Giardini Indro Montanelli: Milan's Oldest Public Park, 15 Minutes from Our B&B
Milan's first public park, laid out in 1784 when the idea of a garden open to everybody was still novel. The Giardini Pubblici Indro Montanelli cover seventeen hectares between Porta Venezia and the Quadrilatero, and hold the natural history museum and the planetarium. From Taylor's Love Solferino B&B it is an easy walk.
Giardini Pubblici Indro Montanelli, Milan. Photo: Leonhard Lenz, Wikimedia Commons, CC0.
Getting There from Our B&B
On foot: approximately 1.2 km, about 15 minutes from Via Solferino 56, east along Via Turati.
By metro: Turati (M3) is 800 metres from the B&B and one stop from Repubblica, at the park's northern corner. Palestro (M1) sits on the southern edge.
An Enlightenment Idea
The gardens were created under Austrian rule, when Milan was absorbing Enlightenment thinking about cities. Giuseppe Piermarini – the architect of La Scala and Palazzo Reale – laid them out in formal French style on land taken from two convents.
In the nineteenth century they were redesigned in the English manner, with winding paths, artificial hills and irregular groups of trees, which is broadly what you see today.
They were renamed in 2002 after the journalist Indro Montanelli, who was shot in the legs by the Red Brigades near this park in 1977 and survived.
What Is Inside
- Museo Civico di Storia Naturale – the natural history museum, founded in 1838, with dinosaur skeletons and old-fashioned dioramas. Excellent with children.
- Planetario Ulrico Hoepli – the largest planetarium in Italy, given to the city by the publisher Hoepli in 1930.
- Villa Reale and Galleria d'Arte Moderna – on the southern edge, a neoclassical villa where Napoleon once stayed, now holding nineteenth-century Italian art. The villa garden is a quiet secret.
- PAC – Padiglione d'Arte Contemporanea – contemporary exhibitions, beside the Villa Reale.
- The playgrounds and the old carousel – the reason most Milanese families come.
Practical Information
- Park: free, open from early morning until sunset.
- Natural History Museum: Tuesday to Sunday, roughly 09:00 to 17:30; around 5 euro.
- Planetarium: shows at set times, mostly in Italian; check the programme.
- Galleria d'Arte Moderna: Tuesday to Sunday, around 5 euro.
- Best time to visit: a weekday morning for quiet, or Sunday afternoon to see Milanese family life at its most relaxed.
Combine It With
The park sits between the Quadrilatero della Moda and Porta Venezia, and Villa Necchi Campiglio is five minutes from its southern gate. A good route: Quadrilatero, Villa Necchi, then the gardens, then back to Brera.
Why Staying in Brera Makes the Difference
Taylor's Love Solferino B&B is at Via Solferino 56 in Zone 1, the historic centre, between Brera, Moscova and Corso Garibaldi. A park is only useful if it is close enough to visit without planning – from here it is fifteen minutes on foot.
For travellers who prefer a short stay apartment in Milan centre to a hotel, the B&B offers free self check-in with a smart lock. Porta Garibaldi FS, 700 metres away, connects directly to Malpensa Airport with the Malpensa Express.