Are you ready for the big step?

Suppose you have chosen Milan for your new university or career path. In that case, you should know that you will live in a constantly moving city characterized by very different neighbourhoods with different colours, scents and styles.

Milan is many things, certainly the Italian capital of Italian fashion and finance, the city par excellence of International design, the city par excellence of the "aperitivo".

Here are some suggestions to help you figure out which areas are most congenial for you!

The best neighbourhoods for you are those closest to the universities or your workplace, but if prices "curb" your enthusiasm, don't forget that Milan's public transportation works almost perfectly and allows you to move quickly from one part of the city to another.

So let's not waste time; buckle up and discover this city and its most representative neighbourhoods where you can live your Milanese experience.

Porta Romana

The Porta Romana neighbourhood is located southeast of downtown Milan. It takes its name from the Porta Romana arch, the most crucial gateway to Milan, from which the road to ancient Rome departed.

The Porta Romana is the beating heart of life for young students and workers who work here, thanks mainly to the presence of the prestigious Bocconi University.

The Bocconi University Campus's extraordinary modern architecture and young student populations make Porta Romana a  lively and markedly global neighbourhood.

It is no coincidence that English is the most spoken language among all the five continents students who jog in Ravizza Park daily.

This neighbourhood is also one of the city's best "food districts" with a very high concentration of wine bars, regional trattorias and ethnic restaurants and a lively weekly market. But in Porta Romana, you can still feel the flavour of "Old Milan" while tasting a coffee in one of the historic bars or visiting places and monuments steeped in Milanese history.

Porta Romana is also one of the most essential European laboratories for contemporary visual arts thanks to "Fondazione Prada" a unique institution in the city, established in 1993, with exhibitions and initiatives dedicated to international contemporary art.

Milan is looking to the future. In this perspective, Porta Romana will be a central hub during the "Milan-Cortina" Winter Olympics in 2026, thanks to the "Parco Romana" Project that will host the Olympic Village. This ambitious project will also unite the "Prada Foundation" with Porta Romana through a vast park.

And when daily stress takes over, let yourself be "pampered" in the famous in-town spa of QC Terme Milano" or in the nearby Bagni Misteriosi.

Not te be missed

Dep Art Gallery

It is a modern and contemporary art gallery founded in 2006 by Antonio Addamiano. It is an elegant space of 260 square meters, structured on two levels where it emerges. Hence, the dynamism of the exhibition spaces involving both Italian and foreign artists with a focus addressed to the Sixties and Seventies.
Address: Via Comelico, 40.

Gardens of the Rotonda della Besana

The Rotonda Della Besana, with its small inner garden, is not simply a green oasis but a historic late Baroque monument with a long history. The Rotonda consists of an arcade with the Church of St. Michael in the centre, now deconsecrated. The place was a cemetery, a lazaret, barracks, and a barn until, in 1939, the City of Milan used it as a public green space. It later became the home of MUBA, the Children's Museum of Milan.

Also, visit Rotonda Bistrò, a splendid cocktail bar surrounded by greenery with a portico that makes it an ideal location where the Milanese love to dive in and sip a good aperitif.
Address: Via Enrico Besana, 12

Open by DoveVivo

A historic coworking and events space, Open by DoveVivo reopens its doors at the end of 2022, completely renovated and redesigned by our team of architects. Open to the whole city, Open has versatile and welcoming spaces with meeting rooms, desks, phone booths, a magnificent terrace and a bistro.

Address: Monte Nero Avenue, 6

Porta Venezia

Talking about Porta Venezia district, it is difficult to choose only one word to represent it best: flamboyant, bourgeois, cultured, multi-ethnic, fluid, queer, vegan, definitely 'inclusive'. Walking through its streets, you can feel this atmosphere and the mix between ethnic restaurants, beautiful Milanese buildings, gay-friendly bars and hundreds of shops.

Among the top forty coolest neighbourhoods in the world

The atmosphere, the culture, the small bookshops, and the large bar terraces that welcome customers during aperitifs at sunset contribute to creating the “community spirit” that characterises the neighbourhood. So it is no coincidence that, at the height of the pandemic, in 2020, the British magazine "Time Out" nominated Porta Venezia in the top forty most remarkable areas worldwide.

The Habesha community from the Horn of Africa in Porta Venezia

Here lives a rich and energetic “Habesha” community from the Horn of Africa, the Eritrean and Ethiopian community that settled in Milan in the first half of the 1970s. The best evidence of this community in the city is “Love”, a small club run by an Ethiopian family where hip-hop music is played and danced to.

Porta Venezia LGBTQ+ hub of the city

The Rainbow District welcomes you with a giant rainbow flag covering the tub's walls. Porta Venezia is the cultural and artistic reference point for Milan's LGBTQ+ community. In June, the area hosts the month of Pride, with a series of events and meetings to celebrate homosexual pride.

Among the most iconic venues are the historic Mono bar or the very popular Leccomilano, famous for its aperitifs or the Memà Café, where you can sample cocktails and food with Sicilian flavours.

The neighbourhood's architectural excellence in the city's Art Nouveau heart

Porta Venezia is the “Belle Epoque”district par excellence, and here you can find beautiful buildings and houses from the early 20th century.

Some examples are Casa Galimberti and Casa Guazzoni, with their façades covered in tiles depicting male and female figures in a triumph of branches. A hidden gem is The Albergo Diurno Venezia, an underground ancient and classy day spa with fine furniture, mosaics, statues and fountains.

Finally, a mention must go to the famous Villa Necchi Campiglio-Bene FAI, a fantastic villa immersed in a large garden with a swimming pool and tennis court in the heart of Milan.

Not to be missed

Bar Basso

The famous cocktail Negroni Sbagliato was born here in 1960 by mistake!
To be tried!
Address: Via Plinio, 39

The Indro Montanelli Gardens

This green area is trendy for sports, relaxation and picnics. Dedicated to the famous journalist Indro Montanelli, who loved to spend his free time in this quiet place, the garden hosts the Civic Museum of Natural History and the Ulrico Hoepli Civic Planetarium.
Address: Via Palestro