, it was opened in August with an opera by Antonio Salieri.

The period between the two wars witnessed a succession of appearances at the Scala by the great artists of the time, and in 1943 La Scala was severely damaged by bombardments.

It was reopened again on 11 May 1946, with a historic concert conducted by Toscanini, and the theatre rapidly returned to its previous level of excellent production and art.

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