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The hotel Welcome to the house of… god. Sort of. The white pillars, vast arches and towering wooden doors of what was once the Chiesa Cristo Re church now form the glamorous lobby of NH Collection Milano CityLife (rooms from £174, nhcollection.com). Its good looks aren’t the hotel’s only cause to brag: being in Milan’s regenerated business district, it has a contemporary park, open-air art trail and chic mall on its doorstep. Enjoy. That is, if you can resist the hotel’s rooftop pool, with its cocktails at the click of your fingers.
The breakfast Leonardo da Vinci’s Last Supper can wait – the most important meal of the day is breakfast. For a stylish affair, head to the Portrait Milano hotel in the chichi Quadrilatero district. It may be housed in a 16th-century seminary and have interiors by its owners the Ferragamo family, but the breakfast buffet (around £39, lungarnocollection.com) is the true head-turner. Served overlooking a ‘secret’ garden, its picture-perfect pancakes (below), cheese, meats et al will have even the Insta-averse clawing for a close-up.
The buys Spare your credit card a coronary and swerve the luxe stores of the fashion district for the boho Brera area. Here you’ll discover Milan’s other style superpower: vintage fashion. Check out secondhand paradisos Madame Pauline Vintage (below), Vintage Delirium and Urzí Vintage Selection. And don’t miss Cavalli e Nastri, which trumps them all with its retro haul of luxury greats we still know and love (think Prada, Versace, Armani), plus labels long since departed for that great front row in the sky.
The cocktails It’s illegal to visit Italy without ordering aperitivo. A pre-dinner drink with a tsunami of snacks? We’re in. Visit the once gritty, now cool Navigli district, where canals cut through streets of offbeat galleries and boutiques, and bars buzz with locals necking Day-Glo Aperols. Leave the tourists to the waterside haunts and head down a side street to low-lit, stylishly trad Ugo (ugobar.it) for movie-inspired cocktails. Keep it Italian with a La Dolce Vita (£8.60): Campari, vermouth, artichoke and soda.
The restaurant The address says Via Tortona. The vibe? Right up Wes Anderson’s boulevard. Welcome to Osteria Del Binari (osteriadelbinari.it), a railway workers’ social club transformed into a trattoria, beloved for its classic Lombardian cuisine. Here old beams and fireplaces backdrop red leather armchairs and art deco details, while the garden terrace – once a bowling alley, now all green ironwork, glass and vines – is a true oasis. Try the zucchini flowers, ossobuco and saffron rice, with a bottle from its 600-long wine list.
The ‘me’ time You’ve done the Duomo, exhausted the exhibitions at Fondazione Prada and nosed around stately des res Villa Necchi Campiglio. Two words: spa time. Robe up at QC Termemilano (qcterme.com), a former tram depot turned wellness wonderland. The subterranean complex features whirlpools, waterfalls, steam rooms and a hammam, plus a crystal-walled tub built around Roman ruins and, out in the pool-packed garden, a biosauna housed inside an historic tram. Entry from around £40.
