Venice diary, entry 2 of 5 I practise the violin before I do anything else, wherever I happen to wake, and this morning I played at a window thrown open over a canal so narrow I could almost have passed…
Archives for August 2026
The Ambrosian Hours – Milan
A late-summer evening in the city that never quite welcomes you, arriving in the cool of dusk for fifteen minutes alone with The Last Supper.
Victoria’s Complete Guide to Milan
Milan does not flirt. Other Italian cities lean in with their beauty, all golden light and postcard views, and you fall for them before you have unpacked. Milan makes you work a little, and I have come to love it…
The Best Things to Do in Milan
I have arrived in Milan more times than I can count, usually off a train from somewhere else, and for years I made the mistake of treating it as a place to change platforms rather than a place to stay….
Where to Stay in Milan: My Neighbourhood Guide
I have stayed in Milan in every season and in nearly every mood the city offers, from a frantic Fashion Week when a room felt like a small miracle to a slow, grey January when I had the Navigli towpaths…
Where to Eat in Milan: From Risotto to Aperitivo
Milan has a reputation for being all business and no soul, and I have never once found that to be true at the table. This is a city that turns saffron into gold, that breads a veal chop until it…
How to Get to Milan (and Around Once You Arrive)
I have arrived in Milan more ways than I can count: bleary off a long-haul into Malpensa, breezing in on the M4 from Linate with an hour to spare before dinner, and rolling under the great iron canopy of Centrale…
The Best Time to Visit Milan: A Month-by-Month Guide
I have arrived in Milan in every kind of weather. In a damp February when the fog sat low over the Duomo and my breath hung in the air outside a cafe on Via Montenapoleone. In a blazing July when…
The Best Photo Spots in Milan
I have photographed Milan in every season, and I still arrive with a full memory card and a longer list than I can finish. This is a city that rewards people who look up, look down at the mosaic beneath…
The Best Day Trips from Milan
I have always thought Milan is at its most generous not in what it holds, but in what it puts within reach. Give me a morning, a coffee taken standing at the bar, and a ticket bought from a machine…
The Perfect Milan Itinerary: 2 to 3 Days
I have arrived in Milan by train more times than I can count, and the city always greets me the same way: a rush of grey stone, a flash of gold, and the smell of espresso pulled too fast. People…
How to See The Last Supper in Milan
I have stood in front of a great many paintings in my life, and very few have made me hold my breath the way Leonardo’s Last Supper did. Fifteen minutes is all you are given, and I spent the first…
