Things to do in Milan

Milan is the one big Italian city that does not trade on ruins. It can disappoint anyone expecting Rome. This is a working city: finance, fashion, design, one stadium for two rival clubs. What it keeps for looking at is concentrated and mostly indoors.

The Duomo took nearly six centuries to finish. The Last Supper is on a refectory wall, and the Galleria is a shopping arcade from 1877 that people photograph anyway.

The short list worth planning around:

• The Duomo. Roof terraces included on the better ticket, and the view across the city is the point.
• Santa Maria delle Grazie. Leonardo's Last Supper, fifteen minutes per group, booked months ahead.
• The Sforza Castle. The Renaissance court, with Michelangelo's unfinished last work inside.
• Brera and Navigli. The gallery quarter and the canal district, which is where the evening happens.

The offer here looks unlike anywhere else in Italy, and that is worth knowing before booking. Self-guided city games dominate. Puzzle quests and exploration routes run through Brera, the palaces, the street art and the Navigli, bought once and played on a phone.

Around them sit e-bike tours, a Leonardo route among them. Transfers and long Italy circuits start here too, because the airport does. Guided walking is the thin part here.

Practical

• The Last Supper. Tickets open in blocks months ahead and vanish the same day. Without one, do not build a day around it.
• Fashion weeks and the fair. Hotel prices double during Salone del Mobile in April and the September shows.
• August. The city empties and a lot of it closes. It is the quietest month and the least rewarding.
• Getting around. Four metro lines that actually go where you need, unlike Rome. A day ticket covers trams too.
• Aperitivo. From about six, a drink comes with food included. In Navigli that is dinner if you want it to be.