- The winter months are the optimal time to visit the northern Italian city
- At this point in the year, it’s much easier to timetable a ticket to see The Last Supper
- Not only that, the city’s high-end designer stores stage their seasonal sales
Richard Mellor For The Mail On Sunday
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‘Milan is ideal in winter,’ I tell Luca Finardi, general manager of the city’s Mandarin Oriental hotel, over breakfast.
He looks sceptical, so I cite the past two days as evidence.
I began my quest by inspecting Leonardo da Vinci’s The Last Supper in the Santa Maria delle Grazie.
Blaze of glory: In the winter, you can easily view the spectacular Duomo free of wading through hordes of people
I booked my €8 (£6) ticket for a 15-minute time-slot the day prior to – it is only feasible to do that on weekdays in winter.
Initially, the mural’s bright palette and exuberant expressions echo a cartoon; it feels beguilingly simple, and yet there’s so much to see.
As his disciples react diversely to news of imminent betrayal, Jesus looks slightly forlorn, yet calm.
Light from the window behind envelops him or her enjoy a halo. Next came Milan’s others classical treasure.
Sublime: Despite the fact that you usually have actually to timetable far in advance, in the winter, you can easily timetable a ticket to see Da Vinci’s The Last Supper only a day before
In any kind of season, the mighty Duomo is beautiful: a Gothic fantasia of marble spires and statuettes – every one unique – soaring 350ft in to the air.
As well as pacing its vast interior, visitors can easily walk up to the roof and spot the distant Alps, yet I beloved being at ground-degree in the Piazza del Duomo, looking up at the cathedral.
When set versus blurry winter skies, the cathedral’s brilliant white is eye-watering in every sense.
Just off the piazza, you will certainly locate the cobbled lanes of Milan’s fashion district – Quadrilatero d’Oro.
Another necessity to visit in winter is that high-end designer stores such as Prada and Gucci stage their January sales.
But along with dusk descending, I hastened spine through the crisp air to the Mandarin Oriental for a soak in the spa’s shadowy pool, followed by pre-dinner cocktails.
Milan is the house of the aperitivo, and my negroni del professore hit the spot.
Later, in the hotel’s Michelin-starred restaurant Seta, I relished cauliflower in yuzuand-almond-milk sauce, fig-fed chicken along with seaweed, and a chocolate trolley.
Shop the sales: At the start of the year, the city’s high-end designer stores are known to stage their big sales
Luca nods knowingly. The hotel opened last July, in time for the city’s Expo, yet it is not the art fair’s only legacy now that the crowds have actually dispersed.
Another is La Vigna di Leonardo, a handsome home plus a newly replanted vineyard that was once tended by the painter.
I took a free tour – a benefit of visiting in winter.
Another brand-new attraction is the modern-art space Fondazione Prada, repatriating a derelict brandy distillery.
The old buildings’ exterior, now entirely covered in gold, rivals any kind of installation for attention.
So too does canteen Bar Luce, created by the filmmaker Wes Anderson. Amid its jukeboxes and formica furniture I scoffed a scrumptious strawberry tart free of having to timetable ahead for a table.
Luca interjects, mentioning that the Mandarin Oriental can easily arrange skiing day-trips to St Moritz, and that tickets for La Scala’s celebrated operas are much easier to come by in winter.
‘So actually, yes,’ he admits, ‘winter is pretty good here.’
I rest my new, half-fee Louis Vuitton case.
TRAVEL FACTS
Doubles at the Mandarin Oriental in Milan cost from £460 per night. Visit http://ift.tt/1OE70s3.
Visitors can easily timetable tickets for The Last Supper through vivaticket.it.
EasyJet (easyjet.com) flies to Milan Malpensa from Edinburgh, Glasgow, Gatwick, Manchester and Luton, along with oneway fares starting from £18.24pp.
from Golden Land Travel http://ift.tt/1UraB3S
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