Are you visiting Milan First Time? Read our 9 Tips to Save time and Money

Milan is a hub for travelers, thanks to its location. Even people travelling to other parts of the world get to Milan and sometime tour the city a bit before leaving for their destination. The city is beautiful and has the reminiscence of the old and historic cities as well. It is a known fact that travel hubs like Milan will be quite expensive and as such this article will help to analysis how a tourist can best save money and time while traveling to or through Milan.

1.   Buy a Ricarica MI card

The RicaricaMI card is just like the Oyster card of London. The card has a small initial fee of €2.50 but then after that, you can top –up the card as you use it. You can buy the card at ATM points inside the metro station. This card is useful if you are planning on staying in Milan for more than 3 days and you even want to be “green”. It is used by tourists in- place of normal paper tickets issued by the city’s public transportation service.

2.   No need to leave extra

Tipping is not compulsory so you don’t have to tip. Saving your tip is one othe best ways to save money on your trip to Milan city. The hourly wage of waiters here in Milan is higher than that obtainable even in the US.

3.   People in Milan take latte literally

If you want to drink coffee with milk, be sure to order with foam (cappuccino), less foam (caffé latte) or an espresso with milk (macchiato) or even hot milk with little coffee ( latte macchiato ) instead of just saying “latte”. Ordering just latte will only get you a glass of milk.

4.   Watch out for Salone

Yes, you need to watch out for Salone Del Mobile. This is furniture fair in Milan which runs for 6 days in the middle of April. There is always fun at the Salone because there are lots of crowd attending the fair. But this is the downside for tourists. Lots of people in Milan at the time mean price will skyrocket for hotels and food, even transportation. So as a tourist, it is best to avoid this fair totally if you must visit Milan. The same is applied to the Milan fashion week. This should not be so for furniture and interior decoration experts, or fashion enthusiasts, who stand to gain immensely from attending these events. You can even land a great buy there, and ship your sofa home at good rates here – https://www.shiply.com/us/truck-loads. You will know more about Milan city by clicking here.

5.   Never order a cappuccino after lunch

You should aim at blending in as much as possible and as such, do not order any drink with milk after 11am. Italians believe drinking anything with milk after the breakfast will hinder digestion. So if you must take it, do so before 11 am so that you can look more like the locals.

6.   Travel by tram

Trams are olden but most of the trams in Milan have been modernized. But ATMosfera avail you the opportunity of riding the 1930s tram through the city of Milan and you get to enjoy a multicourse dinner with wine while you are at it. You get to the romantic feeling of staying inside the olden day Milan and looking out the window to see the new and modern day Milan. It is an experience you wont forget quickly.

7. Visit museums for free

The Galleria d’Arte Moderna, , Sforza Castle museums, Casa Museo, Boschi di Stefano, MUDEC,  Museo del Novecento and other Milan’s civic museums are usually free on the first Sunday of every month. There will be a great crowd and a long queue at these placed due to free entry but if you can, take your time and your patience will pay off, saving you money. Use the Milan Tourist attractions map to find more Museums and attractions sites in the city.

8.   Shop outside the fashion district

Quadrilatero della Moda is the fashion district of Milan city, and as a tourist, it is one place you will want to visit. But I will advice you head to Brera district, north of Duomo, for most of your purchases as you will get quality for cheap in markets around this district. There are lots of galleries, boutiques and design shops and you will not need to break your bank to buy here.

9.   Hop-on Hop-off bus tour

 The Hop-on Hop-off bus tour in Milan is extraordinary. The tour ticket is for 1 day ot 2 days as you may like to have it. The buses have 30 stops in general and they cover all the major attraction sites in the city. At each stop, tourists can hop-off the bus , grab drinks, take pictures and what have you. You are free to join the buses at the very start or at any of the 30 stops. Attraction sites that the hop-on hop-off buses will take you to include Duomo, Sant Ambrogio, San siro stadium, Arco Della Pace, Sempione Park, Santa Maria Delle Grazie, Monumental Cemetery and so on. Click here for Milan bus tours comparison.  There is free Wi-Fi available on the buses and  you have pre-recorded commentary in several languages. As per the discretion of the driver, your small pets can be allowed on the bus as well.