Of all of the European cities synonymous with style it is Milan where the business of design is the most pervasive. Fashion and style are serious business here. Milan, lest you had not noticed, is home to Armani, Bulgari, Cavalli, Dolce and Gabana, Gucci, Prada, Valentino, Versace and probably some lot beginning with Z which doesn’t quite spring to mind at present.

In the UK we have been very good at snearing at the fashion and design industries, somehow failing to grasp that the undoubted silliness of catwalk fashion is just the tip of a creative iceberg driving an industry that generates enormous economic returns. Milan design moves far beyond clothing, generating many thousands of skilled jobs in the city and substantial wealth for the wider regional economy. Having also been the centre of Italian banking for many hundreds of years, Milan isn’t short of a bob or two.

Ironically, this city where the concentration of stores selling bags for a couple of grand and the rest is almost certainly as high as anywhere else on the planet is a surprisingly good deal to visit, even at the unfavourable exchange rates of 2009.

Lufthansa, the German flag carrier that recently launched Lufthansa Italia based in Milan, have run a series of low cost offers to tempt travellers onto its various routes into Malpensa. Their stated long term desire to develop the airport as one of their ‘hubs’ is likely to keep their route, including their Heathrow-Milan spoke competitive.

Hotel deals in the city are reasonably easy to find, making the basic cost of a weekend trip manageable. Also, there is no real need to pay for food – at least not in the evenings. The ‘aperitivo’ tradition – which originated up the road in Turin – is alive and well meaning canapés and more substantial tapas are laid on by many of the city centre bars from about 4 or 5 till 8 or 9 thereabouts. Play you cards right and a substantial breakfast, late lunch and aperitivo will easily get you through the weekend if budget is your main concern.

Of course that would be a great shame because Milanese cuisine is distinctive and should be a ‘must do’ in any visit. It also shows signs of evolving, with new, modern restaurants opening up that have been influenced by food outside Italy. It’s an odd thing that the Italians, more than any other nation, succeeded in exporting the staples of their diet to the rest of the world but imported so little. Pane e Acqua, a little treasure proves that the traditional and modern can be blended successfully. Booking is essential, and it isn’t the easiest place to find, but well worth the effort.

Brunch does seem to have catught on. One of the best areas to visit to grab brunch and a Sunday morning mooch is the stretch of canals in the South of the city near Porta Genova metro station. While the designer stores of the Golden Triangle (some say Golden Rectangle – but geometric pedantry would find both terms wanting) mostly take Sunday off the small, genuinely interesting shops along the Naviglio Grande and accompanying market (it is a large antique/tat market on the last Sunday of the month) make hay. There are plenty of restaurants to choose from with variety to suit pretty much ever taste and pocket. Osteria di Porta Ciccia (at the time of writing the web link wasn’t working) looks like an antique shop, but provides a delicious set bruch menu of inventive twists on familiar breakfast dishes including truly magnificent poached eggs in a potato soup. 

This area has plenty to offer in the evening too with smart bars like Bond working till the small hours. Some Milanese will tell you that Potra Genova is an unsafe area. That’s probably advice to be discounted so long as you are not utterly naive in urban ways. A little edgy after dark maybe, but during the day, hardly.

So long as you get to Porta Genova early enough and grab a table before 12:30 you should have no problem making the San Siro before kick off!

5 Top Milan Tips

1. Eat well at lunchtime, graze on free bar nibbles in the evening.

2. To see Da Vinci’s ‘The Last Supper’ book well in advance.

3. Avoid the bus from Malpenza it takes forever – take the train instead and then get a cab from Cadorna station if necessary.

4. Go in January/early February when the sales are on. Though it is probably best to avoid drinking two bottles of prosecco on the seventh floor of la Rinascente then staggering through the store with your credit card.

5. Put your heels in your bag girls – Milan, despite being Europe’s de facto fashion capital, has pavement grilles throughout much of the city that can wreck your $500 Euro Manolos in an instant – not to mention the ankles of the incautious wearer – or get a cab.