Milan (Milano) , The City, Travel Guide

Historic Milan lies at the centre of a web of streets, within the inner Cerchia dei Navigli , which follows the route of the medieval city walls. Piazza del Duomo is the city centre's main orientation point: most of the city's major sights lie within this area, as well as the swankiest designer shops and most elegant cafés. Visits to art galleries and museums , the Duomo and other churches can be punctuated with designer window-shopping in the so-called Quadrilatero d'Oro, or sipping overpriced drinks among the designer-dressed clientele of the pavement cafés of the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele or around the Pinacoteca di Brera art gallery. The second cerchia , the Viali , skirts behind the centre's two large parks - the Parco Sempione and Giardini Pubblici - to the canal sides of the Navigli in the south, following the tracks of defensive walls built during the Spanish occupation. Within lie the Castello Sforzesco and the church of Santa Maria delle Grazie , which houses Milan's most famous painting, Leonardo's The Last Supper . What follows is a wedge-by-wedge account of the city: Milan is not an easily wanderable city, so make a judicious selection, walking a little but where necessary hopping between places by way of the metro or other public transport.