3 days in Milan: an itinerary built round the Last Supper booking, the Monday closures and the Wednesday shutdown of the Ambrosiana

💡 The Short Version: Day 1, Tuesday: the Last Supper (€15, booked; be at the ticket office 30 minutes early), the Sforza Castle (€10) and the Pinacoteca di Brera (€20, reserved). Day 2, Wednesday: the Duomo (Combo Stairs €22), the Galleria, the Museo del Novecento (€10), the La Scala museum (€12) and an aperitivo at Camparino. Day 3, Thursday: the Ambrosiana (€20), the Duomo Museum on the same Combo ticket, Sant’Ambrogio and the Navigli. Monday shuts most museums, Tuesday shuts Fondazione Prada and Wednesday the Ambrosiana. The plan runs Tuesday to Thursday, which keeps every sight open. Or book a tour: the Duomo and terraces ticketad is from €27 and the Last Supper guided tourad from €79 (GetYourGuide).

Before you go: what to book

Hours are for autumn and winter 2026/27, from the operators.

The Last Supper is released in batches: the sale that ran from 23 June covers September to December 2026 and ends on 31 December, and more tickets go online every Wednesday at 12:00 for the following week. The first Sunday of the month is free at the civic museums, Brera and the Gallerie d’Italia, but not at the Duomo.

Getting around

ATM runs the metro, trams and buses on one ticket. A single is €2.20, a day ticket €7.60 and a 3-day ticket €15.50. A contactless bank card, phone or watch opens the metro gates, and from the fourth journey in 24 hours it charges the day fare. Milan public transport has the rules. The paid sights on the plan come to €114 a person before transport. No city pass includes the Last Supper: Milan City Pass: is it worth it? runs the sums.

Fitting the plan to your dates

The plan runs Tuesday to Thursday, which keeps every sight open. If your days differ:

• Monday. The Last Supper, the Sforza Castle museums, Brera, the Museo del Novecento, the Gallerie d’Italia, the Archaeological Museum, the Monumental Cemetery and Highline Galleria are shut. The Duomo and its museum, the Ambrosiana, the La Scala museum, Fondazione Prada and the churches are open. A food walk fills the day: see Milan food tours.
• Tuesday. Fondazione Prada is shut. Everything else on the plan is open.
• Wednesday. The Ambrosiana, the Duomo Museum, San Gottardo and the archaeological area are shut. The cathedral, the terraces, the Novecento and Brera are open.
• Thursday. The Museo del Novecento stays open to 22:30, so day 2’s Novecento visit can move to the evening.
• Sunday. The first Sunday of the month is free at the Sforza Castle museums, the Novecento and Brera with a reservation, but not at the Duomo or the Ambrosiana. Ambrosius opens from 14:30 to 17:00.
• Winter. La Scala opens its season on Monday 7 December 2026, and the museum is closed that day: see La Scala opening night 2026. The Last Supper, the Sforza Castle museums and Brera are closed on 25 December and 1 January: see Milan Christmas markets 2026.
• Until 25 November 2026. The Gallerie d’Italia is entered from Via Manzoni 10, not Piazza della Scala.
• April. Design Week fills the hotels from 12 to 18 April 2027: see Milan Design Week 2027.

Day 1: Leonardo, the castle and Brera, Tuesday

• Morning, the Last Supper, at the slot you booked. Be at the ticket office, next to the museum door, at least 30 minutes before with an ID. The visit is 15 minutes, and the ticket does not cover the church of Santa Maria delle Grazie beside it: the Last Supper.
• 10:00, San Maurizio, the free church at Corso Magenta 15, kept open by volunteers, Tuesday to Sunday 10:00 to 17:30: Milan churches.
• 10:45, the Sforza Castle: the courtyards are free, the €10 ticket covers every museum including Michelangelo’s Pietà Rondanini, and the last entry to each section is at 16:30. Leonardo’s painted room, the Sala delle Asse, is under restoration. See the Sforza Castle.
• 13:00, lunch. Panzerotti at Luini on Via Santa Radegonda, open Monday to Saturday 10:00 to 20:00, or a trattoria: where to eat in Milan.
• 14:30, the Pinacoteca di Brera, on the date and time you reserved, €20 with Palazzo Citterio. Raphael’s Marriage of the Virgin and Caravaggio’s Supper at Emmaus are among the works the gallery names. The last entrance is at 18:00: Brera.
• Evening, dinner at Ratanà in Isola, open every day, with dinner hard to book, or at the Pesa on Viale Pasubio, open Monday to Saturday: risotto alla milanese.

The Arco della Pace at the far end of Parco Sempione from the Sforza Castle. Photo: ParsonsPhotographyNL, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Day 2: the Duomo and the Scala, Wednesday

• 09:30, the Duomo. The Milan historic centre walk puts this day’s stops in walking order. The cathedral and terraces are open from 9:00 to 19:00, and the terraces close in bad weather. The Combo Stairs is €22 and valid for two days. No sleeveless or low-cut tops, shorts, miniskirts or hats, and no luggage or large rucksacks: the Duomo.
• 11:30, the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, free, and the Museo del Novecento in the Arengario on the square, €10, open Wednesday 10:00 to 19:30: Milan museums.
• 13:00, lunch at Café Cracco in the Galleria, open from 08:00 to midnight and taking no reservations.
• 14:30, the La Scala museum, €12, open to 17:30 with the last entry at 17:00. The ticket looks into the auditorium from the third tier when there is no rehearsal: La Scala.
• 18:00, an aperitivo at Camparino in Galleria, where a Campari Seltz is €15 and the bites are €10 a dish: aperitivo in Milan.
• Evening, dinner at Trippa, which serves dinner Monday to Thursday and is closed at weekends, or pizza at Dry Milano, open Tuesday to Sunday from 18:00.

Day 3: Sant’Ambrogio and the canals, Thursday

• 10:00, the Pinacoteca Ambrosiana, €20 with the Crypt of San Sepolcro, open to 18:00 with the ticket office closing at 17:15. Leonardo’s Portrait of a Musician, Caravaggio’s Basket of Fruit and Raphael’s cartoon for The School of Athens are its masterpieces: Leonardo da Vinci in Milan.
• 12:00, the Duomo Museum and San Gottardo, open on Thursday 10:00 to 19:00, on the second day of the Combo ticket.
• 13:30, lunch at a trattoria.
• 15:00, Sant’Ambrogio, the free basilica, open on weekdays 7:30 to 12:30 and 14:30 to 19:00, and Ambrosius, the treasury, at €5.
• 17:30, the Navigli, the canals, free to walk, with the Darsena basin at Porta Genova and Sant’Agostino on M2: the Navigli. The Navigli and Ticinese walk walks them from the Colonne di San Lorenzo.
• Evening, an aperitivo on the Navigli and dinner. The Museo del Novecento stays open to 22:30 on Thursdays, a second chance if day 2 ran long.

The Colonne di San Lorenzo on Corso di Porta Ticinese, on the walk down to the Navigli. Photo: Parsifall, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Swap a day for a day trip. Lake Como is about 40 minutes by train to Como, and day trips from Milan compares Bergamo, Verona and the lakes.

With children

Milan with kids sorts the sights by age and price, with Museoscienza and the San Siro tour.

Plan the rest

Where to stay in Milan compares the areas, and hotels near Milano Centrale lists the ones beside the Malpensa Express. For the way in, see Milan airports to the city. What to book before you go to Milan has the hours for every sight, and the best time to visit Milan has the weather by month. For meals, see where to eat in Milan.