Fashion city Milan is often overlooked for more romantic or historic Italian cities such as Rome, Florence or Venice. It is however much cheaper to fly there from other European destinations (did you know Easyjet often has promo fares?) and has a lot to offer. Since Italy has been on my bucket list for a long time, Milan seemed like a good and pretty affordable place to start. Of course, with our little one in tow, things to do with kids in Milan were the top priority. Are there any fun activities in Milan? Of course, there are! If you’re planning to visit Milan, check out our list of recommendations for the best things to do in Milan (with kids or without).

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Also read:
City trip to Milan: the basics
City trip to Milan: our journey
5 tips for succesful city breaks with kids
The best places to visit in Europe with kids

After I booked our Airbnb apartment for 6 nights I found out that from Milan both Rome and Venice are only 3 hours away by train. I would have loved to go there. Check out these great things to do in Venice and this overview of places to visit in Rome with kids! If I’d done some more research before my booking, I would have probably opted to do 2 nights Milan, 3 nights in either Rome or Venice and then one more night in Milan. This 2-week train itinerary shows how easy it is to travel from Milan to other major cities in Italy. But hindsight is 20/20, right? So we ended up with 6 nights in Milan.

If your kids are a bit older, I think you can easily see the best parts of Milan in about 2 or 3 days if you plan carefully. But taking a bit more time is never a bad idea when you travel with a toddler and we didn’t regret our 6 nights. And even so, we still didn’t manage to see everything Milan has to offer.

City trip with a toddler, a good idea?

A city trip can be quite taxing for a child. Lots of walking and sightseeing is tiring for those little legs. Like everything in life, it’s all about balance. Even with our toddler in tow, we managed to see quite a lot of Milan and he had a great time. He did complain that his feet were a bit sore after the first day, so we ended up carrying him. Obviously, this would have been much easier if we had brought a toddler back carrier. But we do enjoy city tripping with our toddler!

On day 3 our little world traveler fell ill and we needed a day to relax. We were lucky our Airbnb apartment had a washing machine…. It also had a separate bedroom, with space to put his toddler travel bed. So he had a space of his own that was familiar an safe. After this short break, we took things even more slowly (good thing we didn’t end up going to Rome, that really would have been too much… funny how things work out, isn’t it). But, despite all this, we could still tick a lot of things to do in Milan off our list.

Visiting Milan with kids

When you visit Italy with kids eating Italian ice cream and Italian pizza have to be on your to-do list. But, is Milan child-friendly? What to do in Milan with kids? When I first started researching, Milan didn’t seem like a very child-friendly city. Unlike Vienna, which we visited last year, Milan doesn’t have a lot of playgrounds and Milan’s children’s museum Muba didn’t get great reviews. But when I looked a bit further, I discovered some pretty great things to do in Milan with our toddler.

So, what are the best things to do in Milan with kids?

Since research for a city trip takes time, and time seems to be a prime commodity for parents, I’ll share our tips for best places to visit in Milan with your kids. Read more to see which things you really shouldn’t miss when you visit Milan, Italy.

Duomo di Milano / Milan Cathedral

The Duomo di Milano, the huge cathedral in the heart of Milan, is an incredibly impressive building. It’s huge and abundantly decorated. It took nearly six centuries to finish this Gothic cathedral. Because it took so long to complete, it was built in a great number of contrasting styles. Many people find it ugly because of all these building styles, but I think it just makes it unique. You can visit the church itself for as little as €2, but do you know what’s really cool? You can go up the roof of this massive church, to the terraces! At the time of writing it’s €9 if you take the stairs or €13 if you want to go by elevator.

Of course, we managed to go to Milan the week Pope Francis visited the city. Even though we went to the Duomo the Monday after the weekend he was in Milan, it was still packed. I would have loved to go up to the terraces or even inside the Duomo, but it was too busy and our toddler had little patience. So we gave it a miss. From the outside, the Duomo was really impressive too! Note to self: next time we go on a city trip to Italy, don’t forget to check if the Pope will be visiting!

Giardini Pubblici Indro Montanelli / Indro Montanelli Public Gardens

Giardini Pubblici Indro Montanelli is a historic city park in the Porta Venezia district (North East of the city center). Established in 1784, it’s the oldest city park in Milan. It’s a lovely green park, with various small playgrounds. At about 172.000m2 there’s enough space to run and play! In the weekends and on sunny afternoons you’ll find the park full of parents with kids, while others are exercising, or just taking a stroll. If you’re visiting Milan with kids, we can recommend spending some time at this park. Take the subway red line M1 to P.ta Venezia or Palestra or one of the many trams that stop near the park (line 1, 9 and 33 for instance).

Museo Civico di Storia Naturale di Milano / Natural History Museum Milan

At the edge of Giardini Pubblici Indro Montanelli near the M1 Palestra stop you’ll find the Natural History Museum of Milan or Museo Civico di Storia Naturale di Milano. The 19th-century building itself is quite impressive and the museum spans two whole floors. It’s huge! The museum displays minerals, fossils, skeletons and a large collection of preserved animals.

Not surprising, the dinosaurs were our son’s favourite! Too bad almost all of the information is in Italian. There was a new exhibit about earthquakes however that is bilingual English/Italian. There’s so much to see, we spend about 1,5 hours here with our toddler.

Kids under 18 can enter the museum for free, for adults the entrance fee is €5 per person. So this museum is definitely on our list of affordable tourist attractions in Milan.

Historic trams in Milan

Milan has awesome old trams that are used for regular public transport. Mau had read something about this and we decided this would be a great way to see some more of the city, while staying off our feet for a bit. We searched online and came across TraMilano HopOn HopOff. It looked great, but we thought €15 pp was a bit much. So we researched a bit more and found out that the old trams are actually used in regular public transport. No need to book a special hop-on-hop-off Milan experience! You can just buy a 24h urban day pass for €4,50 and you can take any tram you want, all day long. Just check a map of the tram lines and ride the tram as long as you feel like. That seemed like a much better deal! We were lucky that line 1, which stopped near our Airbnb apartment, was one of those old carriages. Kids travel for free on Milan’s public transport, but they need to be accompanied by an adult who has a valid ticket. 

You can find out more about tickets for the Milan subway on the ATM Milano website.

Castello Sforzesco / 
Sforzesco Castle

Sforzesco Castle is huge and very impressive. There are numerous historical museums inside this medieval fortress, such as the Museum of Musical Instruments, the Museum of Ancient Art, the Archeological Museum and the Antique Furniture & Wooden Sculpture Museum. For €5 you can access all museums. We decided not to go in with our toddler but wandered around the castle grounds and courtyards instead. This was impressive enough (and free). Parco Sempione, which is right next to the castle, is nice to include when you visit the castle. Apparently, there is a kid’s playground in the park, but we didn’t see it.

Museo Nazionale della Scienza e della Technologia Leonardo da Vinci – Science and Technology Museum Milan

This museum is the largest science and technology museum in Italy. It’s dedicated to Renaissance painter and scientist Leonardo da Vinci, who did much of his best work in Milan. You wouldn’t know it from the unattractive look of the 16th-century monastery where the Museo Nazionale della Scienza e della Technologia is housed, but it holds many treasures. The museum has a collection of 16.000 technical-scientific and artistic objects, representing the history of Italian science from the 19th century to the present day. From a large gallery with Da Vinci’s drawings and 130 scaled models based on his sketches to exhibits about communication and computers, energy production, iron and steel industry and even space travel. It has large sections on transport (by road, ship, plane or train) as well. A huge ship, part of a cruise liner and a racing catamaran are inside the water transport building and the rail transport building holds a collection of 21 locomotives and carriages. Numerous airplanes hang from the ceilings and there’s a full size helicopter inside. Outside in the garden you can see Italy’s military submarine, Enrico Toti.

We decided to leave this museum until the very last day. We only had the morning to explore and it wasn’t enough. This museum is huge! And to take it all in you need A LOT more time. If your kids are a bit older you can easily spend a whole day here. For our toddler, a few hours were enough though.

More things to do in Milan with kids and cool Milan tours

Visit San Siro Stadium

Visit the ‘Temple of Soccer’ and do a guided tour of San Siro Stadium, where F.C. Inter and A.C. Milan play their home matches. San Siro, officially called Giuseppe Meazza Stadium, is one of the largest soccer stadiums worldwide. So for many little (and big) soccer fans, a visit to this stadium is a bucket list item. There’s a museum in the stadium which showcases the history of both AC Milan and Inter. Recently AC Milan and Internazionale have announced the intention to build a new stadium. So don’t wait too long to visit the historical San Siro!

Autrodroma Nazionale Monza

For race enthousiasts a visit to Autrodroma Nazionale Monza should be on the agenda. The Monza racing circuit is the home of the Italian Grand Prix (Gran Premio d’Italia). Located approximately 19km north of Milan, visiting the legendary Monza Eni is best done as a day trip. Check here to see which guided tours are available. Especially the cycling tour looks like a lot of fun!

Dinosaur Park Milan

About 20km east of Milan you’ll find Parco della Preistoria di Rivolta d’Adda, a prehistoric park with live size dinosaurs. The 100-hectare large park contains about 30 reconstructions of prehistoric animals (dinosaurs, but also early humans), over a hundred semi-wild animals and interesting nature. You can read more about this park on Wikipedia. The park is closed between mid November and mid Februari.

Teatro alla Scala

Anyone with an interest in theatre and opera should visit this famous theatre. Learn all there is to know during a guided tour of the famous Teatro alla Scala. The theatre also offers performances specifically for kids. La Scala opera house is one of the most famous opera and ballet theatres worldwide.

The Last Supper

If your kids are into art a visit to iconic The Last Supper should be on the menu. It’s recommended that you book your tickets to see Da Vinci’s Last Supper”at least two months in advance. The convent in which is located isn’t built to accommodate crowds and only 20-25 people are allowed to enter at a time, in blocks of 15 minutes. Be sure to dress appropriately.

Family friendly walking tour of Milan

If you don’t have much time but do want to get a feel for the city, a walking tour might be the answer. Do a 3-hour kid-friendly walking tour of Milan and discover Duomo of Milan, the Sforza Castle, Piazza Mercanti, and Piazza della Scala with a family-friendly local guide. If your kids are still small, be sure to bring a carrier or stroller.

Cooking class in Milan

A trip to Italy is the best opportnity to learn about the Italian cuisine. Take an Italian cooking class in Milan and learn how to make authentic fresh pasta, ravioli, and tiramisu.

Take a train ride across the Alps

If you’re feeling adventurous and want to get out of the city, why not take a train ride from Tirano, Italy, to the world-famous St. Moritz, Switzerland? Hop on the historic UNESCO Bernina Red Train and experience the amazing panoramic views of the magnificent Alps. A regular train takes you from Milan to the starting point in Tirano in approximately one hour.

City trip Milan with children, yes or no?

So, what’s our verdict? Should you visit Milan and more specifically, should you visit Milan with kids? The answer is a definite yes! Although I would most likely pick Berlin or Vienna over Milan as city to live in, a lot of tourist attractions in Milan are very suitable for kids. There’s a great park with playgrounds, the old trams are awesome, there’s a huge castle and we’ve seen at least two very cool museums… what’s not to like. On top of that Italian food is a hit with most kids, so you can’t really go wrong. Food tip: try the authentic Italian cuisine at Trattoria Sabbatini near M1’s Lima station!

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Also read:
6 top things to do in Milan Italy with kids
City trip Milan: the basics
5 tips for successful city breaks with kids

Here’s the story of our journey to Milan in pictures.

Only hand luggage

After hauling a massive amount of luggage (too much) around South East Asia for 10 months it’s always a relief to travel with only hand luggage. There are some things I forgot to pack and some things I didn’t think of, but we’re not really missing anything. Please keep in mind that when you’re flying with Easyjet there’s a big chance you’ll have to put one of your hand luggage in the hold. Since most people fly with carry-on only, there simply isn’t enough space in the overhead compartments. We voluntarily checked in one bag (I had already counted on this and didn’t put anything important in that one bag) and then were forced to check in one more at the gate.

Budget travel tip: bring your own sandwhiches

Food is always so crazy expensive at airports and Amsterdam Airport is no exception. Since this trip would already cost enough, we decided to just bring our own fruits and sandwiches. Our little boy loves picnics

Waiting at the airport with a toddler

We all know waiting at the airport with a toddler can be a challenge. Lots of airports have a little playground nowadays and we always bring some toy cars, coloring pages and pencils and some duplo for our little one to play with. The M gates and Schiphol airport are really basic and there really isn’t a lot to see and do there (they’re only meant for European destinations and mostly Easyjet and other budget airlines). Fortunately, someone was genius enough to design a seating area that incorporates a slide. How fun! Our toddler found a friend and they played for over an hour. So the wait didn’t take long at all.

Flying with Easyjet

Like last year when we went to Vienna, we flew with Easyjet. They don’t offer a lot of service, not enough leg space and no extra’s, but that’s why their prices are so competitive. Other than having to put our hand luggage in the hold at the last second, while at the gate, I had no issues. The flight was short (only about 1,5 hours) and smooth.

On board

All three of us were happy to travel again, even if it was just for a few days. The day after we arrived in Milan our little one was already asking when he could fly again

Milan Malpensa Airport

Milan Malpensa is a relatively small airport and it didn’t take long for our bags to arrive. Our little world traveler was waiting like a pro, he already knows exactly how it works when you fly.

Milan Malpensa Express

It was easy to find the train to the city center, the Malpensa Express. It only took us about 30 minutes to get to Cadorna station from where we could switch to the red subway line M1 to reach our Airbnb apartment.

Dinner time!

Restaurants in our area are a curious mix of kebap/pizza or chinese/pizza. We chose the chinese/pizza combi and had our very first Italian pizza in Italy. It was actually quite good! Don’t forget to bring something to entertain your kids while waiting for your food. The little ones get cranky when it takes to long and they get hungry. Some toy cars always work wonders for our little world traveler (but he’s now progressed to the phase where the cars have to ‘talk’ to him and we’re the ones having to do the talking, haha)

The post City trip Milan – the journey appeared first on FlipFlopGlobetrotters.com.

Also read:
6 top things to do in Milan Italy with kids
City trip Milan: our journey
5 tips for succesful city breaks with kids

After we came back from our Big Adventure we specifically chose to work less and spend more time with our little world traveler. So it’s taking time to build up our depleted finances again. I feel ‘stuck’ in The Netherlands and would love to leave again, but because of family obligations we can’t travel long term at the moment and short-term travel is just so expensive. So even though I’ve been looking at plane tickets and hotels almost every day for the past year, it has taken us a long time to decide to even take this short trip.

Milan Malpensa Airport

We booked return tickets Amsterdam – Milan Malpensa for about €160 for the three of us. The Malpensa Express takes you into the city in 30 minutes. Tickets cost €13 for a single fare (if you buy online you can get a return ticket for €20, so it pays to be prepared) and kids under 4 travel for free. Linate Airport is much closer to the city, so if the price difference is less than €20 per ticket, you could consider traveling to Linate. From Linate Airport you can take local bus 73 to Piazza San Babila, where you can transfer to the subway. Or you can take the new airbus service to Milan Stazione Centrale for €5 single journey or €9 return.

Airbnb in Milan

We looked at various hotels but decided that with our toddler it would be better to rent an apartment. Airbnb is currently our favorite platform to look for apartments. If you don’t know how it works, check out these Airbnb tips! We stayed in a lot of hotel rooms during our 10 months away and the prospect of whispering for 6 nights so we wouldn’t wake our son wasn’t very appealing. He wasn’t sleeping well at night, unlike when he was younger. Of course, being a major city, apartments in Milan aren’t cheap. But we managed to find a nice place with a separate bedroom for €53 a night. It wasn’t big, but it had a kitchen so we could save on breakfast. I even cooked us dinner a few times, which took a bit of improvising but was pretty good (if I say so myself ;-)). There was a large supermarket around the corner. So overall we were happy.

New to Airbnb? Why not give it a try? If you register using our Airbnb affiliate link we both profit. You’ll earn up to €35 travel credit for your next trip and we’ll earn some travel credit too. Sounds like a good deal? Then use this link to sign up for Airbnb.

Public transport in Milan

Our Airbnb apartment was right next to the Pasteur M1 subway station and tram line 1 is around the corner. There are some restaurants in the area (most either a weird mix of Chinese and Italian or Turkish and Italian) and it’s easy to reach the city center. Overall public transport in Milan is pretty good. You pay €1,50 for a one-way ticket (valid for 90 minutes) or €4,50 for a day pass (which is a great price, compared to the €7,50 you pay for a day pass in Amsterdam). Public transport takes you just about anywhere in the city, there are 4 metro lines and numerous bus and tram lines. It’s fast and easy. Check out the ATM Milano website for more info.

Discovering Milan by bike

Milan has an awesome bike sharing service called BikeMi. You can either get a daily, weekly or annual subscription. Maximum consecutive bicycle use is two hours, but you can always switch bikes (allow for 5 minutes in between) and continue exploring. They even have Junior BikeMi where you can rent children’s bikes (for ages 6-10) at certain points in the city. Find out more details on the BikeMi website.

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