How can you best spend a rainy day in Milan? There are so many options! 

One of my personal favorites is to visit Milan’s covered shopping center La Galleria, between the Duomo and Piazza Scala.

View from the Marchesi café over Milan’s Galleria

Here are the very ingredients for enjoying the city even when it’s pouring: fun people-watching, comfortable seating and a snack or aperitivo worthy of the name, at Pasticceria Marchesi above the Prada store. 

Waiting for your order at Marchesi

The experience is not cheap, but the pleasure of an hour in a comfortable, unhurried and beautifully-appointed Italian cafè overlooking the shoppers below, is worth it! You’ll discover what the 19th century shopping experience must have been for the well-heeled Milanesi of that era.

Marchesi dessert display cabinet

The desserts on display at Marchesi are nothing short of perfection, and believe it or not… they taste as good as they look!

This outstanding pastry shop was opened in 1842 by the Marchesi family and has been a beacon of confectionery excellence in the city ever since. 

Next time you are in Milan, don’t miss it! Let me know when you go, so I can meet you there.