Free / discounted activities in Milan

As some / most of you will, I guess, visit Milan as a student (or even do a whole Erasmus here), I thought it would be a good idea to make a post about things that you can do for free, or for which you can get a discount on the entry ticket in Milan with the status of student. I haven’t been to all of these places yet (I will precise which), but I definitely want to visit all of them by the end of this semester! There are many places in Milan that adapt their prices to students, and even more specifically Erasmus students. Let's have a look at it!

Free activities

Let’s start with the free activities (because everybody loves free things, right? ). Personally they are my favorite things.

One thing that is always free if you are less than 25 years old is the Museo del Novecento, on the Piazza del Duomo. You don't even need a student or Erasmus card, just to be under 25! The entrance is also free for everybody if you buy your ticket 2 hours before the museum closes, every day the museum is open. (You can find more details about the condition to get free entrance and the opening hours on the website). I really like that this museum is making such big efforts to make art accessible to everybody. There is always a moment when the access can be free for you, so you have no excuses to not go! Trust me, this museum is worth it!

The Museo del Novecento is dedicated to art during the 20th century. At the end of your visit, you also get an amazing view from a very different angle than the usual one on the Piazza del Duomo. Enjoy it, it’s free!

On the last Sunday of each month, there is a flea market taking place along the Navigli canal. You can access it for free obviously, and then it's up to you to decide if you want to spend money on something! This market is one of the first things I saw when I arrived in Milan last semester (I didn’t know there was one, I just found it randomly and I found it really nice). There were hundreds of people selling tons of vintage objects and clothes. There are also some really cool permanent shops and hidden spots along the market, selling vintage things or not, that you should check out. Navigli is a really nice place to have this kind of market, definitely one thing to do if you’re in Milan at the end of a month! I went back to this flea market more than once since I have been here, I love it every time!

Another activity that is free once in the month is the Pinacoteca di Brera. The entrance is free on the first Sunday of each month (then the other days the ticket costs €7 if you’re a EU citizen between 18 and 25, otherwise the full-price ticket is €10)! I have not been inside yet so I can’t say much about it, but from the pictures I have seen of the inside and the outside that I have been to, it looks great. Inside you will find art, mostly paintings, displayed. Here is the link to the website if you want to learn more about it.

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Another thing to do for free is to visit churches! Apart from the Duomo cathedral, the access to most of the churches in Milan is free, and there are a whole lot of them across the city! Some of the most popular ones include the church of Santa Maria delle Grazie (it is home to the famous painting "The Last Supper" by Leonardo da Vinci, but to visit this part you need to pay and book your visit months before), the basilica of Sant'Ambrogio (located right next to my university, very nice), the Church of San Maurizio, which is really big and impressive, and the basilica of San Lorenzo Maggiore, just to mention a few. There are also many other churches hidden in the city that you can see randomly when walking around in the streets, so do not hesitate to go inside and enjoy their beauty!

Discounts

Additionally to these free activities, being a student or an Erasmus in Milan gives you the opportunity to have discounts in different places.

For Erasmus students, the ticket to enter and visit the Duomo is half-price! You need to have your Erasmus card with you and will probably be asked to show it when you want to buy your ticket, so make sure you take it when you plan on visiting it! That way you can only €6 instead of €12 and you have access to the same places! Do not forget about it!

Now if you are not sure why you would want to visit this place, you should check my previous post about it by clicking here. I think it’s totally worth it and you really need to do it when you’re in Milan.

Being a student also enables you to get a reduce-priced ticket on the entrance to get inside the Fondazione Prada. They have different exhibitions about different types of art over there. I was supposed to go there last semester but couldn’t make it, it’s definitely on my list for this semester! The reduced tariff is €8 instead of €10.

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These are some of the main advantages that you can have with your student / Erasmus status on the access to some buildings and activities in the city. Having your Erasmus card also makes you eligible for many other offers such as in some restaurants of Milan, or even on travels with Flixbus or Ryanair (this might depend on the partnerships your university has)!

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