Milan
A working city whose best rooms lie within a walk of the Quadrilatero and the Duomo. Its calendar follows the fashion and furniture weeks, when rooms and tables go months ahead, and its private collections, villas and ateliers open to anyone who writes in advance.
30 recommendations in six sections.
Stay
The best hotel suites in Milan
The room, not the hotel: in each hotel that matters, the suite to ask for.
The Fornasetti Suite at Mandarin Oriental, Milan
A one-bedroom suite of 105 sqm on the second floor of Mandarin Oriental, Milan, furnished with original pieces by Piero Fornasetti and facing the courtyard, next to La Scala.
The Imperial Suite at Palazzo Parigi
Suite 803 at Palazzo Parigi: 150 sqm with a 55 sqm terrace facing the Duomo, a dining table for eight and its own kitchen.
The Presidential Suite at Armani Hotel Milano
The top suite of Armani Hotel Milano, 190 sqm on the sixth floor, with a terrace over the city skyline, a private kitchen and a bar modelled on the one on Giorgio Armani's yacht.
The Presidential Suite at Four Seasons Hotel Milano
The hotel's flagship suite, 177 sqm in its own wing on the private courtyard of a 15th-century convent, with a private kitchen and a cocktail bar in the living room, redesigned by Pierre-Yves Rochon in 2026.
The Verdi Suite at Grand Hotel et de Milan
The presidential suite of the Grand Hotel et de Milan, 100 sqm with three balconies over Via Manzoni, the rooms Giuseppe Verdi lived in from 1872, with his own desk still in them.
Dine
The table and the room: private rooms, chef's counters, and whom to ask.
The Chef's Table Territori at Il Luogo Aimo e Nadia
A table for two to six in the Theatrum dei Sapori, the open kitchen inside Il Luogo Aimo e Nadia, where chefs Alessandro Negrini and Fabio Pisani cook the Territori menu in front of the guests.
The kitchen table at Berton
A table for two that looks straight into Andrea Berton's kitchen in Porta Nuova, with a menu the chef decides on the night.
The private dining room at Andrea Aprea
The private dining space and three semi-private tables of Andrea Aprea's two-star restaurant, on the top floor of the Fondazione Luigi Rovati, looking over the park at Porta Venezia.
Enrico Bartolini al Mudec
Enrico Bartolini's three-star restaurant on the third floor of MUDEC, the Museum of Cultures, in the Tortona design district.
Seta
Antonio Guida's two-star restaurant at Mandarin Oriental, Milan, set in the hotel's second courtyard behind glass walls, with the kitchen in view of the room.
Arrive
Arriving in Milan by private jet or commercial flight
Getting in and out without a queue: by private jet, on a commercial flight, by car or by train.
Milano Linate Prime
The private aviation terminal at Linate, less than 7 km from the centre of Milan, with its own apron, ten hangars and a new wing of nine operator lounges.
Milano Malpensa Prime
The private aviation terminal at Malpensa, with its own apron and five lounges beside two runways of 3,920 m.
The Club Salotto on Italo
A closed compartment for up to four in Club Executive, the first class of the Italo high-speed train out of Milano Centrale, with the Italo Club Lounge and Fast Track at the station.
The Executive coach on the Frecciarossa
Ten leather armchairs in two rows on the Frecciarossa high-speed train out of Milano Centrale, with Fast Track to the platform and the FrecciaLounge before departure.
The VIP Service at Malpensa
The airport's own meet-and-assist service at Malpensa for a scheduled flight: a hostess from arrival to the aircraft, bags carried, FastTrack through security and passport control, and a private car to the plane.
Access
What is not on the public calendar: before opening, after closing, by appointment.
A private tour of Villa Necchi Campiglio
A private guided tour, arranged with the villa's office, of the house and garden Piero Portaluppi built on Via Mozart for the Necchi Campiglio family between 1932 and 1935.
The Achille Castiglioni studio after hours
The four rooms on Piazza Castello where Achille Castiglioni worked for more than forty years, shown only with a guide and opened outside the set days and hours on request.
The after-hours Last Supper
The refectory of Santa Maria delle Grazie and Leonardo's Last Supper opened for one party alone, on a Monday or from 7.30 pm, for up to 30 guests an hour.
The Ansaldo Workshops of La Scala
A guided visit, by booking only, of the 20,000 m² former steel works where La Scala builds its sets and keeps more than 60,000 costumes.
The Duomo after hours
Milan Cathedral, its roof terraces, the Duomo Museum and the Fabbrica's archive opened after public hours for one party, with a Fabbrica guide.
Care
Private doctors and discreet services in Milan
Discreet services on short notice.
Bespoke tailoring at A. Caraceni
A family tailoring house in Brera that has cut and sewn suits entirely by hand at Via Fatebenefratelli 16 since 1946, from morning dress and white tie to the double-breasted jacket.
Made-to-measure shirts at Camiceria Ambrosiana
A family shirtmaker at Via Soncino 1, on the City of Milan's register of historic shops, that has cut shirts only to measure there since 1954.
The house-call doctor from Clinica San Martino
A registered doctor sent by Clinica San Martino to any address in Milan, at any hour of any day, four times out of five in under an hour.
The International Department at Humanitas
The office at Humanitas Research Hospital, 8 km south of Milan, that plans a foreign patient's care and stays with them through it, with interpreters, night nurses and translation around the clock.
The traditional shave at Antica Barbieria Colla
A 25-minute wet shave with hot towels and hand-lathered soap, in a Milan barber's shop that has shaved men at Via Gerolamo Morone 3 since 1904.
Around
A day outside the city: Lake Como, the vineyards, the coast.
A private tour of the Ca' del Bosco cellars
A private guided tour of about an hour and a half through the Ca' del Bosco winery in Erbusco, Franciacorta, from the old barrel rooms and caves to the Cupola, with a tasting of the house's wines.
A private tour of Villa del Balbianello
A private guided visit of Guido Monzino's villa, its Loggia Durini and gardens at the tip of the Lavedo promontory on Lake Como, reached by boat from Lido di Lenno.
A round at the Villa d'Este Golf Club
Eighteen holes on Peter Gannon's 1926 course at Montorfano, par 69 over 5,760 metres, 400 metres up among chestnuts, birches and pines, 14 km from Villa d'Este on Lake Como.
Pullman Class on the Bernina Express
A 32-seat historical art deco saloon car on the Bernina Express between Tirano and St Moritz, with champagne on board and a three-course lunch at the La Gatta vineyard.
The Riva Aquarama at Como Classic Boats
A private day on Lake Como in a 1970s Riva Aquarama built entirely in mahogany, with its own captain, for up to six.
