Holiday to Milan-Shopping & Exploring

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Late May, me and my partner went on holiday to Italy for a week.

Our flight to Milan was super early with my alarm going off just after 2am, too early for us to even grab our usual McDonald’s breakfast!

Once on the plane we took an obligatory sefie, exhausted but excited.

And then we arrived! We flew into Milan Linate airport and took a taxi to our hotel. We stayed at the Best Western Hotel City, which is a small four star hotel.

As we arrived too early to check-in, we stowed our bags away in the hotel and went off to explore.

Our hotel was situated on one of the main shopping streets, Corso Buenos Aires and Sephora was just opposite where we was staying!

As well as Sephora, I visited the NYX shop as we only have counters in the UK but no actual stores. I also hit up Zara and a few other places, before we walked to Pizzeria Spontini for lunch.

Spontini is a chain as it has a number of shops across Milan, but it was incredibly busy and is popular with the locals. Compared to regular Italian pizza, this was super thick and cheesy and it tasted great!

We also bought a cannoli dessert, which was really good. It’s a soft and slightly chewy shell, filled with ricotta cheese. It doesn’t sound appetizing, but the filling tastes like a creamy custard.

And then we took a slow stroll back to the hotel.

Milan has a different look and feel to other parts of Italy, as it’s often described as being more like Northern Europe. Whilst it still has Italian flair, the buildings and houses did look different to other places like Rome for example.

Once we got to the hotel, we could finally check-in and I was impressed with our room.

It was spacious, had the most comfortable bed and a really great bathroom. The only downside to Italian hotels is that the rooms are very close together, so you might hear your neighbours.

Once we’d freshened up and unpacked, we headed to Lima Metro Station and took the train four stops to Piazza del Duomo, which is the central square.

In the Piazza you’ll find Milan’s most recognisable building, Duomo di Milano or Milan Cathedral.

Duomo is a huge, marble Cathedral that took close to 600 years to build and it’s spires are topped with thousands of statues. It’s Italy’s largest church.

Duomo di Milano also has the accolade of being the second largest Catholic Cathedral in the world and the largest Gothic Cathedral in the world.

We spent hours around Duomo, sitting on the Piazza admiring the Cathedral and listening to live street music.

After soaking up the sun, we headed just opposite to the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II shopping centre. Galleria is one of the world’s oldest shopping centres and is named after Victor Emanuele II, the first king of the Kingdom of Italy.

Prada, Milan’s favourite designer.

After admiring the shopping centre, we went back to exploring the streets of Milan and stumbled across a Bath & Body Works.

Whilst it didn’t stock all the ranges the US stores do, I still picked up a couple of bits. (I’ll be doing a full shopping haul on all that I bought in Italy soon).

And then it was time for food! We’d heard a lot of great things about the restaurant Piz and it’s a place I would definitely recommend visiting if you’re in Milan.

The wait time was thirty minutes, but staff give out free glasses of prosecco and slices of pizza while you queue.

Inside Piz.

Delicious pizza.

Then after our meal, we got a free shot of Limoncello!

After dinner we walked back to Duomo to take in the view as the sun went down.

We sat back down on the Piazza and listened to more great, live music. The perfect end to our first day.

Published by danniijane

I'm a twenty something Londoner who loves fashion and beauty, travel, animals and adventures:)

39 Replies to “Holiday to Milan-Shopping & Exploring”

  2. You look so pretty in your photos! I’m very jealous of all the shopping, a Sephora and Bath and body works, yes please! The Spontini pizza looks like Heaven on a plate! So doughy and cheesey- perfection! Piz sounds like a great restaurant too, free prosecco and pizza slices while you wait is like a dream come true! Sounds like the perfect day hun X

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    1. Aaw thanks hun. I thought I just looked exhausted😂 It’s a huge haul. I went in Sephora like ten times haha! It might end up as two hauls! The Spontini pizza was great. So cheesy💕 Piz was so good. Why don’t all restaurants do that?! I wouldn’t mind waiting then. It was a lovely first day😊 x

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      1. Aha you’re welcome, not at all you look really nice!! Omg I can’t wait to see what you bought. It looks delicious! For real? Did you get many free pizza slices?? The fact it was free makes it all the more amazing. The UK need to take some notes. xx

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      2. Aaw thanks😊 My boyfriend said our first day was my allocated shopping day but everyday became a shopping day😂 Yes a couple of pizza slices, a couple of glasses of prosecco and a free shot of alcohol. Must have cost more for them to give me all that, then for our food😂 No wonder it gets so busy there x

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  6. This looks like such a lovely part of Italy! My aunt traveled to Italy a few years ago (Venice I think) but she didn’t like it very much which is a shame because your trip sounds wonderful! The cannoli looks delicious! x

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    1. Aaw that’s a shame. I guess Venice is expensive and gets very busy. We love Italy but each area is different😊 Milan is quite laid back compared to Rome for eg, but Rome is gritty and full of character. The cannoli was so nice. I always avoided it as I thought it might taste a bit strange with the cheese, but it does just taste like a dessert😊 xx

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      1. Every area is different and everyone is different, what one person might like another might not, it’s all down to personal taste I guess. When you mentioned custard I was just about salivating haha x

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  7. Ahh I love everything about this post! I want to go to Italy SOOO badly and your pictures just make me want to go more so! Your hotel room is so cute and ALL that SHOPPING! I am glad you had such a great first day! I can not wait to read about the rest of your trip! ❤

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    1. Aaw thank you! It’s a wonderful country. There’s so many places you could visit in Italy😊 It was a really nice room, super comfy. There was a lot of shopping. Wait ’til you see the haul☺ Glad you enjoyed it. Hoping the next part will be up by Tuesday xx

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  8. This is so weird! I was in Milan literally this time last week – I went to a few of the same places as you; did you get harassed by the people trying to sell the “blessings of Africa” bracelets outside the cathedral? xx

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    1. No way! How funny we was both there😊 I always see loads of people selling fidget spinners and all sorts wherever I go in Italy. Didn’t get hassled with bracelets thankfully. I’m quite abrupt and speak in Italian, so they give up trying to sell me stuff😂 x

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  9. I’m not usually a fan of cannoli but the photo of yours looks enticing!
    The hotel room looks so nice – it’s so important to have a comfy bed when you’re on vacation! I always have challenges with firmness of pillows. 😛
    Love all the photos of the architecture – they’re so intricate and grand!
    And YAY you got to visit a Bath & Body Works store!!! 😀 How did you like all the scents?

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    1. It was nice! I was surprised, as I wasn’t sure if I’d like it. It was a really nice hotel. The second hotel we stayed in Italy had a really hard bed, but this one was great for a good nights sleep. Haha yes me too! Pillows are always too firm, too soft or I find them too flat. I did! The ranges sold there was different though. I asked if they sold Tiki Mango etc but they said a lot of the ranges were American😔 So I guess I’ll have to go to the US or Canada😉 I got a couple of bits like a Limoncello candle which smells amazing x

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  10. YAYAY!!!! I’m so excited to finally get a recap of your trip to Italy!!! Okay first of all total win being right across from the Sephora!!!! That sephora btw looks so neat and organized compared to any sephora I’ve ever been into lol I can only imagine how amazing the pizza must’ve been coming right from Italy. That’s one of my dreams is to tour around Italy and just eat a little bit of everything! Gosh, the Milan Cathedral is so breathtaking, especially at night with it glistening like that! Are you allowed to go inside and tour the cathedral?

    xo, JJ

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    1. Aaw thanks hun, I’m glad you enjoyed the post😊 I know I couldn’t believe my luck. Opposite a Sephora, yes please😊😂 Really? I’ve only ever been into the Italian Sephora’s but we tried three stores and all were super neat. I was impressed as UK makeup stores can be a bit messy too, especially the samples! Oh girl the pizza, pasta and gelato are next level in Italy. So fresh and tasty😊 It’s a gorgeous cathedral. So much detail on it. You can go inside and on the roof terraces. It’ll be in one of my future posts on Milan☺ xx

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  11. So fun! We visited Milan on our honeymoon 16+ years ago, we visited the Prada store, and I’ve always wanted to go back… this post makes me long for a cup of Italian coffee!

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      1. Yes, we visited Venice, the Cinque Terre, Florence, and Milan. We were unable to see the Last Supper as we were unaware of the required reservations… back in “those days”, people were only just starting to use the Internet to book travel. LOL!

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      2. What a lovely honeymoon. You got to see a lot of places☺ Haha well it’s still a pain to book now! I read you’re supposed to book 2 months in advance. We tried before that and it was already booked up, so we had to do a tour that included it x

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