Camparino in Galleria — iChiara from London (CC BY-SA 2.0)

Ready-made walk · Milan

Milan Essentials: Around the Duomo in an Hour

7 stops · ~2 hr 5 min · 1.6 km

Highlights

A compact loop around the cathedral: the Duomo and Palazzo Reale, Bramante’s painted false apse at Santa Maria presso San Satiro and the medieval Palazzo della Ragione on Piazza Mercanti. End beneath the glass dome of the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, with the Camparino bar at its corner, and at the opera house of La Scala.

The stops, in walking order

iChiara from London (CC BY-SA 2.0)
Stop 1: Camparino in Galleria
~3 min here
Camparino in Galleria is the celebrated bar set within Milan’s Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, at the corner toward Piazza Duomo.
iPaolobon140 (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Stop 2: Galleria Vittorio Emanuele Secondo
~3 min here
The Galleria Vittorio Emanuele Secondo is a covered shopping arcade, and its real drama is overhead: glass and iron form intersecting passageways beneath a great dome.
iJakub Hałun (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Stop 3: Teatro alla Scala
~3 min here
Teatro alla Scala is Milan’s historic opera house, designed by Giuseppe Piermarini in the neoclassical style associated with Milan.
iMarkusMark (CC BY-SA 3.0)
Stop 4: Palazzo della Ragione
~3 min here
Palazzo della Ragione is the historic civic building opening onto Piazza Mercanti, opposite the Loggia degli Osii.
iLudvig14 (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Stop 5: Chiesa di Santa Maria presso San Satiro
~15 min here
Santa Maria presso San Satiro is a church whose most astonishing feature is an apse that appears deep but is actually painted perspective.
iJakub Hałun (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Stop 6: Duomo di Milano
~15 min here
Duomo di Milano is Milan’s cathedral, dedicated to the Nativity of Saint Mary.
iPaolobon140 (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Stop 7: Palazzo Reale
~1 hr here
Palazzo Reale is the former seat of Milan’s government, now a cultural venue housed in this grand palace.