Designer sightseeing and modern art in medieval alleys: In the boutique hotels in central Milan, this is not a contradiction. Milan is versatile: the elegant city of fine arts and fashion is the symbol of Italian style and avant-garde design. Anyone strolling through Milan’s alleys, shopping streets and squares easily falls for the city’s charm.

Where to stay in boutique hotels in Milan’s city centre: The most beautiful districts at a glance

Brera: trendy district with a penchant for art

In the trendy district of Brera everything revolves around art. The boutique hotels in Brera are located in the centre of Milan north of the cathedral. There are no magnificent palaces or castles here, but instead beautifully preserved old townhouses. Artists and intellectuals who like to have a good time live here. In the evenings, the trendy bars of Brera turn into a popular meeting point for the scene. The small townhouses stand along narrow, pretty alleys. They are decorated with green-painted shutters and lushly planted balconies with wrought-iron grilles. Some of the plants hang down a metre or romantic ivy vines climb up the walls of the houses. During a walk through beautiful Brera, one strolls past cosy, small corner cafés and the quaint shops of up-and-coming designers, photographers and artists. In front of them, there are tables and displays on the already narrow streets. If you’re looking for shrill sunglasses, but also trendy handbags, you’re sure to find them. In addition, Brera is home to numerous ice cream parlours, flower shops, art supplies shops, romantic restaurants and art galleries.

Quadrilatero & San Babila: designer sightseeing & boutique shopping

Not without reason Milan is called the capital of fashion. Beautiful clothes and casual style are omnipresent here. But nowhere is it as concentrated as in Quadrilatero. If you are travelling along Via Monte Napoleone or Via della Spiga, you will find a string of stores and boutiques from top designers and exquisite jewellers. Whether Valentino, Cartier, Versace, Chanel or Prada, no one staying in a boutique hotel in the centre of Milan can avoid a shopping trip and window-shopping in the elegant streets of Quadrilatero d’Oro. But in San Babila, east of the Cathedral, along Corso Europa, Corso Vittorio Emanuele II and Corso Giacomo Matteotti, you can also find more affordable fashion. International chains such as Abercrombie & Fitch, Gap and H&M have set up their flagship stores on the shopping mile in the shadow of the cathedral.