A Postcard from Milan 2023

As my boyfriend had a big birthday to celebrate this year he decided he wanted to go and see Coldplay's Music of the Spheres tour. As they were in Milan the week of his birthday in June we got to Celebrate for a whole week. Flying out on Monday morning, back late Friday evening and staying in a lovely little Air BnB near Castello Sforzesco.

The first day was spent walking around the centre of Milan - we saw the Duomo of course and Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II before walking back around to Castello Sforzesco, Parco Sempione and Arco della Pace. After that it was time to find somewhere to have the first of many Aperol Spritzs and then a delicious pizza restaurant for my boyfriends birthday meal.

The next day we wanted to see the area around the canal so we walked through the west of the city and found a cafe for some coffee and patries in the sunshine. It's a pleasant enough area but I think we were there too early in the day so it was still quite sleepy. 

After the canals we headed to Porta Ticinese Medievale to see some more of historical Milan - the arch above is one of the gates of the former 12th-century Walls of Milan. 

Right beside Porta Ticinese Medievale is Colonne di San Lorenzo where you can find an archeological site made up of 16 Roman marble columns next to remains of an amphitheater and baths. We'd been walking for hours at this point so it was time to jump on the Metro to Centrale because our plan for the next day was to get the train for a day trip. 

One thing I knew I wanted to see for myself when I was researching Milan was the Vertical Forest. Bosco Verticale are the most beautiful skyscrapers with over two thousand tree species growing on them. Not just that but the park surrounding them are beautiful. If I lived in the city that's where I'd want to be!

When I  said I was going to visit Milan everyone told me we had to visit Lake Como and from a quick google I could see why. Thankfully getting the train to Varenna was really easy (and scenic) then we caught a ferry across to Bellagio.

Both places were gorgeous in their different ways and I had a great day exploring - stopping for lunch, ice cream and a few more Aperol Spritz. I could have quite happily spent our whole holiday on the lake traveling around. 

On our final full day we wanted to see some areas we hadn't walked through so we headed in the direction of Indro Montanelli Garden while keeping an eye out for a local brewery that might sell branded glasses to take home as a souvenir for my Dad. 

Near Centrale we stumbled upon a restaurant that just did risotto for lunch and decided to stop for something to eat. I am so glad we did - I'm still thinking about my burrata topped risotto now. No meal in Italy was complete for me without mozzarella or burrata. 

Before getting ready to see Coldplay I wanted to go back and see more of Castello Sforzesco to fully take in the castle and take some photos. Obviously we got gelato before finding a bench to enjoy it - when in Italy and all that!

One great thing about the centre of Milan was the number of pubic water fountains so even through we were walking in the 30 degree heat we could keep the water bottle topped up so we stayed hydrated and healthy. There were afternoon naps after being out in the heat for so long which were amazing. 

Finally, Coldplay at the San Siro on our final night in Milan was magical. My boyfriend has seen them before but I missed out last time. I can't recommend making a big gig part of your city break enough - in fact we are going to do it again in Munich next summer with Taylor Swift. 

Check out the map below with all the places I've mentioned in this post and all the places we eat: