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Milan Tourist Ultimate Guide When Short on Time!

I think Milan is my favorite (modern) city in all of Italy. While Rome is a glorious city filled with illustrious and extraordinary history, Milan has this energy to it that makes it easy to be swept up in. I’ll always remember taking my wife several years ago, she was my girlfriend then, there for the first time. Sitting at a quant little cafe at the Piazza watching people paint, sing, and be really well dressed!

Vittorio Emanuele II Gallery. Milan, Italy
Vittorio Emanuele II Gallery. Milan, Italy

Milan is the second largest city in Italy and is the capital of the region of Lombardy, and as such, has a lot to see for any Milan tourist.

It has a really rich history, having being founded by the Celts, conquered by the Romans and has served as an important commercial center since the middle ages. It became a center for resistance against the Nazis during the Second World War and today is known as an international fashion hotspot.

Milan Tourist – Duomo (Milan Cathedral)

Milan Duomo - Italy
Milan Duomo – Italy

The front of the cathedral is so intricate and so big it is impossible to take in all of the details from the photos. You really do have to see it to believe it. On my first day in Milan I climbed right to the top of the roof to look out over the city of Milan. You do have to pay a small fee to be able to take photos, but this money goes towards the upkeep of the cathedral itself, so I would recommend paying it.

View from the Duomo
View from the Duomo

I didn’t find the climb to the top too bad at all, but there is an option to pay twice as much and take the elevator. The stairs weren’t busy at all even though we were there at a busy time of day, so you have time to take a break if you need it. For me, the views from the top made the climb completely worth it.

Being a Milan tourist, it’s a real experience climbing the stairs and emerging onto the fantastic roof with incredible details and designs.

Be inspired by The Last Supper

Arguably Milan’s most well known attraction, Leonardo da Vinci’s The Last Supper is the place to visit.

L'Ultima Cena di Leonardo da Vinci
L’Ultima Cena di Leonardo da Vinci

But! Getting tickets to go is like getting front row seats to Lady Gaga or another world famous singer! Sometimes it’s tough being a Milan tourist…

If you’re lucky enough or purchase tickets in advance are allowed to enter the hallowed refectory. Normally visiting time is limited to 15 minutes, but those inside get to witness the expression of hostility, despair, and conservation on the faces of Jesus’s disciples moments before his betrayal.

Although here Leonardo used an experimental technique, meaning the painting or fresco is flaky, the quality and experience is superb.

La Scala Opera House

La Scala, an opera house in Milan, Italy
La Scala, an opera house in Milan, Italy

The outside of the Opera House doesn’t look that impressive. Don’t be put off by this because inside it is just as grand and decadent as you would imagine. There is a fantastic museum inside which will talk you through the various different superstars who have conducted and performed in shows at La Scala over the last 200 years.,

If you are an opera fan, see if you can book ahead to get tickets to a performance. Even if you’re not an opera fan, you won’t be disappointed; the standard of everything performed at La Scala is simply world class. Just make sure you adhere to the dress code, the locals can get a bit upset if you don’t.

Inside La Scala
Inside La Scala

Milan Tourist – Shopping

Fashion lovers, beware! Relatives of fashion lovers beware even more! Milan is an amazing place to shop for all of your favorite Italian designers. The best part is you won’t even need to go traipsing all over the city to browse all of the different stores.

All of Milan’s top boutiques and designer stores are all on one square which is known as the Quadrilatero d’Oro, (the rectangle of gold). Here you will find stores such as, Armani, Fendi, Dolce & Gabbana, Miu Miu, Prada, Moschino and many, many more. The amazing thing is, is during off seasons, the price of the clothing can be really inexpensive!

Rectangle of Gold
Rectangle of Gold

These places are only some of the awesome places to visit in Milan! Can you do all of these in a day? Absolutely. But to really see the city, you’ll need a few days. Here are a few more places you can visit and I’ll be writing about each one at length:

  • Get some culture at the Teatro alla Scala
  • Hop on (and have dinner) on a tram
  • Step into a time capsule at Villa Necchi Campiglio
  • Patronize the Sant’Ambrogio
  • And more!

So whether your interests are in opera and ballet, religious architecture, panoramic views or high-end fashion, you will have an amazing time enjoying everything that being a Milan tourist has to offer.

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Shop in China – Where Should You Shop and What Products to Buy?

Without a thought, this would be one of the top 3 questions people asked me, no matter where they were going. Where to shop in China and and what to buy?

Okay, so maybe two questions but they go together, right? I mean, there is such diversity of goods to buy in China, but China is also the number 1 country in the world for selling counterfeit goods and plenty of scams (see my article), so you have to be careful, too.

shanghai yuyuan garden

It is a known and well-recognized fact that if you are travelling to a different country, you will come back with a lot of shopping. You will be shopping for your family and your friends back home and also for your own self. This means that a majority of your time will be spent in shopping malls and stores.

I have put together a brief guide in this post to help you become one of the most well informed shoppers in all of China. To start, you should always know what you want to buy, what you have in mind and where you are going to get it.

In a country like China, you can face many difficulties if you end up getting lost, lose your money or end up at the wrong places.

You need to be very well informed about how you can save time and money while shopping for all the things that you need. As a traveller coming to China, you find many things in China to be strange, but here is a very comprehensive list of all the places you can go to and all the things that you can buy when you are travelling in China.

You should also know what skills you need to possess and what steps you need to take whenever you are shopping on your own in China:

  • Shop in China – You need to know how to haggle and bargain with the shopkeeper!
    • This is difficult for many people to grasp for some reason, that almost, except food really, anything you buy from a vendor can be bargained for. Don’t be afraid to push the price down even 50-70% of what was originally asked. I know, sometimes it seems you’re haggling over pennies, which you are, but it is part of the “game.”
    • This reminds me once when I was visiting Beijing with my dad and brother and we went shopping in there flee market. Saw this awesome tie with dark navy blue and crimson red stripes going down vertically. Starting price was 70RMB, which back then was some 10 USD. After haggling for a few min, ended up being 35RMB or around 5 bucks. Laughed the whole time, cause at the end it was over a couple of cents. It can be fun!

    • When you shop in China How do you know when you’ve gone too low? The shopkeeper will turn and walk away from you or he will let you leave his stall.

If there is one thing that you need to know about shopping in China, it is the art of haggling or bargaining with the shopkeepers. I can’t tell you how many times this has helped me get a good deal!

Items to Buy
Items to Buy
  • Shop in China – What to Buy

There are a number of great things that you can bring back from China and here is a list of all the things that you can choose from and many more! I will be posting articles of thing to look for depending upon which city you’re going too:

  • Silk slippers make unique gifts
  • Beijing Opera Masks can be a treat for your friends and family at home.
  • Name, stamp carving shops where you can get your name embossed or carved on different day-to-day things that you use around the house or at work.
  • You can also purchase large jade carvings which are extremely beautiful.
  • Freshwater and sea pearls can be a rare and beautiful find.
  • Silk pajamas for children
  • Chinese tea is a great idea because the Chinese culture (the Asian culture to be exact) is very much concentrated around different types of tea. In fact, tea is served with almost every meal and even between meals. Be sure to check back for my extensive articles on tea!
  • Different Chinese musical instruments that you can enjoy back home.
  • Chinese zodiac signs in jade
  • Ornamental tassels
  • And more!
  • Shop in China – Where do you need to go?

You can go to a number of places such as:

  • The Dong Tai Road Antique Market
  • Hong Qiao New World Pearl Market
  • Shanghai Longhua Fashion and Gift Market
  • Shanghai South Bund Fabric Market
  • Pearl’s Circles
  • Lowu Market
Lowu Market, Shenzhen
Lowu Market, Shenzhen (everything copy)

As mentioned, when you shop in China, be careful for counterfeits. But if you want a world leading Rolex copy, then China is the best place to get it!

I plan on writing about each city and what each city has to offer on things to buy so be sure to check back soon!

Enjoy!

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