Street in Milan
Brera is Milan’s most charming neighborhood, a compact area of cobblestone streets, art galleries, independent boutiques, and the Pinacoteca di Brera (one of Italy’s finest art galleries, paid). Free to walk. The Orto Botanico di Brera (botanical garden) behind the gallery is free. Budget travelers walk through Brera in the evening when the bars and restaurants spill onto the streets and the neighborhood feels like a village inside a metropolis.
Practical
Nearby
Other places worth the walk, and what each one costs.
Castello Sforzesco is a 15th-century fortress in the center of Milan, built by the Sforza dynasty and housing several museums including Michelangelo's last unfinished sculpture (Rondanini Pieta). The castle courtyard and grounds are free.
The Cimitero Monumentale is Milan's monumental cemetery, an open-air museum of sculpture, architecture, and design. Free.
The Famedio (Hall of Fame) is the entrance building of the Cimitero Monumentale, a marble and mosaic memorial hall containing the tombs of Milan's most illustrious citizens including Alessandro Manzoni (author of The Betrothed, the most important novel in Italian literature). Free.
The Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II is a 19th-century glass-roofed shopping arcade connecting the Duomo to La Scala, the most elegant covered passage in Italy. Free to walk through.
La Scala (Teatro alla Scala) is the most famous opera house in the world. The exterior on Piazza della Scala is free to see.
Leonardo da Vinci's The Last Supper is painted on the wall of the refectory of Santa Maria delle Grazie. Entry is paid and must be booked months in advance (timed entry for groups of 25, 15 minutes per visit).
Working out what Milan costs?
The whole of Milan