Tours and Tickets to Experience Brera

There are plenty of ways to experience Brera. Looking at ratings and reviews previously given by customers, these are the best tours available right now:

• Milan's Hidden Gems: Unique Bike Tour 

• Highlights and Hidden Gems of Milan Bike Tour

• Delicious: Milan's Favorite Food Tour

• Milan Sights by Segway Small Group Tour

• Private Milan Food Walking Tour of Brera

Brera is a central Milan neighborhood, and it's free to explore. However, if you want to hear its history, or have help navigating its streets, a guided tour is the best option. Expect to pay from €3 for self-guided audio tours, or from €35 for Brera walking or bike tours.

Long considered Milan’s art neighborhood, Brera is home to the Brera Art Gallery (Pinacoteca di Brera) and the unsung Santa Maria del Carmine church, which is bedecked with statues and frescoes. Art aside, Brera seems both bourgeois and bohemian, with both historic shops and independent boutiques clustered along its cobbled streets.

If you’re already sightseeing centrally around Milan Duomo, then Brera is easy to reach on foot. Otherwise, take the metro to Lanza, which puts you within the neighborhood’s western reaches. Another option is to take tram line #4 to Cairoli M1, and walk a couple of blocks east.

For many visitors, Brera’s top attraction is the Brera Art Gallery, home to Raphael’s masterpiece “The Marriage of the Version” and works by Caravaggio and Tintoretti. The neighborhood is also home to the Botanical Garden of Brera, the INAF Brera Astronomical Observatory, and the small (and cheap!) Civic Aquarium of Milan.

In contrast to the brash designer stores of Montenapoleone, Brera is full of “botteghe storiche” (historic shops), quirky artisan traders, and vintage wares. Visit Pettinaroli for custom-made leather journals, browse secondhand Armani and Versace at Cavalli e Nastri, replenish your art supplies at Ditta Crespi, and commission one-of-a-kind jewelry at Porro.