Upon Arrival: Milan

However exciting it may be to have reached your destination, the first day of a trip can be a blur. Long flights are tiring, and hotels don’t always have rooms ready for check-in before mid-afternoon. Few travelers care to leap into their trip bleary-eyed, embarking on a full-day excursion, nor do they want to waste the day completely. In the spirit of finding a happy medium, we have outlined an ideal arrival day in Milan, based on Indagare’s favorite hotels in the city’s historic center (including the Bulgari, Four Seasons, Armani, Grand Hotel Et De Milan and the Mandarin Milan).

• Late Breakfast: Snag a table on the Bulgari Hotel’s idyllic garden terrace (the space will transform later in the day when it fills with a fashionable crowd for pre-dinner aperitivos).
• Restore: Stroll through Sempione Park’s lovely green space.
• Perfect Lunch: Enjoy a casual lunch surrounded by locals on Il Bacaro del Sambuco’s al fresco terrace.
• Culture Moment: Walk through Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, the neoclassical glass-enclosed arcade, to the Duomo, one of the largest cathedrals in the world.
• Shop Around: Stroll through Brera, a district just north of the historical center and home to some of the city’s finest art galleries, jewelers, antique shops and clothing stores. Alternatively, dive head first into shopping at the uber-chic lifestyle boutique 10 Corso Como.
• Caffeinate: Milan’s classic café is Camparino, which King Umberto declared to serve city’s best coffee.
• Lovely Stroll: Window shop in the Quadrilatero d’Oro fashion district, making sure not to miss Via della Spiga, Via Manzoni, Via Sant’Andrea and Via Montenapoleone, the streets home to many designer’s flagship stores.