A Day in Milan

May 16, 2026May 1, 2026 / Maria / Leave a comment

After 2 weeks of hiking in the Dolomites, I had one day in Milan before flying back to Canada. Milan is not the natural entry point for the Dolomites. The closest airport is in Venice and that’s where I flew into. Venice was also cheaper, but I really wanted to visit Milan before leaving, so I paid extra to fly out of there instead. It was another full day of travel on public transport to get from Val Gardena to Milan, but it was sunny and warm when I arrived, in comparison to the chill that had moved into the Dolomites.

Milan is a large city, but a lot of the attractions are centrally located. I would have liked to stay right in the city centre, but I was alone and it was very expensive, so I opted to stay near the Milano Centrale train station instead. This made it easier arriving in the city and getting to the airport, which is quite far outside of Milan. That said, I didn’t love the neighbourhood around the train station. I don’t want to say it was unsafe, because I don’t think it was, but I also didn’t feel totally at ease there. I stayed in a nice little AirB&B, but because I was a woman traveling on her own, something about the location felt a little off.

I arrived around 5pm and had a day and half until my departure flight. I found a nice little restaurant nearby on the first night and was determined to try some of Milan’s classic dishes, the most popular of which is ossobuco alla milanese. It’s a veal shank with saffron risotto and it was as delicious as it sounds. I had a nice glass of red wine with it and really enjoyed the experience.

But I only had one full day in Milan, so I had a lot to explore. My plan had been to take it easy after doing so much hiking the previous week, but walking is by far the easiest way to get around, so I ended up tracking 16km on my solo day in the city. I left in the morning and decided to walk into the city centre. If you want to skip the line at the major attractions, I highly recommend getting your tickets in advance. The main thing I wanted to do while in Milan was visit the Duomo, which is one of the world’s largest gothic cathedrals and took nearly 6 centuries to build. It is the most iconic structure in Milan and absolutely worth the extra money I paid to fly out of Milan. I bought a timed entry ticket a few weeks before the trip so that I wouldn’t have to wait in line when I visited. I bought the ticket that included the walk around the walls, the roof, and inside the cathedral.

I enjoyed a scenic walk from my AirB&B to the cathedral, stopping at a very instagramable cafe called Gelsomina for breakfast. Along my way to the city centre, I walked along the via Monte Napoleone, which is part of the high fashion district. It was then that I realized I just happened to be visiting Milan at the end of Milan Fashion Week! I did not plan this at all, but it was a happy coincidence. It resulted in the city being a bit busy, but I loved people watching. I’ve never felt so poorly dressed in my life, but I loved checking out all the high fashion outfits people were wearing on the street.

The Duomo was everything I hoped for. It was a beautiful sunny day and it’s impossible not to be in awe of the intense level of detail sculpted into every inch of the massive cathedral. Even if you don’t go inside, it’s still awe-inspiring from the square. My favourite part was walking around the outer walls of the cathedral. It’s cool to walk on the roof as well and it has nice views of the city, but from an architectural perspective, I thought the walls were the most detailed.

It was also a Sunday when I visited and I realized when I entered the inside of the cathedral, pretty much exactly at 11am, that I’d arrived just in time for church. There was a procession of priests walking into the center of the cathedral and I sat in the pews for a while to watch the spectacle, even though I couldn’t understand anything since it was all in Italian. Somehow the cathedral feels even bigger from the inside, it’s hard to imagine how much stone the enormous columns are supporting.

Honestly, if I’d gone to Milan and just done the Duomo, I would have been satisfied, but it still wasn’t even lunch time yet, so I had lots of city left to explore. I spent some time walking up via Torino, which is another shopping district next to the cathedral, but much more affordable than the high fashion district, which was packed with names like Chanel, Louis Vuitton, Prada, Gucci, Versace, Hermes, Valentino, and any other high fashion name you can think of.

The other popular attraction, which is located right next to the Duomo, is the Galleria Vittoria Emanuele II, which is basically another shopping centre, but has a beautiful glass roof. This area is also well known for the Camparino, which is a staple in Milan. While the rest of Italy is known for Aperol, Milan is known for Campari, a bitter Italian liqueur. I sampled a few Aperol Spritz during my time on the Alta Via 1, and I wasn’t a huge fan, but I figured, when in Milan, you have to try the Campari Spritz.

I decided to make a meal of it and found a nice restaurant in the Galleria. This probably wasn’t the wisest choice for my wallet, but I enjoyed the experience anyways. There were long lines at all the restaurants in the Galleria, but I was traveling solo and as a result, I was able to quickly find a table. The restaurant I picked had one table that sat only one person because of some restriction with the aisle, and I was more than happy to take it! I ordered a Campari Spritz with my meal, which cost a small fortune, but I reasoned it was all part of the experience. Unfortunately, it turns out I hate Campari. Like I said, Aperol isn’t my favourite, but Campari is so much worse. It’s incredibly bitter and while I’m sure it’s an acquired taste, I disliked it so much I didn’t even finish the drink. Oh well, when in Milan…

From the Galleria, I continued walking to see the Teatro alla Scala and the Castello Sforzesco, which is an old castle located in the enormous Parco Sempione. I saved my park exploration for a little bit later in the day and walked over to the Basilica di Santa Maria delle Grazie and the Basilica di Sant’Ambrogio. If you’re familiar with Milan, you’ll know that the Basilica di Santa Maria delle Grazie is the home of The Last Supper, which is painted directly on the walls of the church.

I’m embarrassed to say that I didn’t realize The Last Supper was located in Milan until a few weeks before my trip. Once I learned, I was keen to buy tickets, only to discover I literally couldn’t. Unfortunately, viewing The Last Supper is pretty much the biggest scam in Milan. The government sells entry tickets months in advance for viewings. They’re all timed and the number of people allowed in the church at a time is limited. Tickets aren’t expensive, only ~15 euro, but because there’s so few of them, they are immediately all purchased by scalpers, whom you must pay anywhere from $150 to $300 for tickets. I’m not sure if I would have been willing to pay this much if given the chance. I did look into purchasing scalped tickets, but due to the influx of visitors for Milan Fashion Week, I literally could not find a single ticket anywhere on the internet for the one day I was in Milan.

I walked to the church anyways because I wanted to see it and thought there might be a slight chance of getting a ticket on location. There was no chance, but it was a pretty church. Sadly I couldn’t go in, so I opted to visit the Basilica di Sant’Ambrogio instead. This was a great choice as this church is free to visit and was steeped in history. It was first built in the year 387AD, and re-built in the 11th century. It’s one of the best preserved churches in Milan and it has the most disturbing crypt. Underneath the pulpit is a sarcophagus housing the skeletons of Saint Ambrose, Saint Gervasius and Saint Protasius, still perfectly visible to visitors! Saint Ambrose died in 397AD and it blows my mind that you can see his attired skeleton still resting under the church.

After my little foray into history, I walked back to Parco Sempione and on impulse, made a quick stop into the Museo Pieta Rondanini. It’s a small museum that houses the last (uncompleted) marble statue from Michelangelo in 1564. While unfinished, the statue depicts the Virgin Mary mourning over the body of Jesus. Entry to the exhibit is pretty cheap, so I think it’s worth the visit if you have the time. I was happy to soak in the art history after 2 weeks of hiking.

I finished my day with a walk through the rest of the park to see the arco della pace, before catching the train back to my accommodations. I was tempted to walk the whole way back, but after 16km, my legs were finally starting to tire. I caught the train to the airport the following morning, which concluded my time in Italy. It really was an incredible trip and I’m so glad I made the time to visit Milan before flying home. I haven’t done a lot of traveling by myself, and while I was with Kristine for the majority of my trip, it was a nice experience to spend a few days traveling solo at the end. I enjoyed doing what I wanted when I wanted and I’m keen to go back to Italy one day to see more of the country. I still haven’t been south of Venice, so one day I need to visit Rome and the Amalfi Coast. So much world to explore!

Hiking Alpe di Siusi

May 9, 2026May 1, 2026 / Maria / Leave a comment

On my second day in Ortisei, I decided to hike the Alpe di Siusi, another very popular hiking area in Val Gardena. I would say it’s the second most popular area after Seceda. I debated whether I should do either hike, since they’re both so popular, I thought they might be overrated. I did Seceda on my first day and absolutely loved it, so I decided to just stick with the popular hikes and do Alpe di Siusi on my second day.

The weather was pretty hit and miss on the day I hiked the Alpe di Siusi, so I didn’t enjoy it as much as Seceda. It’s a beautiful area, but I did find it to be a little underwhelming compared to some of the other scenery I saw on this trip. I’m sure this was just a result of hiking fatigue or the poor weather or that it Fall and the meadows were a little past their prime. It was also towards the end of my trip and I think I was just over it at that point.

The Alpe di Siusi is essentially a high altitude plateau. If you’re visiting from Ortisei, you can take the Mont Seuc gondola right out of town. Ortisei is in the valley, so you ascend to the top and then you can spend the rest of the day walking around the plateau. However, the vibe is different from Seceda. Seceda is only accessible by cable car or foot, whereas the Alpe di Siusi plateau is accessible by car if you’re coming from the Seiser Arm. So you will see cars and buses driving around while you’re hiking. There’s also tons of hotels and restaurants up there, so it feels more like a walk than a hike. It’s not uncommon to explore the area by bike if you’re coming from Seiser Arm.

But I was coming from Ortisei, so I ended up planning out a 12.5km loop around the area. I’ve shared a map of my route below. My recommendation is to plan your route before you go because it’s not intuitive where to go otherwise. There’s no obvious hiking trail and a lot of my walk was on the roads. If you don’t plan in advance, it can be a little bit confusing about where to explore.

I did a counterclockwise loop from the gondola to Saltria, stopping for lunch at Rauchutte. Again, I started my walk early in the morning to get the first gondola and there was no one around when I started hiking. It was raining when I started my walk, but the weather improved throughout the day, so starting later might have been a little more beneficial as I found the hike out of Saltria to be much more scenic than my morning walk because the sun brightened everything.

If I’m being honest, the most challenging part of this trail for me was finding somewhere to pee. There are quite a few hotels around, but my timing wasn’t great and there’s really no privacy to pee in the bushes along the trail, so plan accordingly. There were lots of horses and cows in the meadows out of Saltria, which made for a scenic afternoon.

Similar to Seceda, there is a lot of elevation gain hiding on this hike. You start from the highest point and hike all the way down to Saltria, so it was a more tiring walk on the way back to the gondola. I covered 400m of elevation gain over 12.5km (compared to 500m over 10km at Seceda), so it was still an easier trail.

While I didn’t enjoy Alpe di Siusi as much as I thought I would, I wouldn’t count this walk out. I think my experience was likely due to a combination of poor weather and fatigue. I hiked for around 4 hours, including my lunch break and then I took the gondola back down to Ortisei. There’s a big climb up to the gondola at the end of the day, so make sure you save a bit of energy for the end. Overall, it’s still a very beautiful area, but given the choice between Seceda and Alpe di Siusi, I would prioritize Seceda.

Hiking Seceda

May 2, 2026May 1, 2026 / Maria / 1 Comment

In September 2025, I spent 2.5 weeks hiking around the Dolomites in Italy. The main reason for the trip was an 8-day trek on the famous Alta Via 1 trail, but while in the region, I was keen to see as much of the highlights as possible. I hiked the Tre Cime di Lavaredo trail before I did the Alta Via 1 and then after I finished, I decided to spend a few days in the Val Gardena region. We finished our hike in Belluno, which is only ~2 hours away from Val Gardena by car, but a whole day journey by public transit, involving 5 different buses and trains.

While Cortina is directly north of Venice, Val Gardena is north of Verona, with Bolzano being the closest major train station. From there, you can bus into the valley where there are tons of attractions to explore. There are a few different towns you can stay in. I opted for Ortisei, which is the largest town along the valley. If you’re staying in a participating hotel, you can get a free bus pass for the region, which is a nice benefit.

Ortisei is very quaint and it’s a great starting point to explore a lot of the popular attractions in the area. There are dozens of cable cars connecting the towns to the mountains. In the winter, they’re used for skiing, while in the summer, you can use them to access hikes. The most popular hike in the area is Seceda, which is located at the top of the Seceda cable car in the middle of town. If you’re planning a trip to the Dolomites, chances are you’re already very familiar with Seceda. I would say Seceda is to Val Gardena what Tre Cime is to Cortina (and what Lake Louise is to Banff).

While I had amazing weather when I hiked the Alta Via 1 in late September, it started to get cold pretty much right after I finished the trail. I decided to hike Seceda on my first day in Ortisei because the weather was supposed to deteriorate later in the week. I knew it would be very busy at the top, so I got up early enough to get the first gondola. I packed my bag in advance and headed off towards the cable car, but on my way there, I noticed a fresh dusting of snow at the top of the mountain. I decided to backtrack to get my microspikes, which I had carried all the way from home. It was definitely the right decision and I’ve never felt more smug about having my microspikes than I did watching the other tourists slide around the trail!

I got unbelievably lucky with Seceda. A lot of people visit to see the rolling green hills. I did not get to experience this, but I did get to visit on the first snowfall of the year when the mountain was backed by a vibrant blue sky. It looked so beautiful, I wasn’t even a little bit sad about missing the meadows. Going early was the right call. There’s a mixture of trails that you can explore when you visit Seceda. Many people just hike up to the viewpoint and then go back, but if you have the time, I recommend planning for a loop trail. When you get off the cable car, start with the short hike up to the peak. It gives you incredible views of both the surrounding mountains and the main Seceda viewpoint. It will get busy later in the day, so do this first.

From there, continue over to the turnstiles and pay to do the extra walk along to the private viewpoint. I know these turnstiles are very controversial, but my opinion is that, as a tourist, you should just get over it. The trail is located on private farmland, so even though you’re going to be annoyed about paying a lot money for the gondola, only to pay another 5 euro to the farmers, consider it a contribution to the local economy. Sure, the government and the farmers should be working out this issue directly, but that is the point of the turnstiles – it’s a form of protest. So if you’re a visitor, just respect the farmers and pay the fee or don’t visit the viewpoint. C’est la vie.

I paid the fee and it was well worth it because it was still not very busy at the top and I had incredible views and thoroughly enjoyed my time there. From the end of the paid trail, a lot of people will just return to the gondola, but I highly recommend extending your journey. The views got better and better all day and I ended up doing a 10.5km loop trail (with 500m of elevation gain) to see more of the scenery. Just be aware, you’re starting at the top and will be hiking down, so save some energy for the return trip back up to the gondola.

Like I said, it was snowy when I visited and my microspikes helped a lot with traction. Eventually the sun warmed up the snow and it got slushy and I didn’t need the microspikes anymore, but it was really slippery at first and I was glad to have them on the downhill sections. I’ve included a map of my route above. After I did the Seceda viewpoint, I continued on to the Pieralongia hut, followed by the Regensburger-firenze hut. This was by far my favourite section of the hike. It felt like I was the only person on the trail. I didn’t stop at Pieralongia, but I look a break at Regenburger for a hot chocolate and cake.

After my snack, I continued back towards the gondola and past the Baita Troier hut. This section of trail is also quite popular as it hikes along a little ridge with fabulous views. By this point in the day it was starting to get a lot busier, but still not too bad. Once I got back to the junction with the paid trail, it was very busy and I was glad to be on my way out. I decided to take the gondola straight back down and I had lunch in town. In total, I was hiking for about 4 hours, but like I said, I did cover 500 metres in elevation gain, so it can still be a pretty strenuous hike. Since I was alone, my pace was likely faster than it would be if I hiked with a friend.

I honestly debated if I should hike Seceda at all. I thought it might be overrated since it’s so popular, but I ended up having a great time and I don’t regret going. Me and Kristine had separated by this point in the trip and I was own my own, but I still had so much fun and would absolutely return. I wasn’t there during peak season, I’m sure it’s worse in the middle of the summer, so plan accordingly. It’s a popular hike for a good reason!