Having recently organised a short weekend break to Milan for family, here are my thoughts and a couple of recomendations.

Milan is fantastic city with plenty of culture to take in, alongside great food and shops. Its easy to do a walking tour around the city centre. To jump around the city a little quicker a day pass from the metro is a few euros well spent.

Here is the Duomo or cathedral and close nearby is the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, which is Italy’s oldest shopping mall. Unfortunately we didn’t have chance to visit inside the cathedral as tickets are often sold out in advance. So be sure to purchase tickets in advance of your visit to make sure you can visit inside and save time queuing up.

We did have time to take a day trip out of Milan up to the village of Como and Lake Como. It takes around 1 hour by train from Milano Centrale station to Como San Giovanni station. From there it is a pleasant stroll around the village, with views out across the lake.

And of course any visit to Italy delivers fantastic food. For this example here was an excellent pasta dish, from a restaurant called Miscusi. Inside the restaurant it is open plane so you can see the fresh pasta being made.