Milan is known as the most modern and avant-garde city on the Italian peninsula, and we are all inclined to associate it mostly with its futuristic skyline and dizzying skyscrapers. Yet, the Lombard capital is also rich in vast green spaces, which are often little known.
So, if you want to take a walk in the open air, surrounded and immersed in nature, remember that Milan offers several options: the great urban parks of Milan are just waiting for you to visit them!
Starting from the most famous green lung of the Lombard capital, Parco Sempione, find out which parks to visit in Milan are not to be missed thanks to the guided tours organized by the team of Neiade Tour & Events: the beautiful season is the right opportunity to explore the nature of Lombardy!
Here are NEIADE Tour & Events’ five tours perfect for discovering all the parks to visit in Milan!
Walk through the greenery of Sempione Park
If you want to visit Simplon Park, a tour of the ancient walls of the Castello Sforzesco, which will take you back in time to the 15th century. Right after that, it’s time to indulge in a stroll through the city’s most famous green lung: discover the secrets of Sempione Park, which was once part of the ducal hunting estate, known as the Barcho. The park was designed by architect Emilio Alemagna , and one of its entrances is to the majestic Arco della Pace, a neoclassical monument that bears the signature of Luigi Cagnola.
Venture into the park with our guide who will show you some interesting places, such as the romantic Little Mermaid Bridge, Giorgio De Chirico’s Mysterious Baths , and the Civic Aquarium. Are you an art lover? If so, walk along the south side of Sempione Park and go through the gates of the Milan Triennale, just a few steps away from the Branca Tower by Gio Ponti.
The Park of the Basilicas and the Columns of San Lorenzo
You may be familiar with the Porta Ticinese neighborhood, which is around the Colonne di San Lorenzo, a place famous for being one of the landmarks of Milanese nightlife, frequented mostly by young people and known for its many cocktail bars. Around there, however, there is a green space to be discovered: we are talking about the Basiliche Park, which houses the ancient Basilica of San Lorenzo, from the early Christian period.
From the park, there is also access to the Basilica of Sant’Eustorgio, also of early Christian origin, next to the ancient complex of the Diocesan Museum of Milan. The Basilicas Park was born after World War II and today, among elms, mulberry trees and rose gardens, it is a true archaeological path in the green.
Visiting Sempione Park in Milan with a botanical tour
Are you passionate about botany? Then, you can’t miss a themed guided tour in Sempione Park, discovering its rich vegetation! During this evocative walk you will be able to admire the ruderal flora that surrounds the Castello Sforzesco: for example, you will have the opportunity to spot the caper plant, a plant typical of the Mediterranean area but that, in a curious way, grows right in the heart of Milan! Not only that: in spring you will discover a very rich and varied flowering and admire lionmouths, camellias, rhododendrons, hydrangeas, roses and azaleas. If you want to shelter in the shade, however, stroll under elms, horse chestnuts, Caucasian walnuts, beeches, cedars, red oaks, yews, and even maples! And among the pines, poplars, holm oaks and magnolias, there is no shortage of tall trees either.
Parks in Milan’s new neighborhoods: Porta Nuova and the Library of Trees
For a few years now, however, another park has been born in Milan, and what’s more, right in the middle of the skyscrapers that have revolutionized the city’s skyline. On a tour of the Porta Nuova neighborhood, you will not only discover that these architectural giants are designed with a focus on sustainability and lower environmental impact, but you will also get lost inside the Library of Trees Park, a contemporary garden that is unique throughout Italy with a wide variety of plants arranged in specially designed gardens to create alternations and checkerboards between paths and patches of green. Biblioteca degli Alberi is the green heart of Porta Nuova, a project that welcomes cultural experiences in direct contact with nature.
Artline Park in Citylife
It seems that every new neighborhood is matched by a park…. In fact, even in Citylife, Milan’s other futuristic neighborhood, between the famous Three Towers and new residential complexes designed by great international archistars, there is a large park that is also an open-air museum at the same time. If you have never visited Citylife, this is the right opportunity to also discover the Artline Park, an itinerary that winds its way through permanent public artworks created by artists now established on the scene around the world. The purpose? To spread art in the city and bring all citizens closer together, starting with the residents of the neighborhood, with a view to sharing the city’s public space.
What do you say, have you felt like exploring the green areas of the Ambrosian capital? Let yourself be intoxicated by the spring scents of the Milanese city and discover the 5 tours inside the most beautiful parks in Milan!
If you are a lover of outdoor spaces in the city and have found this content interesting, you will surely also appreciate this article designed for those who love walking in Milan this season: Milan in spring: what to see while walking around the city.
