Mr & Mrs Smith

Start with post-breakfast culture: admire Leonadro da Vinci’s painting of the Last Supper in the church of Santa Maria delle Grazie. Move on to the Duomo, adorned with no less than 3,500 statues and 135 spires; be sure to take the lift to the roof on clear days to admire the Alps. Flash the cash in the Rectangle of Gold, the square that houses the city’s best boutiques (Armani, Chanel, Missoni, Prada, Miu Miu, Versace and co). Spend a day at Castello Sforzesco (+39 02 8846 3700; www.milanocastello.it) at Piazza Castello, which has 12 mini-museums with art exhibitions and archives. Seek out the city’s finest coffee and cakes, with a café-and-coffee-shop crawl – should you need guidance, follow in the footsteps of Verdi and Toscanini and head to Caffe Miani (aka Zucca) at Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II (+39 02 8646 4435).

Antica Locanda di via Solferino is an old-school Italian hotel with a tempting Milanese restaurant, Solferino (+39 02 29 005748; www.ilsolferino.com), in the Brera district at 2 Via Castelfidardo, 20100 Try the zuccini flowers, spaghetti with fresh tuna, capers, anchovies and tomatoes, and the warm chocolate cake with gelato. Ibiza at 108 Corso Garibaldi (+39 02 6554801) is beloved of Beckham – try the signature dish of penne in a creamy pancetta sauce. Sample succulent saltwater fish at L’Angolo di Casa (+39 02 76 016221; www.angolodicasa.it) at 17 Via Piave. The bright and airy restaurant is decorated with splashes of lipstick-red and yellow and the food is fresh and flavoursome.

Sit in the roof garden at Corso Como 10 (+39 02 2901 3581; www.10corsocomo.com) and admire the sculptures and ceramics. This unique gallery, bookshop, boutique, café and restaurant has an extensive cocktail list, a selection of local wines and a tempting menu of nibbles and mains. Radetzky (+36 02 6572 645) at 105 Corso Garibaldi continues Maison Moschino’s fashionably understated theme, with muted grey tones and statement lighting. This is the perfect place for aperitivo and stuzzichini amid Brera’s finest.