An intimate 19th-century palazzo in Milan’s fashion district, Crossing Manzoni cuts a voguish dash steps from the Duomo and designer Via Monte Napoleone boutiques.
Planes
Milan’s Malpensa Airport is around an hour from the hotel; Linate is closer and can be reached in 30 minutes. A one-way transfer costs €150 from Malpensa and €90 from Linate.
Trains
Milano Centrale Railway Station, a century-old architectural gem sporting Liberty and art deco flourishes and dozens of eye-popping sculptures, lies two miles from Crossing Manzoni, for high-speed connections to Malpensa Airport, as well as Naples, Rome, Venice and beyond.
Automobiles
Driving in Milan can be intimidating for all but the most confident of drivers and parking (300 metres from the hotel) comes at a premium. The compact and eminently walkable city centre means there’s little need for your own set of wheels anyway. And, in the event you do get footsore, it costs a mere €2.20 for 90 minutes’ unlimited use of the reliable ATM public-transport system (city buses, trains and trams).
Worth getting out of bed for
You don’t have to stray far from Crossing Manzoni before being suddenly, splendidly immersed in Milan’s intoxicating blend of history, art, culture, and (of course) fashion. Exit onto the cute little piazza at the end of Via Morone, where a highly decorative Renaissance Revival façade conceals the former home of one Alessandro Manzoni, now the Casa Manzoni museum. Step inside for a journey through the life of the celebrated Milanese novelist and poet, best remembered for his 1827 novel The Betrothed. Highlights include the study in which it was written, artworks inspired by the novel’s characters and landscapes, and a series of portraits and bronzes depicting the man himself.
Sandwiched between the quadrilatero della moda and mediaeval Sforzesco Castle, the elegant streets of nearby Brera are just made for aimless meandering. It’s here you’ll find the Pinacoteca di Brera gallery with its centuries-spanning collection of Italian European art, including masterpieces by such little-known daubers as Raphael, Rembrandt, Rubens, Caravaggio, and El Greco. Pause to admire the Astronomical Observatory in the monumental Palazzo Brera and to goggle at the astronomical price tags on one-off garments and jewellery pieces by up-and-coming designers in the boutiques that line the cobbled lanes.
Such credit card-melting couture reaches its apex along Via Monte Napoleone, aka the most expensive street in Europe. From Valentino to Versace and Moschino to Missoni, here’s where you can give yourself a big-brand designer treat. Gucci loafers and Dior handbag duly secured, confess your capitalist sins beneath the soaring serrated spires of Milan’s central duomo, the extraordinary Renaissance-Gothic confection from which all major Milan thoroughfares radiate. Follow one of these (Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II) to Teatro alla Scala – Milan’s storied opera house – for soul-nourishing performances of Madama Butterfly, Turandot, Aida and other timeless Italian classics, many of which received their premieres here.
Local restaurants
Bouecc has been entertaining the great and good of Italian high (and low) society since 1696, so it's fair to say it has something of a pedigree. Setting foot inside is like time travelling back to the late 19th century – all vaulted ceilings, antique chandeliers, crisp linen drapery, polished silver cutlery and gleaming crystal glasses. Milanese classics like risotto, spaghetti with clams, and veal osso bucco have stood the test of time here and sweet-toothed regulars cock finely tuned ears to the approaching squeak of the old-school dessert trolley. Meanwhile even the most jaded of oenophiles can’t fail to be wowed by the extensive list of fine Italian wines from Lombardy, Piedmont, Tuscany, the Veneto and beyond.
The clue’s in the name at buzzy Langosteria Café on Galleria del Corso near the Duomo. But there’s nothing fishy about this clam-orous address, where carefully selected seafood from Milan’s morning market is conjured into the kinds of taste sensations that will have you carping on to your friends about king crab, spicy langoustine tagliatelle and shellfish orecchiette for weeks to come.
Local cafés
You can’t walk more than a few yards in Milan without being accosted by a delightful pasticceria window display or six. Resistance in the face of such heaven-sent baked goods is futile, and you’ll find some of the finest fruit fancies, fluffy panettone and crunchy cannoli at old-school Milan baking stalwarts like Cova and Marchesi. With a combined age of more than 400 years, these virtuoso sugar-spinners boast product ranges that would make Willy Wonka blush. Fabulous foil-enrobed gianduiotti chocolates, sugared almonds and jelly candies make for great souvenir gifts but, let’s be honest, are unlikely to survive the flight home.
Local bars
It’s a truth universally acknowledged that you’re never more than a Milano salami’s length from your next aperol spritz or negroni sbagliato here in Italy’s fashion (and aperitivo) capital. Keep it classy at the Mandarin Oriental’s Mandarin Garden bar, an eye-popping vision of monochrome-print walls, crushed-velvet chairs, polished marble tables and festoons of lush green foliage, with a cocktail list that circumnavigates the globe, Phileas Fogg style. Try the Calcutta-inspired Kioumi with chai masala-infused rye whiskey and galangal tincture. Or go west for the showstopping Broadway cocktail: apple juice loaded with Calvados and Tío Pepe.
Nearby Camparino first popularised ice-cold Campari and soda as Italy’s aperitivo of choice in the early 20th century. Over 100 years later not much has changed here, where checkerboard floors and mixologists clad in pristine white blazers and black bow ties provide an elegant backdrop to vibrant red glasses of the good stuff.
