Milan in 2 days

• The fixed visit (the Last Supper) anchors the plan; everything else flexes around it.
• Day 1 is one continuous walk through the centre, Brera and the castle; day 2 is a western arc ending at the Navigli.
• Evenings are left for Brera or the Navigli rather than extra sites.
• Day 1 can fall on a Monday, because its core is outdoors; day 2 needs a Tuesday to Sunday.

The Last Supper is the one visit in this plan that must be reserved. The museum’s official site says a reservation is required for everyone, visits last 15 minutes, you must arrive 30 minutes before your booked time or lose your admission, and the museum is closed on Mondays. Reservations are released in batches and extra tickets go on sale online every Wednesday at noon for the following week, so you may have to fit Milan around the slot you get rather than the reverse. Check availability before you fix flights and hotels, and adjust your dates if you need to.

1. 1Morning: the Duomo. Buy the ticket on the cathedral’s official site, which sells the cathedral and museum, the terraces, or a combined ticket for all three; choose by the time you have. Dress and bag rules are in Things to do in Milan.
2. 2Walk through the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, the glass-roofed 19th-century arcade, to Piazza della Scala and the opera house.
3. 3Midday: continue north to Brera for lunch among its small streets. If you want the Pinacoteca di Brera, reserve it in advance on its booking site; it is closed on Mondays.
4. 4Afternoon: walk on to the Sforza Castle. The courtyards are free to enter every day; the museums are closed on Mondays. Sempione Park behind the castle is the place to rest.
5. 5Evening: dinner back in Brera, or a walk around the Duomo square.

The route is one continuous walk, so day 1 needs no transport. The cost is a long day on your feet; sit down in Sempione Park.

1. 1Morning: the Last Supper at your reserved time, beside the church of Santa Maria delle Grazie. Arrive 30 minutes before your slot, as the museum requires, and leave bags at your hotel: bags are not allowed inside, and the ticket-office lockers are limited to 60 minutes.
2. 2Afterwards: Cadorna, the nearest station for M1 and M2, is close by; walk through the western streets, or take the metro toward the south-west.
3. 3Afternoon: the Navigli canals, where you can walk the water and eat.
4. 4Evening: remain in the Navigli, or return by metro for a second look at the Duomo square lit at night.

• Keep the Last Supper and give Brera more time, including its art gallery; reserve it in advance, and remember it is closed on Mondays.
• Move the Sforza Castle museums into day 1 only if you start early; one ticket covers them all and they are closed on Mondays.
• If time is short, see the Duomo from the square and spend that time at Brera.

• Architecture: the Duomo with its terraces, the Galleria and the castle.
• Shopping: the streets around the Duomo and the Galleria; check shop hours locally.
• Food and evenings: swap the two evenings if you prefer the Navigli first, and check the last metro before you go.
• Short on time: use only day 1 plus the Last Supper slot.
• A Monday in the plan: make it day 1, and keep to the outdoor parts (the Duomo square, the Galleria, Brera’s streets, the castle courtyards and the park).

The centre is walkable and day 1 needs no transport. On day 2 the legs are longer, and the metro, run by ATM, saves time; ATM’s site says you can pay for the journey by tapping a contactless bank card. Before a late dinner in the Navigli, check the last metro or the night network on ATM’s site, because late-evening service can change for works.

Arrival pages: Malpensa and Linate to Milan, and Bergamo airport to Milan, are in our transport section.

• The Last Supper: check availability before flights and hotels are final, then book the slot.
• The Duomo: through its official ticket site.
• The Brera gallery, if you add it: through its booking site.
• Other museums you add: through their own sites.
• A guided tour only if you choose one; read operator, inclusions and cancellation first.

• Booking transport without first checking Last Supper availability.
• Putting the Last Supper early on the day of an airport transfer.
• Planning the Last Supper, the Brera gallery or the castle museums for a Monday.
• Arriving at the Last Supper less than 30 minutes before your booked time.
• Assuming a single Duomo ticket opens every part of the complex.
• Leaving the Navigli for after the last M2 service without a plan.
• Overfilling day 1 because the sights look close on the map.

• One day: day 1 plus the Last Supper slot if you can get one.
• Three days: add a day trip by train; check the operator’s timetable.
• A late arrival: start with the Duomo square at night and do day 1 the next morning.