Explore the best hangouts, cafes, galleries and cool spaces in Milan where creatives tend to spend their time.
Fondazione Prada
Fondazione Prada is an art foundation designed by OMA/Rem Koolhaas in a former gin distillery south of the city. The complex includes permanent installations by Louise Bourgeois and Damien Hirst, a cinema designed by the OMA/AMO team, and the Wes Anderson-designed Bar Luce. One of the most significant cultural additions to Milan in recent decades.
fondazioneprada.orgNebbia
Nebbia is a low-key bistro in the Navigli doing contemporary twists on Italian classics with a strong natural wine list. The space is warm and unfussy, the cooking is confident, and the crowd tends to be exactly the kind of creative Milanese you'd want to end up sharing a table with.
nebbiamilano.comPavé
Pavé is one of Milan's best bakeries, known for exceptional brioches, croissants, and pastries all made by hand with quality ingredients. Based in Porta Venezia, the minimal yet welcoming space is always busy. Gambero Rosso rated it one of the top 20 bakeries in Italy.
pavemilano.comMicamera
Micamera in Isola is a bookshop and gallery dedicated to photography, with a carefully curated selection of photobooks, prints, and zines from around the world. The staff are knowledgeable, the space hosts exhibitions and events, and it's become a genuine hub for Milan's photography and visual arts community.
micamera.itSpazio Rossana Orlandi
Spazio Rossana Orlandi in the Magenta district is one of the most influential design galleries and concept stores in the world, housed in a former tie factory. Part gallery, part shop, part sun-drenched courtyard restaurant — it's where emerging and established designers are discovered, and where the international design world convenes during Salone del Mobile.
rossanaorlandi.comPirelli HangarBicocca
Pirelli HangarBicocca is a vast contemporary art space in a former industrial complex in the Bicocca district, one of the largest in Europe. Free admission. The permanent installation by Anselm Kiefer — The Seven Heavenly Palaces — is alone worth the trip north of the city centre.
hangarbicocca.orgBar Luce
Bar Luce inside Fondazione Prada was designed by Wes Anderson to evoke a classic Milanese café. The pastel interiors, vintage pinball machines, and period details are unmistakably his, but it works as a genuinely good place for coffee, a spritz, or lunch. The outdoor space is accessible without a museum ticket.
fondazioneprada.orgLangosteria Bistrot
Langosteria Bistrot in the Navigli is the more relaxed sibling of Milan's legendary Langosteria flagship, serving some of the freshest seafood in the city. Raw bar, crudi, and beautifully cooked fish in a buzzy setting that fills up fast, especially during design week.
langosteria.comTerrazza Triennale
Terrazza Triennale on the top floor of the Triennale di Milano has a seasonal menu and one of the better rooftop views in the city over Parco Sempione. Worth going up even just for a drink. The café on the lower floor is a more casual option with the same good location.
triennale.orgBar Basso
Bar Basso is a Milan institution and the birthplace of the negroni sbagliato. This no-frills spot in Città Studi has been pouring giant cocktails in oversized glasses since 1947, drawing designers, artists, and night owls who spill out onto the street during aperitivo hour.
barbasso.comADI Design Museum
ADI Design Museum is home to the Compasso d'Oro collection, Italy's most prestigious design award dating back to 1954. Opened in 2021 in a converted industrial building in Porta Volta, its permanent collection traces the history of Italian design through objects that genuinely shaped the way we live.
adidesignmuseum.orgRatanà
Ratanà near Isola is one of the most respected restaurants in Milan for traditional Milanese and Lombard cooking — risotto alla Milanese, cotoletta, and seasonal produce prepared with genuine care. Set in a converted industrial building with a garden. Unpretentious and excellent.
ratana.itCeresio 7
Ceresio 7 on the rooftop of a former ENEL building near Corso Como is a bar, restaurant, and pool bar that's become one of the go-to spots for Milan's fashion and design crowd. The view over the city is excellent, the food is good, and aperitivo on the terrace is one of the better ways to spend a Milan evening.
ceresio7.com10 Corso Como
10 Corso Como near Porta Garibaldi was one of the first concept stores in the world when Carla Sozzani opened it in 1990. It remains a genuinely good one: a curated edit of fashion, design objects, books, and music across a garden courtyard with a cafe and gallery. More than a shop — a point of view.
10corsocomo.comDry Milano
Dry Milano helped kick off the gourmet pizza movement in Italy back in 2013. In the Porta Garibaldi area, it pairs Neapolitan-style pies from a wood-fired oven with a serious cocktail list. The kind of place designers end up after a long day at the showrooms.
drymilano.it
