The city is the country's economic engine room, home to business centre and Italy's stock market. This stylish city is also the world's design capital and rivals Paris as a leading fashion centre. Lake Como, Lake Orta, and Lake Maggiore together make up the Lake district near the Swiss border. Small interesting towns huddle around the lake.

The top fashion houses in Milan have VIP suites for celebrity guests. In the main Dolce & Gabbana store, the fear of undressing in front of the hoi polloi is banished by visions of leopard-print curtains and gilt chairs. Dolce & Gabbana have their signature cafe on Corso Venezia, with Gucci in the Galleria.

Milan is Italy's clubbing capital, and there is plenty to do at night. Corso Como is central Milan's busiest street after dark, and has lots of bars. The Navigli canal quarter is more boisterous and alternative, but the restaurants are just as diverse, as are the canal-side summer music venues. The night-spots multiply before your very eyes, and you really can find them in every corner and district of the city. In spite of that, there is no doubt that areas like Navifli and Brera remain the established destinations for going out in the evenings.

The church of Santa Maria delle Grazie is one of the most famous in the world. It was constructed as a Gothic church, it was redesigned once Milan fell to the French leaving it today as an odd combination of styles. There are Gothic vaults but they are illuminated by a dome that was later built on the side of the church. One of the reasons this church is so popular with tourists is because it hosts one of the most famous paintings in the world, Da Vinci's Last Supper.

The Duomo, is Milan's cathedral, and is one of the largest churches in the world, is a surprisingly elegant mass of marble boasting 3400 statues and 135 spires. Commissioned in 1386, by Gian Galeazzo Visconti, the Duomo was not finished until the early 1800s. The building began life as a Gothic cathedral, but over the centuries the designs went through several modifications, and the finished Duomo is a strange mixture of styles.