For how world famous Milan is, it’s rarely thought of as a family holiday. It’s fashion for adults, or the Duomo, the shopping, the aperitivo hour… But this is exactly why it might be worth reconsidering.
Unlike Rome or Florence, the centre is very compact and walkable. Rome and Florence are huge, and sprawling, which makes it extremely difficult in the sometimes-40-degree heat. This matters even more for small legs than generic kid-friendly marketing, not to mention Milan is slightly cooler than the other two.
Building a day around the heat
August in Milan is certainly still hot, with an average daytime high around 28°C, dropping to a comfortable 18°C or so overnight. Still, it’s cooler than Rome, Napoli and Sicily.
You want to head out early where possible. Markets and parks before 10am can be cool and quiet, with locals often preferring to head out at night, rather than early. The morning air is still cool enough for the kids to run around, and by the time the midday heat comes around, air-conditioned museums can be a safe space.
Family-style aperitivo is Milan's own invented ritual of snacks-with-a-drink, Just move this a few hours earlier than the adults-only version once the heat starts to break in the late afternoon.
Where to base it
Where you stay is important to keeping your plan in tact with tired children. Casual Eclettico Milano is an Art Nouveau building (it was reworked with a 1980s-influenced interior on Via Plinio 2) and is right next to Lima metro station. So, that’s four stops from the Duomo. That means you’re close enough so you needn’t plan too far ahead, but can instead adapt to how the children feel.
It’s a good example of how important a round-the-clock reception and an airport transfer are too, as you need this convenience with children. It's one of several hotels in the centre of Milan built around the idea of short journeys between where you're staying and where you actually want to be.
Where to let them run
Parco Sempione is Milan's first answer to a hot afternoon. It’s 40 hectares of shade that goes from the walls of the Castello Sforzesco all the way to the pink marble Arco della Pace. It’s specifically and officially recommended by the city's tourist board as somewhere to shelter from heat under mature trees.
Inside it is the Civic Aquarium, sat in a building from Milan's 1906 International Exposition. It gives younger children an indoor stop that will not get boring. The Torre Branca lift nearby gets the older kids over 100 metres up for a view of the whole city in under a minute.
The Navigli canals are the second half of the plan. You can walk them in golden hour as the crowds start to thin out (late August is when Milan itself starts to quieten) as locals take their own main holiday around Ferragosto on the 15th. The canals look decorative now, but the Naviglio Grande was under construction from the 12th century and, centuries later, carried the marble used to build the Duomo itself.
