Air Canada Vacations

Before you leave Canada

Entry requirements

A valid Canadian passport is required for Canadians intending to visit Italy. The passport should be valid for at least the expected duration of stay in the country. For all other nationalities, consult your consulate or tourist board for details. You can also visit www.voyage.gc.ca for up-to-date information.

Baggage

Please refer to aircanada.com for baggage information.

Airport check-in

It is recommended that you present yourself at the airport counter of the airline indicated on your voucher 3 hours prior to departure. Air Canada or Air Canada Vacations representatives will be available starting at 5 a.m.

During your stay

City highlights 

Milan is Italy's capital of fashion, media, commerce and finance. Milan’s affluent north is Italy's transport hub, with the biggest international airport, the most rail connections, and the best subway system. Leonardo da Vinci's The Last Supper and other great works of art are there, as well as a spectacular Gothic Duomo, the finest of its kind. Milan's “secret garden” (Via dei Cappuccini, just off Corso Venezia) and a renowned 20th-century art collection hide modestly behind an unspectacular facade a block away from Corso Buenos Aires (the Museo Boschi-di Stefano).

Getting around

Taxi

To find a taxi in Milan, walk to the nearest taxi stand, usually located near major piazze and metro/subway stops. In the centre, there are taxi stands at Piazza Duomo and Piazza della Scala. You can also call a radio taxi at 02-4040, 02-6767, 02-8585, 02-5353 or 02-8383 (the concierge at many hotels will be able to do this for you, even if you are not a guest). Cab meters start at €3.10. Add an evening surcharge of €3.10 and a Sunday surcharge of €1.55.

Buses & metro

An extensive subway system (Metropolitana Milanese), trams and buses make it easy to move around Milan. The metro closes at midnight while buses and trams run all night. Tickets for one metro ride (or 1 hour and 15 minutes of surface transportation) cost €1. You can also purchase a ticket for unlimited travel for 1 day for €3 or 2 days for €5.50. Tickets are available at metro stations and newsstands. Stamp your ticket when you board a bus or tram to avoid a fine. For information about Milan’s public transportation, visit the ATM information office in the Duomo metro stop, open Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 8 p.m.; weekends 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 2 p.m. to 7 p.m. (until 5 p.m. on Sunday). Call 800 808 181 or visit www.atm-mi.it.

Rail

Milan is one of Europe's busiest rail hubs. Trains arrive and depart about every half-hour to and from Venice, hourly to and from Rome and hourly to and from Florence. Stazione Centrale is about a half-hour walk northeast of the centre, with easy connections to Piazza del Duomo by metro, tram or bus. Some trains serve Milan's other train stations: Cadorna (with service to and from Como and Malpensa airport, for example), Stazione Lambrate (with service to and from Bergamo, and other points east), and Porta Garibaldi (with service to and from Lecco and other points north). Conveniently, all three of these stations, along with Stazione Centrale, are on the same subway line: Linea 2, the green one.

Shopping

The best window shopping can be done along four adjoining streets north of the Duomo known collectively as the Quadrilatero d'Oro (Golden Square): Via Montenapoleone, Della Spiga, Via Borgospesso, and Via Sant'Andrea are all lined with Milan's most expensive high-fashion offerings. Follow Via Manzoni a few blocks north from Piazza della Scala; San Babila is the closest metro stop. Of the four street, Via Montenapoleone is lined with the most elegant fashion outlets, Via della Spiga runs a close second.

For more Milanese shopping cruise Corso Buenos Aires, home to a little bit of everything. As it crosses Piazza Oberdan/Piazza Venezia heading south, it becomes Corso Venezia and the stores start getting more expensive.

Milan's largest street market is the one held on Via Papiniano in the Ticinese/Navigli district (metro: Sant'Agostino) on Tuesday mornings from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. and on Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Some stalls sell designer seconds as well as barely used high-fashion wares, though most offer staples like socks and belts.

There's an antiques market on Via Fiori Chiari in the Brera district (metro: Moscova) the third Saturday of each month from 9 a.m. to about 7:30 p.m. (except in August), and another the last Sunday of each month on the quays along the Canale Grande in the Navigli district, from 9 a.m. to about 7:30 p.m. (metro: Sant'Agostino).

Every Sunday morning, there's a large flea market, with everything from books and clothing to appliances, at the San Donato metro stop. A fascinating array of handicrafts from different regions of Italy is on sale at the market around Viale Tunisia, Tuesday through Sunday from 9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 3 to 7:30 p.m. (metro: Porta Venezia).

Dining

Milan is full of wonderful and exciting places to eat, with every kind of food imaginable.

There are plenty of bars and cafés in Milan, whether you are going out for an aperitif, cocktails before dinner or a simple snack. The popular Brera and Navigli quarters feature bars that have tables outside in the summer.

Prices vary depending on whether you are seated at a table and being waited upon, or simply standing at the bar. If you are standing you may pay as little as half the price. Typical bar foods in Milan include such treats as panini sandwiches and tramezzini, which are large white bread sandwiches, flattened and toasted, as well as other Italian specialties such as pizza, pasta dishes and tasty salads, often served with Italian cheeses. For breakfast in the city, croissants and cream pastries are popular in most Milan cafés.

Most locals tend to eat lunch (pranzo) at around 1 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. and dinner (cena) from 8 p.m. onwards, although many Milanese restaurants do serve dinner earlier, mainly for tourists. Milan offers a wide range of types of cuisine. Alongside traditional Italian cooking you will also find excellent restaurants specializing in Asian, North African and Mexican food.

Sightseeing

The prime spot for a passeggiata (stroll) is the Piazza Duomo and the adjoining Galleria, but many of the neighbourhoods that fan out from the centre are ideal for wandering. The Quadrilatero d'Oro (the city's center for high fashion), just north of the Piazza Duomo on and around Via Montenapoleone, is known for window shopping and trendy cafés and bars. Magenta is an old residential quarter, filled with some of the city's most venerable churches, west of Piazza Duomo. The Brera is filled with inexpensive bars and restaurants clustered around the Pinacoteca Brera. The popular Navigli neighbourhood boasts unpretentious bars, birrerie (pubs), restaurants and small clubs. A stroll in Milan almost always includes a stop at a café or gelateria.

Entertainment & nightlife

On Wednesdays and Thursdays, Milan's newspapers tend to devote a lot of ink to club schedules and cultural events. Check out the tourist office in Piazza Duomo as there are usually piles of flyers lying about that announce upcoming events. The tourist office also keeps visitors up-to-date with Milano Mese, a periodical it distributes for free with a schedule of events, as well as listings of bars, clubs and restaurants.

On the other side of the Galleria from the Duomo is Italy's premier opera house, Teatro Alla Scala, Piazza Scala (tel. 02 88 79 1), known to everyone as "La Scala." The Museo Teatrale Alla Scala (tel. 02 88 79 74 73) pays tribute to Italy’s leading stars in opera and ballet, often hosting exhibits of costumes worn at La Scala performances.

One of the most storied Brera hangouts is Bar Jamaica, Via Brera 32 (metro: Lanza). An old-school bar where Mussolini once sat to work on his newspaper articles now houses arty locals, literati and partygoers at the outdoor tables. The owner stirs a stiff drink, making this a worthwhile stop on the way to the clubs at Porta Garibaldi.

For a truly authentic Milanese experience, check out the northern end of Corso di Porta Ticinese: the San Lorenzo district. There are great bars and cafés between there and metro stop Sant'Ambrogio.

Your departure from destination

Hotel checkout

Hotel checkout times may vary depending on the property but generally you must vacate the room by 12 p.m. (noon).

Duty-free shopping

After an absence of 7 days or more, Canadian residents are permitted to return with a maximum of 750 CAD of merchandise per trip without paying duty. Each time you leave Canada for at least 48 hours, you are eligible to declare up to 200 CAD of merchandise. A written declaration may be requested. Each adult is allowed 1.1 litres (40 oz.) of liquor, 200 cigarettes, 50 cigars or cigarillos, 200 tobacco sticks and 200 grams (7 oz.) of manufactured tobacco. To calculate the number of days absent, do not count the day you left Canada but include the day you return. If you include cigarettes, tobacco sticks and loose tobacco in your personal exemption allowance, only a partial exemption will apply. You will have to pay a minimum duty on these products unless they are marked “Canada-Duty paid.” Canadian made products sold at duty-free shops will be marked this way.

Customer care

For inquiries relating to extension of stay or change or hotel changes, please e-mail us at: prevoyageclientele@vacv.com We are at your service seven days a week; from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. EST and from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. EST Saturday and Sunday