Do you love shopping, but are you tired of constantly visiting the same old boutiques and shopping centres back home? If you’re looking for a destination abroad – even just for a quick getaway or a weekend – that’s ideal for a shopping trip, you’d be hard-pressed to find a better city than Milan in Italy, the city of fashion, luxury and the latest trends.

What’s more, Milan is easily accessible with very cheap low-cost flights.

Compare flight prices to Milan

Before heading to Milan for a shopping trip, be sure to check out our tips on the cheapest and best accommodation in Milan.

Luxury brands, showrooms and boutiques

Head out to discover the very best and latest that the world of fashion has to offer. The centre of Milan is literally brimming with boutiques and shops selling clothes, jewellery, watches and other fashion accessories. There are few places in the world where you’ll find a greater concentration of shops than in Milan. After all, many global brands were born right here.

Be prepared: the cheapest items tend to start at several hundred euros, whilst the most expensive can reach tens of thousands of euros.

The most famous district, with hundreds of shops from brands such as Gucci, Prada, Dolce & Gabbana, Zara, Louis Vuitton and others is undoubtedlythe Quadrilatero d’Oro della Moda– also known as the Golden Quadrilateral of Fashion– with its famous shopping streets: Via Montenapoleone, Via Manzoni, Via Pietro Verri and Corso Venezia. You mustn’t miss the huge Armani megastore on Via Alessandro Manzoni, which is one of the best in Milan.

Equally famous isthe Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II,a luxury shopping arcade featuring flagship stores for Prada, Versace and Louis Vuitton. As well as being a shopping destination, this arcade is also one of Milan’s most famous architectural gems.

The 10 best hotels in Milan

Mid-range shops

If you’re not looking to spend thousands, Milan is still the place for you. Hundreds, perhaps thousands, of shops offering top-class fashion at affordable prices – starting from just tens of euros – can be found all over the city. However, there are areas that are simply made for shopping:

• Corso Buenos Aires– a long avenue north of the Golden Quadrilateral of Fashion, combining luxury and high-street shops in both standalone outlets and entire department stores
• Rinascente– a huge department store right on Piazza del Duomo, next to the Vittorio Emanuele II Gallery, with hundreds of shops
• Corso Como – a shorter boulevard featuring the 10 Corso Como department store with its popular discount ‘outlet’ sections

Outlets around Milan

In the wider area around Milan, you’ll find three outlet villages where you can buy discounted designer goods; here you can usually find previous years’ collections with discounts of over 70 per cent.

• Serravalle Design Outlet – 97 km from Milan; special buses run for 20 eur (return), see online ticket booking
• Vicolungo Outlet – 63 km from Milan; free shuttle buses run from both Milan and Turin at weekends and for 14 eur on weekdays; see details
• Foxtown Mendrisio– 61 km from Milan in Mendrisio, Switzerland (no passport required, as Switzerland is part of the Schengen Area), special buses for 20 eur / return, see online ticket booking; alternatively, you can take a direct train from Milan to Mendrisio, from where it’s a 10-minute walk to the outlet centre; a return ticket costs around 12 eur and you can find connections via the Swiss Federal Railways website, sbb.ch, for example.