Finding where to stay in Milan is one of the first things you should do when you start planning a trip to the city, especially if your visit coincides with an event or is in high season. Although there are many neighborhoods and hotels to stay in Milan and the city is relatively small, it is preferable to be clear about the best options to choose the one that best suits your needs and your type of trip.
Neighborhoods where to stay in Milan
The first and most important thing to be able to choose well the place to stay in Milan is to know that the city is divided in 9 districts being the first one in the center, that coincides with the historical center, the second one the one that is located in the north zone of this one and the rest are following their location in the sense of the clockwise direction.
These districts are divided in turn into neighborhoods and although we are going to focus on the most central districts, which are the historic area and the one normally always visited by travelers, as it is where most of the essential places to visit in Milan are located, we leave you a list of what you can find in the city.
- District 1: located in the city center, it is made up of the Centro Storico, Brera, Porta Tenaglia, Porta Sempione, Guastalla and Conca del Naviglio districts.
- District 2: to the northeast of district 1, it is made up of the Porta Nuova, Stazione Centrale, these two are the most touristic, Loreto, Turro, Crescenzago, Quartiere Adriano, Gorla, Precotto, Mandello, Ponte Seveso, Quartiere Maggiolina, Mirabello, Villaggio dei Giornalisti and Greco.
- District 3: to the east of district 1, it is made up of the Porta Venezia and Porta Monforte neighborhoods, which are the closest to the center and the most interesting places to stay in Milan in this district, Casoretto, Rottole, Dosso, Quartiere Feltre, Cimiano, Città degle Studi, Lambrate and Ortica.
- District 4: located in the southeastern area of District 1, it includes the neighborhoods Porta Vittoria, Porta Romana, Acquabella, Cavriano, Quartiere Forlanini, Monlue, La Trecca, Taliedo, Morsengio, Ponte Lambro, Calvairate, San Luigi, Gamboloita, Quartiere Omero, Nosedo, Castagnedo, Rogoredo and Santa Giulia.
The rest of the districts (5,6,7,8 and 9) we consider that they are not relevant for a traveler visiting Milan for tourism, just as we must take into account that in the districts of which we have spoken before, there are some neighborhoods that are not recommended for sleeping in Milan, so it is important and advisable that you review the recommendations of what are the best neighborhoods and areas where to stay in Milan that will be discussed below.
1. Historic Center, the best place to stay in Milan
As it usually happens in most cities and Milan is not going to be an exception, the historic center of the city is considered one of the best places to sleep in Milan. In addition to finding most of the tourist attractions here you can also find a wide range of hotels and restaurants for all prices although we anticipate that the accommodations in the city are not particularly cheap and less in the historic center.
If you can afford it, the best option is to look for a hotel near the Duomo, since it is the most central area but also the most expensive.
The price of accommodation in the Historic Center of Milan is usually 150 euros although there are some times when you can find offers for 100 euros.
2. Stazione Centrale, another of the best places to sleep in Milan
In district 2 is the neighborhood of the Central Station of Milan, another of the best places to stay in Milan, especially if your trip to the city is part of a route through the country and you need to have good communication with the rest of the country by train.
In addition here the hotel offer is quite wide as well as the restaurant offer and the prices are usually much tighter than in the rest of the city.
While it is true that the historic center is somewhat distant, about 4 kilometers, you have public transport, so this should not be a problem and regarding the issue of security, as is usually the case in most cities, the surroundings of the train stations are usually less advisable at night, although during the day they are perfectly passable.
The price of accommodation in Stazione Centrale is usually 70 euros per night.
3. Brera, another place to look for a hotel in Milan
Also located in district 1, the Brera neighborhood is another one of the best places to stay in Milan due to its central location as well as having in its streets some of the most exclusive of the city, known as the “Quadrilatero della moda” , for hosting many of the most famous and expensive brand stores.
In addition, in the neighborhood you can also find the Pinacoteca di Brera, which is one of the most famous art galleries in Milan.
The price of accommodation in Brera is usually 70 euros per night.
4. Navigli, Milan’s charming district
Which Milan has canals? That’s what we asked ourselves the first time we traveled to the city and looked for information about the best place to sleep in Milan. Well yes, it has canals and they are in the Navigli district, which is also in a very central location, and has a wide range of restaurants and charming places where you can taste the exquisite Italian cuisine.
In addition, this area usually has more affordable prices in accommodation than the most central area of the city and you will be only 15 minutes walk from the Duomo. However, to be in the best area we recommend you to choose Carrobio, between Missori and S. Agostino.
The price of accommodation in Navigli is usually 70-90 euros per night.
Tips for finding cheap accommodation in Milan
Although we hope that with the summary of the best places to stay in Milan and the selection of hotels the search for your accommodation will be easier, we also want to leave you a series of tips and recommendations.
- The most common is to travel to Milan for a few days so we recommend you to choose a central area to stay such as the historic center or if you have to move, the area of the Central Station.
- The prices of accommodation in Milan are expensive, so if you are traveling in high season or coinciding with an event, it is very important to book in advance to save money and find more options.
- In addition to the districts we have focused on, 1 and 2, there are 7 more, as you have seen at the beginning of the post. In case you want to stay in any of them, we recommend you to check before if they are good areas or not because in Milan there are not very recommendable neighborhoods to stay in.
- Remember that to avoid paying commissions and to always have the current exchange rate we recommend you to use the Revolut card and the N26 card, which are the ones we use, are free of charge and will save you a lot of money.
