Milan walking tours compared: the tip-based Duomo tours, paid walks from €35, Last Supper bundles at €59 to €143 and the bike tours

💡 The Short Version: The free tours are tip-based: reserve a place at no charge, meet at Piazza Duomo in front of the Museo del Novecento, and tip what the tour was worth. Citywalkers’ Free Tour of Milan takes about 3 hours and ends at Piazza Affari. Paid walks start from €35 (2 hours), and a night walk is €44. Last Supper tours and walks that include a ticket are €59 to €143; the museum’s own package is €25, and the visit is 15 minutes either way. Bike tours are €33.15 to €49. The free tours go inside nothing. Or book now: the Historic Walking Tour of Art & Architecturead is from €35, and the Guided Walking Tour with Last Supper Skip-the-Linead from €75 (GetYourGuide).

The tours compared

Paid prices are GetYourGuide’s lowest “from” price for one adult. The free tours have no price: the guides ask for a tip.

Free walking tours

A free tour and a paid one cover the same few streets of the centre. On a free tour the guide is paid only by tips, so the cost is yours to set. To walk the centre yourself, the Milan historic centre walk runs from the Duomo to the Sforza Castle with what is open each day, and the Navigli and Ticinese walk covers the canals.

Free Tour of Milan, Citywalkers

Tip at the end · about 3 hours · English and Spanish · wheelchair accessible

SANDEMANs lists the tour and says Citywalkers operates it, so look for a yellow umbrella rather than SANDEMANs’ red one. It starts at Piazza Duomo, in front of the Museo del Novecento, and finishes at Piazza Affari. The route takes in the Duomo, the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, La Scala, Piazza Mercanti and the stock exchange square, where the guide tells the story of Cattelan’s finger. On GuruWalk the same tour is listed as “Wonders of Milan” at 2 hours 45 minutes, with several start times a day.

The well in Piazza dei Mercanti, Milan, with the arcaded medieval buildings around the square. Photo: Luca Volpi (Goldmund100), Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.

GuruWalk

Tip at the end · 1.5 to 3 hours · several languages

GuruWalk is a marketplace of independent guides, and its Milan page lists free tours in English, Spanish, Italian, German and French. You book a place for free, meet the guide at the point listed (typically Piazza del Duomo), and tip at the end. Each listing gives its own duration and start times: the shortest are 1.5 hours at 10:45 and 13:45, and the longest 2 hours 45.

What the free tours skip

They walk past the Duomo, the Galleria and La Scala and enter none of them. The Duomo’s terraces, the Sforza Castle museums and the Last Supper sell their own tickets: the Duomo tickets page, Sforza Castle and Last Supper tickets have the prices.

Paid walks

From €35 · 2 to 3 hours

A paid walk gives a fixed price and a set start.

• The Historic Walking Tour of Art & Architecturead is from €35 for 2 hours, rated 4.5 from 191 reviews.
• The Milan by Night walkad is from €44 for 2 hours, 4.4 from 336 reviews, in English, Italian or French. It starts at the Filarete Tower in Piazza Castello, walks through the Sforza Castle courtyards to La Scala and the Galleria, and ends at the Duomo. It involves a moderate amount of walking and is not suggested for wheelchair users or people with back problems.
• Private walks: the Private Custom Walking Tourad is from €45 (2 to 8 hours, 4.4 from 224) and the Private Walking Tour with a Localad from €48 (2 to 6 hours, 4.6 from 183).

Last Supper walks

The museum sells the Last Supper ticket for €15 and, on top, an official English-language tour for €10 at 09:30, 11:30, 12:30, 15:00, 17:00 and 17:30, Tuesday to Sunday: the whole package is €25, and the tour lasts 45 minutes, with 15 inside the refectory. The walking bundles below add a guide for the centre. A bundle gets you a slot on a date the museum’s own tickets are sold out. It does not shorten the visit, which is 15 minutes whichever way you book, and a “skip-the-line” label buys nothing beyond the timed slot. Last Supper tickets has the release dates.

All six cancel free up to 24 hours before.

Bike tours

€33.15 to €49 · 3 to 3.5 hours · bike included

• Hidden Gems Guided Bike Tourad (Velocipedi) is €39 for 3 hours, in English and Dutch, 4.8 from 1,725 reviews, starting at Via Guglielmo Pepe 12 and taking in Bosco Verticale, Brera, Palazzo Citterio, the Sforza Castle and Parco Sempione.
• Highlights and Hidden Gems Guided Bike Tourad (Bike The City Italy) is €39 for 3.5 hours, up to 30 people, 4.8 from 607 reviews. It starts at Via Vetere 11, with bike, helmet and a waterproof jacket included, and is not suitable for anyone under 135 cm.
• City Highlights and Hidden Gems E-Bike Tourad is from €33.15 for 3.5 hours, up to 12 people, 4.7 from 688 reviews, starting near Milano Centrale, not suitable for children under 14.
• Sights by Segwayad is €89 for 2.5 hours for up to 8 people, 4.7 from 474 reviews.

Milan public transport covers BikeMi, the city’s own bike hire.

Which to book

• A first orientation on a budget: a free tour from Piazza Duomo, with a tip of your choosing, or the Milan historic centre walk on your own.
• A set price and a fixed time: the 2-hour historic walk at €35.
• A night walk: the 2-hour tour from the Sforza Castle at €44.
• A Last Supper slot when the museum is sold out: a bundle at €59 to €143; otherwise the museum’s €25 package.
• More ground in a morning: a bike tour at €39, or the e-bike tour from €33.15.
• A loop with commentary on a bus: the hop-on hop-off bus, from €22.50.
• A museum day: none of these is covered by a pass; the city pass sums say when a pass pays.

What to book before you go to Milan lists the closed days for every sight, because a walk passes what is shut on a Monday and does not go inside. The Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II is on every route, and 3 days in Milan plans the days round the closed days.