Milan - you must have seen these five sights

In competition with Rome, Venice and Florence, Milan often gets the short end of the stick for travelers to Italy. Yet Italy's second largest city has much more to offer than just a world-famous cathedral and an equally famous opera house. There is plenty of history, art, culture and architecture to discover in Milan. And you can do some excellent shopping in Italy's fashion and design capital anyway.

The cathedral is the highlight of a trip to Milan. With its imposing white marble façade, Milan Cathedral is without doubt one of the most beautiful churches in the world. The 158-metre-long, 93-metre-wide and 109-metre-high church is also the third largest church in the world after St. Peter's Basilica in Rome and Seville Cathedral.

Built in the 14th and 15th centuries, the cathedral is the most important Gothic building in Italy. This makes the cathedral an exception among Italy's churches, most of which were built in the Renaissance or Baroque style. In addition to a visit from the outside, you should definitely take a look inside the historically interesting and richly decorated cathedral.

Alongside the cathedral, the Castello Sforzesco is Milan's second main attraction. The mighty fortress is not only impressive from an architectural point of view, but also from a historical one. The castle tells the story of Milan's history like no other building in the city.

Today, Castello Sforceszo is home to a number of museums and collections, including an archaeological museum, a picture gallery, a museum of prints and drawings, a collection of sculptures and furniture, a museum of arts and crafts and a collection of musical instruments.

The opera house commonly referred to as "La Scala" is the best-known and most important opera house in the world alongside the Vienna State Opera and the New York Met. La Scala seats around 2,000 spectators. When traveling to Milan, you should definitely try to get tickets for one of the grandiose performances.

If you can't, you can take a guided tour of La Scala or learn about the history of the legendary opera house in its own museum.

Milan is one of the cities in Europe where you can go shopping. Especially when it comes to fashion and design, hardly any other city can hold a candle to the northern Italian metropolis when it comes to shopping.

The shopping highlight of Milan is undoubtedly a stroll through the Viktor Emanuel Passage. Not only does it have a very prominent location between Milan Cathedral and the Teatro alla Scala, but with its beautiful façade and lavish interior decoration, it is also one of the most architecturally beautiful shopping arcades in the world.

In the Viktor Emanuel Passage, you can not only spend your travel budget in numerous upmarket stores, but also enjoy a bite to eat and a drink in one of the many cafés and restaurants.

Milan is the fashion capital of the world alongside Paris and New York. World-famous fashion brands such as Armani, Dolce e Gabbana, Prada, Valentino and Versace have their headquarters here. Of course, all of these and many other famous fashion houses have boutiques and flaship stores in Milan.

Milan's Eldorado for fashion enthusiasts is the so-called "Quadrilatero della moda" ("Quadrangle of Fashion"). Quadrilateral because it looks like a square on the map. Within the Quadrilatero della moda, it's easy to spend your money on the latest creations from Italian and international fashion houses. If your travel budget is already exhausted, you can also sit down in one of the many chic cafés and watch the hustle and bustle on the streets and in the stores.