Sunday
11) 10 a.m. Beans and vines
Fuel up for the day at Orsonero Coffee, a corner caffeteria that opened in 2016, serving velvety cappuccini made with beans from Gardelli, a top Italian roastery. Then proceed to La Vigna di Leonardo, a new museum across from Santa Maria delle Grazie (home of “The Last Supper”) that reveals Leonardo da Vinci’s interest in viticulture. Opened in 2015, the museum invites visitors into Casa Atellani, a residential palazzo dating to the 15th century that was carefully restored by the architect Piero Portaluppi. Audio tours begin in a courtyard with faded 16th-century frescos, and continue through ornate halls into a grassy garden, where Malvasia vines have been replanted on a plot that was once part of da Vinci’s own vineyard, a gift from his patron the Duke of Milan in 1498. Admission, €10.
12) 1 p.m. Market forces
Sunday is market day for vintage and antique hunters, and the best place to unearth treasures is East Market, where hundreds of collectors, designers, artists and artisans regularly gather in a former aeronautics factory. Meet vendors devoted to vinyl, video games, vintage clothes, Italian antiques, modern art and even rare Lego sets. A bar, D.J. and food stalls sustain the energy all afternoon. Dates vary, so check the schedule in advance; on off weekends, the East Market Shop, which opened in November, offers an edited selection from the market’s stalls.
Lodging
Around the corner from the Duomo, Room Mate Giulia is an 85-room hotel that opened in 2016 with playful interiors by the Spanish architect Patricia Urquiola. The design-conscious property offers a cheerful mix of colors and patterns, from the lobby lined with local artworks to rooms outfitted with furniture from Cassina (Via Silvio Pellico 4; room-matehotels.com/giulia; doubles from about €250).
Beside the city’s fashion district, the Senato Hotel is an elegant 43-room boutique property that opened in 2015 in a neoclassical palazzo that was formerly a private family residence. The architect Alessandro Bianchi designed the chic black-and-white interiors, which feature custom furnishings, Carrara-marble bathrooms and gilded ginkgo-leaf light fixtures from the Milanese artisan studio Bottega Gadda (Via Senato 22; senatohotelmilano.it; from €221).
The lively Navigli neighborhood is a good choice for apartment rentals, which start around $70 on Airbnb. And top marks also go to Ostello Bello, a 50-bed hostel near Cinque Vie with some private rooms, lots of free food and social activities (Via Medici 4; ostellobello.com; from about €50).