Milanand Lake Como

Four nights in the city and a day on the lake: the cathedral and its roof, the Last Supper, aperitivo on the canals, the funicular above Como and a boat to Bellagio.

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Italy · 5 days

A white marble cathedral, the Last Supper, the design districts, and the best aperitivo in Italy. Lake Como is an hour out, and people go for the day.

Day by day

Day 1 · 10 placesArrival, and an evening on the canals
MXP → Cadorna: Malpensa Express, 50 min
  • Aeroporto di Milano–Malpensa (MXP)
    This is where you land. The Malpensa Express leaves from under the arrivals hall and runs into the city every half hour.
  • Stazione di Milano Cadorna
    The city station where the airport train arrives. On day four, the train to Lake Como leaves from here too.
  • Colonne di San Lorenzo
    Sixteen Roman columns from the 2nd century, moved here in the 4th. In the evening half of Milan sits on the steps.
  • Basilica di San Lorenzo Maggiore
    A 4th-century church, one of the oldest in Europe: round, with Byzantine mosaics in the Sant’Aquilino chapel.
  • ★ Darsena di Milano
    The old city port, where marble for the cathedral came in by canal. Now it’s a waterfront of bars and boats.
  • ★ Naviglio Grande
    A canal Leonardo had a hand in. Our stop is the busy stretch by Vicolo dei Lavandai: in the evening both banks turn into Milan’s aperitivo.
Day 2 · 11 placesThe castle, the park and the Last Supper
from the castle to Sant’Ambrogio, all in a straight line, 2 miles
  • ★ Duomo di Milano
    The city’s cathedral: 135 spires and marble that came in by canal over five centuries. Inside by ticket, and the line is shorter before ten.
  • ★ Terrazze del Duomo
    The cathedral roof: you walk on marble among the spires, and on a clear day you can see the Alps. The stairs are cheaper, the elevator faster.
  • ★ Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II
    The glass gallery of 1877: mosaics underfoot, cafés under the dome, and the most expensive shopping in Italy.
  • Teatro alla Scala
    An ordinary building from outside; inside, the greatest opera stage in the world. The museum is open during the day, and from it you can see the hall.
  • ★ Villa Necchi Campiglio
    A 1930s Milanese industrialist’s house with a pool in the courtyard — the one from “I Am Love.” Everything left as it was, down to the china.
  • ★ Santuario di San Bernardino alle Ossa
    A chapel whose walls are lined with human bones from the old cemetery. Five minutes inside and you remember it for the whole trip. Free.
Day 3 · 9 placesThe Duomo, the roof and the whole piazza
the whole day within a third of a mile of the cathedral
  • Museo Nazionale Scienza e Tecnologia Leonardo da Vinci
    Italy’s largest science and technology museum: models of Leonardo’s machines, a real submarine, steam locomotives. With kids, budget half a day.
  • Civico Museo Archeologico
    Roman Milan inside a former monastery: mosaics, silver, a cut-glass cup. Two towers from the 3rd century still stand in the courtyard — back when the city was called Mediolanum and ran the empire.
  • ★ Santa Maria delle Grazie · Il Cenacolo
    Leonardo’s Last Supper, on the refectory wall. Thirty people at a time for fifteen minutes; book a month out.
  • Triennale Milano
    The museum of Italian design — the reason designers fly to Milan from everywhere. Café with a terrace onto the park.
  • Torre Branca
    A 1933 steel tower in the middle of the park: the elevator takes you up 350 feet, and from there you see the whole city and the Alps.
  • ★ Castello Sforzesco
    The castle of the Sforza dukes. The courtyard is free; inside are museums and Michelangelo’s last, unfinished sculpture.
Day 4 · 11 placesLake Como: train, funicular, boat
Cadorna → Como Lago, 1 hr by train · back from Varenna
  • Stazione di Como Lago
    The station where the train from Cadorna arrives. It sits right on the waterfront: the piers are 300 yards away on foot, no transfer needed.
  • ★ Funicolare Como–Brunate
    The 1894 funicular climbs 1,600 feet to the village of Brunate in seven minutes: the whole lake and the Alps from the top, with overlooks and cafés along the way.
  • ★ Imbarcadero di Como · Navigazione Laghi
    The pier the lake boats leave from. Buy at the ticket window on the dock: the fast boat to Bellagio takes 45 minutes, the regular one about two hours.
  • ★ Imbarcadero di Bellagio
    The boat docks in the middle of the village: from the gangway you step straight into stair-streets, shops and cafés above the water.
  • ★ Punta Spartivento
    The headland at the tip of Bellagio, where the lake splits in two: Lecco to the right, Como to the left, the Alps ahead. Ten minutes from the pier along the water, free.
  • ★ Passeggiata degli Innamorati
    A boardwalk on pilings along the cliff, right above the water, from the pier to the village. Ten minutes to walk, and photos for the whole vacation.
Day 5 · 2 placesBrera, the golden quad, and the flight home
Cadorna → MXP: Malpensa Express, 50 min
  • Pinacoteca Ambrosiana
    Home to Leonardo’s Codex Atlanticus and Caravaggio’s “Basket of Fruit.” Noticeably fewer people than Brera.
  • Aeroporto di Milano–Malpensa (MXP)
    Departure airport for the flight home. Leave for the airport 2 hours before the flight, 3 for a long-haul one.
Itinerary

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