My wife and I will be spending a long weekend in Milan at the end of March, our 35th anniversary. I would appreciate suggestions as to what the "must sees and do's" are including museums, classical music, opera. (Don't feel bad for us for the short length of the trip, as we will be spending two weeks in May in Campania and San Quirico del Orcia.)

Milano has two huge museums devoted to painture (uhm that may be French! >_<) only, Pinacoteca di Brera and Pinacoteca Ambrosiana, both pretty central. I also suggest you a day at the Castello Sforzesco museums: inside the castle there are several museums that can all be visited with a rather cheap ticket, museums include medieval art, applied arts, musical instruments, archeology and much more. Contemporary art and design expositions are held at the Triennale palace, in via Alemagna [also pretty central, a short walk from Cadorna subway stop and station), while the main exhibition center in Milano is probably Palazzo Reale, right beside the Duomo.

Milano has a tourist tram that does a hop-on-hop-off tour of the city; as an alternative I suggest you take tram line 1 from not far from Rovereto subway station or from Piazzale Caiazzo (subway line 2) and travel all the way to the opposite end of the line; the line uses original wooden 1930's cars (a bit loud but very nice) and right by some of the most famous areas of Milano.

Università Statale is yet another little known place that you may like to visit. It's very close to the Duomo as well. Enter the main gate, visit the main courtyard (Cortilone d'Onore) than proceed to your right, towards the medieval parts. This used to be a medieval hospital, and preserves most of its original structures. The other half of the building is neoclassical, but it suffered the WWII bonbins, so most of its inner structures are late 1940's or early 1950's: still interesting if you are a fan of modern architecture.
Also, check out the small church right beside the far right end of the University (can't remebner the name)

Other noticeable churches worth visiting are San Lorenzo alle Colonne, Sant'Ambrogio (and the nearby Cattolica University too), Sant'Eustorgio, Santa Maria presso San Satiro. A little further from the center, check out baroque Certosa di Garegnano (tram number 14 stops about 100 meters from it, the Convent is open for visits in the late morning and early afternoon).

Yet another unusual visit is the Cimitero Monumentale, the graveyeard that hosts all the most famous Milanese citizens, which is particularly rich with monuments.

Great suggestions. I checked the Teatro la Scala site and noted that they are sold out for the three days that we are in Milan. Is there another source for tickets, or other opera or ballet companies?

Hi Mars,
In this recent thread are additional ideas of things to do and see in Milan.

Included are links to ticket agencies, where you may be able to find opera tickets. You could also check http://www.operabase.com for other musical events.

quote:

Originally posted by Mars:
My wife and I will be spending a long weekend in Milan at the end of March, our 35th anniversary.

Take her to Corso Buenos Aires and hand her a credit card....