In the last several years, Milan has established a local version of the Aperitivo or Happy Hour. Italians drink very moderately and "happy hour" is not a drinking, but a social event.
Roughly from 7PM to 9PM, many bars offer drinks and cocktails at a fixed price (€5-8 each), accompanied by free all-you-can-eat buffets with snacks, pastas, and many other small appetizers. But be careful not to confuse "aperitivo" with "free dinner". It's a snack to be enjoyed with a drink. Italians will immediately see you as a buffoon- and it's seen as tacky to fill up on finger food for dinner, although it's common to spot them doing so.
A great place to go is the Straf Hotel near the Duomo. A whole lot of these places can be found in the area near the Colonne di san Lorenzo and Corso di porta Ticinese, or close by in the Navigli area (subway: MM2 Porta Genova Station). You can also take the #3 tram to "Ventiquattro" stop. From Porta Ticinese (the large archway), head west into the canal area of Navigli. There are great restaurants for aperitivo in this area, including:
La Ringhiera: Ripa di Porta Ticinese, 5
Slice: Via Cardinale Ascanio Sforza, 9
Mas: Ripa di Porta Ticinese, 11
Another great area for aperitivo, not far from Duomo, is Corso Buenos Aires.
Around this area you can find cool cocktail bars like:
b:free cocktail bar: Via Lecco, 21 (close to Porta Venezia metro stop)
Very usefull for tourists that want to taste the tipycal italian cuisine, is the only guide Eat-Mi available on www.eatmi.it
The Most Frequently Asked Travel Questions about Milan
Where To Stay & Best Hotels in Milan - updated May 2024
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Milan Travel Guide from Wikitravel. Many thanks to all Wikitravel contributors. Text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0, images are available under various licenses, see each image for details.
