One of the six cardinal points of the small empire of the Giacomo Milano brand, realm of the ambitious Giacomo Belleri, including the Ristorante da Giacomo, Giacomo Cafè, Giacomo Arengario, a pâtisserie and a tobacconist.
The wood panelling and démodé feel are reminiscent of transalpine décor and, like a classic French bistrot, Giacomo comes into its own in the evening after the theatre or cinema, when it greets its guests with soft lighting and comfortable armchairs.

An exclusive British-style club right in the middle of Milan, a meeting point for dinners and drinks in the American bar tradition.
This old establishment's assiduous habitués include important people in finance, politics, showbiz and fashion, as well as gourmets, or simply lovers of traditional Milanese cuisine, and other faithful clients.

This restaurant, café and delicatessen in the fashion quarter was opened by the Travaini family in 1957. It is in Palazzo Bagatti Valsecchi, a major example of Italian neo-renaissance architecture, in Via Santo Spirito.
“Il Salumaio” can boast celebrity habitués of the calibre of Audrey Hepburn, Paloma Picasso, Catherine Deneuve, Phil Collins, Luciano Pavarotti, Susan Sarandon, Marcello Mastroianni and Mohamed Al Fayed.

A historic, traditional restaurant ensconced in the majestic Grand Hotel et de Milan in the heart of Milan. Its décor features relics from the world of opera, which has been very important in its history. The menu offers excellent revisitings of traditional northern Italian cuisine such as zuppa di fagioli alla veneta, pizzoccheri sbagliati del Don Carlos, ravioli di zucca and risotto alla parmigiana.

A Tuscan trattoria in Milan much loved by 20th century painters, writers and stylists, but also politicians, journalists and photographers. Its walls display the pictures and signatures of countless friends and artists that used to meet here.
Italy’s oldest literary award, the “Premio Bagutta”, was set up here in 1927.

In the heart of the "fashion quadrilateral", in via Montenapoleone, but far from the bustle of the centre’s busy streets, this restaurant offers lunches in a sheltered, elegant inner-court garden or in one of its rooms furnished in French style like a little postmodern bistrot. It serves a number of typical Italian dishes in an ambience that’s both relaxing and enchanting.

This small pâtisserie in Via Sottocorno is part of the Giacomo Milano brand (see above). Its famous “bomba” is a revisiting of the classic mille-feuille.

It's called Giacomo Tabaccheria but the décor and lavish detailing in this place opposite Giacomo Bistrot reveal far more than simple cigarette retailing. In a single room with antique furniture from Paris, the shop windows of a Genoa jeweller's in the '20s and cold cement flooring redolent of Tuscan farmhouses, an array of round dark wooden tables displaying niche products: gifts, smoking and shaving stuff, fragrances and above all top quality Italian gourmet products.

An old pâtisserie in the centre of Milan, well known for both its products and refined period décor.
Impossible to say no to a tiny, culinary self-indulgence here, especially when faced with their marvellous range of cakes and pastries and even more so when they’re specially made for you.

Campari’s historic bar is in the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, on the corner with Piazza Duomo, in the heart of Milan. Like fashion and design, Camparino is one of the city’s emblems, as well as symbolizing the birth of the “aperitif” tradition. It has always been the fulcrum of Milanese society life and a favourite haunt of top Italian showbiz people, past and present, such as the De Filippo brothers and Vittorio De Sica and today’s Diego Abatantuono and Nina Zilli.

A meeting place for both brunch and lunch, dinner or after dinner but most popular for evening drinks. The café is in an interesting location in the heart of Milan, in Italy’s first "motorbike quarter". With its ample outdoor area and extreme care over furnishing details, it is true to the identity of DEUS EX MACHINA, the historic Australian brand specializing in motorbikes, bicycles and surf boards.

The famous Gerry's Bar in the Grand Hotel et de Milan is a discreet salon – secluded and refined - in the heart of Milan. Ideal for tea or cocktails, lunch or dinner, it also has an American bar that’s perfect for after the theatre, being open well into the night.

The famous bar in the Hotel Principe di Savoia is an elegant and sophisticated place that’s ideal for afternoon tea or evening drinks accompanied by a DJ set. In Fashion Week its cosy and discreet lounge becomes a favourite haunt of fashion trade people and a venue for exclusive parties.
After the last war, its most famous barman was the Piedmontese Angelo Zola, founder of the Italian Barman Association and creator of unusual cocktails that became indispensable.

Designed by the architect Andrea Pizzala, the Grand Hotel et de Milan opened on Saturday 23 May 1863.
Noteworthy among the Grand Hotel’s more illustrious guests were Giuseppe Verdi, Tamara de Lempicka and Maria Callas. Inside the hotel there is the famous Gerry's Bar.

Looking out over the centrally located Piazza della Repubblica, the Hotel Principe di Savoia is a 5-star icon of luxury that’s been frequented by international travellers since the ’20s. It also has a famous bar, an elegant and sophisticated place that’s ideal for afternoon tea or evening drinks accompanied by a DJ set.
It was renovated by the internationally famous architect Thierry Despont, who transformed the bar by using some of the hotel’s original furnishings, including Italian marble and fabrics, hand-woven velvets, mirrors and glassware.

Hidden away in the heart of Milan, a stone’s throw from the Duomo and the Teatro alla Scala, this concept driven design hotel has 64 rooms (classic, relax, well being, deluxe and suite) that integrate two only apparently disparate philosophies: extreme hi-tech functionality with a minimalist feeling and a warm, cozy atmosphere generated by sophisticated and innovative materials like natural cleft slate, burnished brass, cement and iron, gauzed glass, scratched mirrors and furnishings produced ad-hoc to designs by Vincenzo De Cotiis. On the ground floor there’s a Bar with the hotel’s name (and the same materials and mood) which is very popular with both local and international customer at the happy hour.

Opened only a couple of years ago, the atmosphere is that of the classic hairdresser of yesteryear and firmly present in the style of American barbers in the Thirties.
A shave is a real indulgence: hot towel, beard and moustache shaved with a classic straight-blade razor, as in the old days, and creams and lotions. It’s located in Isola, a new quarter favoured by metropolitan bikers, creatives and hipsters, though Bullfrog’s clients are mostly suits between 35 and 45.

DEUS EX MACHINA is an Australian brand specializing in motorbikes, bicycles and surf boards, worlds apparently disparate but all thriving on the creativity and craftsmanship typical of an artisan workshop and an untiring passion for creating the unique and original.
Deus ex Machina opened in Italy's first "motorbike quarter".

This pulsating foundry in the heart of the 16th century Simonetta zone has been working bronze with the lost wax technique (handed down unchanged since pre-history), since 1913. It covers around 1,500 m2 and has a separate workshop for each stage of the process. 20 or so foundrymen practice this silent and manual art here everyday. It continues to turn out works that closely reflect the lives of the artists themselves and has seen the production of sculptures by Lucio Fontana, Alighiero Boetti, Marino Marini and Giò and Arnaldo Pomodoro.

This art gallery in the middle of Milan was founded by Roberta Tavaglini in 1967 and specializes in 20th century decorative arts. Its collection ranges from tapestries, candelabras, silverware and ceramics to furnishing items like couches, armchairs and tables. In 1986 the Gallery boosted its overseas standing by taking part in the New York international exhibition.

For all fans of design Via Matteo Bandello 14 has become a cult.
It was founded in 2002 by Rossana Orlandi, one of the most influential women on Milan’s cultural scene, who turned an old tie factory into an internationally renowned centre of creativity.
With its colourful courtyard of flowers and design objects, Rossana Orlandi’s iconic establishment has a store, on two floors, offering vintage and contemporary items, and a gallery (opened in 2008) for showing limited editions and one-off pieces.

Raw was set up by Paolo Badesco around 20 years ago as an interior design boutique offering sourcing and selection of furnishings and accessories and also technical and stylistic support provided by its staff of architects and designers.

Via della Spiga, in the centre of Milan, is one of the streets in the “fashion quadrilateral”, which is considered one of the most luxurious parts of town, as well as being one of the world’s top shopping centres for high fashion.

This long-standing bookshop in the middle of Milan, in the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele, opened in 1949 and has been frequented by illustrious names ever since. Enzo Biagi had his personal office on the premises.

One of the emblems of Milan, this famous covered gallery links piazza del Duomo to Piazza della Scala.
Designed by the architect Giuseppe Mengoni, its construction, in iron and glass, was begun in 1865. At its centre is the well known octagonal dome.

One of the prime examples in Italy of exhibition space designed by Ignazio Gardella for contemporary art. Founded in 1947, it started to focus on contemporary art in 1970.
Exhibitions in recent years have featured Yayoi Kusama, Armando Testa and Marina Abramovic, Sebastiao Salgado, Jeff Wall, Tony Ousler, Zhang Huan and David Bailey.

One of the world’s most famous theatres, this has been a stage for internationally renowned artists for some 200 years now and has commissioned operas that are still on the repertory in theatres all over the world.
It has had its own choir, orchestra and ballet corps since its foundation in 1778 and in 1982 it also became the home of the Filarmonica. Its glorious dynasty of conductors includes Toscanini, De Sabata, Wilhelm Furtwängler, Herbert von Karajan, Guido Cantelli, Leonard Bernstein, Gianandrea Gavazzeni, Carlo Maria Giulini, Carlos Kleiber, Claudio Abbado, Riccardo Muti and Daniel Barenboim.

A university in Cà Granda, a renaissance building commissioned by the Duke of Milan (Francesco Sforza) and situated between via Francesco Sforza, via Laghetto and via Festa del Perdono adjacent to the Basilica di San Nazaro in Brolo. It was originally designed as a hospital by the Florentine architect Filarete. It was one of the first renaissance buildings in Milan and an influential model throughout northern Italy.
It is the biggest university in Milan and Lombardia.

This was designed by Piero Portaluppi between 1932 and 1935 for the Necchi sisters, whose family was an icon of Lombardia’s affluent and industrious bourgeoisie.
A little oasis of green in the centre of Milan, ideal for reading a book beside the pool in the shade of centuries-old magnolias.

Milan's "Museum of the 20th Century" is a gallery of 20th century art works in Palazzo dell'Arengario and the adjacent Palazzo Reale. It also accommodates collections from the former Civico Museo d'Arte Contemporanea (CIMAC), which used to be on the 2nd floor of Palazzo Reale before being closed in 1998.

The Pinacoteca di Brera is a national art gallery (old and modern) in the building of same name in Milan.
It has one of the most famous collections of paintings in Italy, specializing in Veneto and Lombardia masters but with major works from other schools as well. Thanks to donations, it also offers a collection ranging from prehistory to contemporary art, with masterpieces by various 20th century artists.

Milan's cathedral, in the middle of the metropolis, is a monumental symbol of Lombardia's capital and one of the emblems of Italy. Dedicated to Santa Maria Nascente, it is the world’s 3rd biggest catholic church in terms of surface area after St. Peter's in the Vatican and Seville Cathedral. It was designed in the Gothic style in 1386 and built entirely in Candoglia marble, with 3,400 statues and over 700 marble bas-reliefs. It is crowned by the "Madonnina" in gold-finished copper.

The Triennale di Milano, in Palazzo dell’Arte, is an international cultural organization that produces exhibitions, conventions and other events relating to art, design, architecture, fashion, cinema.
Its high-profile exhibitions focus on contemporary art, nationally and internationally famous architects and designers, great fashion designers who changed people’s tastes and habits, and social issues.

Milan's "Arch of Peace" is a triumphal arch forming part of the old Porta Sempione in the middle of the vast expanse of piazza Sempione.
This monument in Crevola marble is 25 metres high and 24 metres wide.

Bronze sculpture (1972) by Arnaldo Pomodoro currently in Milan's lively Piazza Meda, where it represents vitality, optimism and Italy's radiant energy. It's a double ring of gold coloured bronze creating a sense of torsion that makes it more alive and in proportion to the man that Leonardo da Vinci inscribed in the circle.