What to see in Milan in 2 days. A tour with the best to see

Milan is a city where most of the points of interest are very close, so they can be explored on foot, which makes it a perfect city to visit on a weekend.

If you have two days to see Milan, here we are going to show you a tour with the best things to see in a couple of days, with everything essential to visit in the capital of Lombardy and enjoy its historic center and all its wonders.

You can find the best things to see in Milan in two days in this article, which we invite you to read.

What to see in Milan in 2 days

What to see in Milan on the first day

The first day in Milan can be dedicated to visiting the most important monuments to see in Milan on foot as well as strolling through its beautiful streets full of historic buildings and luxury shops. We recommend you read our article about what to see in Milan in one day to see the detailed route.

On this first day we will visit:

• Duomo and Cathedral Pizza
• Vittorio Emanuelle I Gallery
• Theater alla Scala
• Sforza Castle
• Sempione Park
• The Church of Santa Maria delle Grazie and the Last Supper

But Milan has a lot to see and that is why we are going to enjoy the tour on a second day.

What to visit in Milan on the second day

The Municipal Cemetery and Piazza Gae Aulenti

After visiting the best places to see in Milan during the previous day, on this second day we will go to discover other more unknown places in the Italian city.

One of them is the Municipal Cemetery, an open-air museum where we will find tombs and mausoleums of important Italian historical figures as well as sculptures and different temples that we will find. And yes, visiting cemeteries is another tourist option, as long as it is done with respect.

Walking approximately one kilometer, leaving aside the Porta Garibaldi train station, we will arrive at Piazza Gae Aulenti, an incredible circular square with a futuristic appearance with incredible buildings such as the Unicredit Tower, 230 meters high and from where you can have some great views of Milan.

The Brera neighborhood and the Brera Art Gallery

One of the essential places to visit in Milan in two days is the Brera neighborhood, a very bohemian neighborhood that is rarely visited by tourists because it is a bit far from the center but is well worth a visit.

It stands out for its cobblestone streets, its curious cafes, its small art galleries and its vintage shops where you can find practically everything. Strolling through the Brera neighborhood, cradle of intellectuals and artists, is a delight and it is also home to the Brera Art Gallery.

The Brera Pinacoteca is located in the Palazzo Brera and is the main museum to visit in Milan. In it we find interesting works by Raphael, Tintoretto, Caravaggio, Rubens or Van Dyck. And in case you don’t want to admire his works, we do recommend that you at least go to his inner courtyard, which is free, and where there is a statue of Napoleon.
In the Brera neighborhood we also have important churches to visit, such as the Chiesa Santa María del Carmine, which stands out for its red color and is the oldest in the neighborhood.

The Ambrosiana Pinacoteca

Walking south from the Brera neighborhood, we get closer to the historic center that we already visited the day before. Surely you will not be able to overcome the curiosity of returning to the Piazza del Duomo and realizing that on one of its sides is the Royal Palace, a building that the day before surely went unnoticed before the majesty of the Cathedral.

A few meters away, after crossing the beautiful Piazza Mercanti, is the Pinacoteca Ambrosiana, an incredible museum where we can find works by Botticelli, Leonardo da Vinci or Caravaggio and of which we must highlight the Biblioteca Ambrosiana, its great jewel, which dates back to the year 1609 and where Leonardo da Vinci’s Codex Atlanticus is found with sketches of some of his inventions.

Without a doubt, one of the best things to see in Milan in two days.

The Basilica of San Lorenzo Maggiore and the Columns of San Lorenzo

If we continue our way to the south we will reach the oldest church in the city of Milan. We are talking about the Basilica of San Lorenzo Maggiore, which dates from nothing more and nothing less than the fourth century. Inside this incredible basilica we can admire a series of Byzantine mosaics that are an authentic jewel of art.

Opposite the basilica is another of the main points of interest in this area of ​​Milan, the Columns of San Lorenzo, a series of 16 columns that belonged to the ancient Roman city of Mediolanum, which was what the Romans called the current city from Milan. They date from the 2nd century and are made of marble.

If you have time, you can deviate a bit from the route and go to the Basilica of Sant’Ambrogio, one of the most beautiful things to see in Milan in two days, although quite unknown. It also dates from the fourth century.

>Navigli neighborhood

To end our two-day visit to Milan we will go down the Corso di Porta Ticinese until we reach the bustling Navigli neighborhood where you can enjoy its famous canals, the Naviglio Pavese and the Naviglio Grande.

These canals were designed to connect Milan with the sea. Although they began to be built in the 12th century, it was not until the 15th when Leonardo da Vinci improved them and solved all the problems they had for centuries, thus improving the transport of passengers and goods to the city.

Today it is a neighborhood full of bars and restaurants on both sides of the canals that have made the area one of the most atmospheric in the city of Milan and one of the most romantic places to walk.

If you have more days in this city, check out our 3-day tour of Milan.

You can find more information about Milan on its official tourism page.