Christmas 2012 in Milan
 

My wife and I will be travelling to Europe on Dec.15-30 to celebrate our 10th anniversary and we will spend Christmas, Dec. 24-26 in Milan. Please advise on what to do and where to dine during this holiday season as many places and restaurants might close/close early. Thanks in advance.

Perhaps you could contact your hotel to see what restaurants might be open.

You could try e-mailing Milan's tourism website and asking.

http://www.turismo.milano.it/wps/por...rvizi/contatti

I haven't been to Milan for Christmas but have spent Christmas and New Year's in Rome and had a wonderful time. I found the crowds were mostly families. A very different feel than tourists rushing to check off the required sights.

Definitely look into plans for dinner for Christmas Day. I made reservations so we wouldn't end up having Chinese or eating in our room! Otherwise, everything was open for the most part and we had a wonderful time.

Christmas Eve dinner in Italy is often a feast known as the "The Seven Fishes". It is not a cheap meal, but if you would like to participate, ask your hotel to help you recommend a restaurant serving it. But you will find other restaurants and bars open Christmas eve, inclluding pizzerie, if you were prefer something lighter on the wallet. You can probably make your dinner out of the buffet offerings at the Bar Victoria. Later in the evening, many churches will have a Midnight Mass with singing, and in places like the Duomo, it can be quite spectacular.

Italians generally prefer to have a big Christmas lunch rather than dinner, and often they like to meet at a favorite fancy restaurant to do that. However, that usually means a "special menu" of fixed courses at a higher than normal price. Again, it can be quite enjoyable to have such a lunch, but if you are trying to avoid high prices, you need to make sure your hotel understands you hope to find someplace more modest.

Milan is an international city, and some of its so-called ethnic foods can be quite good -- and you'll find plenty of Milanese singles and sophisticates joining you at sushi restaurants.

For more things to do and suggestions, keep checking the website Hello Milano or Ciao Milano right up to the time you leave for special events.

Do dress warmly.

Today Milan is white ,all covered with snow


http://milano.repubblica.it/cronaca/...ri-48717243/1/

From Milan you can reach skiing locations as well. You can take a train to Colico, from Colico to Chiavenna and than you can take a bus to Madesimo, or you can take a train to Sondrio and from there you can go by bus to skiing sites such as Lago Palu in the Valmalenco mountains in northern Lombardy.
From Milan you can also take day trips to Turin,
Bergamo,Verona, Brescia, all of which I would recommend.
In Milan there are some gorgeous sights ranging from the Duomo to the Galleria to the Sforzesco castle,but -apart from that- it's very much a business city so you may consider spend a day in one of the cities I've mentioned above or up in the mountains around Sondrio northern than lake Como