Milan (Italy)guide featuring 360 degree images, maps, photos, video, hotels and transport. |
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Milan was our stopover point on our way from Venice, Italy to Interlaken in Switzerland by train. We stayed in a hotel near the Milan station which was also close to a metro line that took us to the nearby Milan Cathedral (Duomo) in the middle of Milan. The Duomo is a very spectacular highlight and right next door is the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II shopping mall which is also a very impressive sight. From there we walked to Sforza Castle and through the middle of it to Simplon Park (Parco Sempione) which then led us to the Arch of Peace (Arco Della Pace). Besides being famous for fashion, Milan is also where you can see "The Last Supper" painting by Leonardo da Vinci at Santa Maria Delle Grazie (9 on the map) but it requires advance bookings. I took these photos, 360° images and videos while on holiday with my wife for a few days in May 2012. Refer to my customised Milan Google map for where we saw the main points of interest. This is part of a 6 week adventure that my wife and I took in the middle of 2012 that includes: |
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Milan videoabout 2 minutes, full HD available (1080p) which is best viewed in full screen. |
Milan Cathedral (Duomo)[3 on the map]The best part is that you can walk on the roof for a closer view of all the crazy amount of detail in the structure so you can see why it took over 500 years to complete. It is the 5th largest cathedral in the world. |
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Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II[4 on the map] Named after the first king of Italy and completed in 1877, this is the oldest shopping mall in Italy. |
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Sforza Castle[6 on the map]Construction started in the 14th century but was modifed a number times in it's history. It was one of the largest citadels in Europe and is now a place for art collections and several museums. |
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Simplon Park & Arch of Peace[7 & 8 on the map]Simplon Park used to be the parade grounds of Sforza Castle. It was created in 1888 and designed to have views of the picturesque gardens that also included the two important landmarks of Milan: Sforza Castle and the Arch of Peace which are located at either end of the park. |
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The best way to travel around Italy (and Europe) is by train because they are very fast, frequent, safe, reliable, cheap and the stations are in the middle of the city. I prefer to book the routes individually (point to point ticket) instead of buying a pass (like Eurail or Swiss pass) because it's usually cheaper unless you are frequently travelling long distances which I don't do anyway because I want to spend more time enjoying the location than travelling to and from it. The catch with a Eurail pass is that you still need to book and pay extra for a seat reservation, whereas buying just a normal point to point ticket includes the reservation, saving time and confusion. I always buy first class tickets too because they aren't much more expensive than the normal ticket, they usually include more seating space and I feel a little more safer considering that the train company gives a little more attention to first class passengers. The main concern was for the storage and security of our luggage, having heard too many stories about bags being stolen. Many trains have a rack above the seats (so it's safe) that can easily hold a large suitcase (like those allowed for checked luggage on planes). My bag (35cm [14in] x 45cm [18in] x 70cm [27.5in]) was just below the maximum size limit for planes which was fine on all the trains during our holiday through Europe. It weighed about 19kg and you must lift your bag up on to these high racks which was fine for a tall, strong, dashing, handsome, sexy and modest young man like me, otherwise you will probably need another passenger to help you. Some trains only have storage at the end of each carriage which makes it easier to get in and out but also makes it easier for someone to steal your bags too. We took a wire cable bike combination lock to attach our bags to the rack in these cases but only used it twice and both times it probably wasn't really necessary, but gives you peace of mind so you don't need to worry about it. We also used small combination padlocks on the zippers. Having locks on your bags can draw attention because being so secure then there is probably something valuable in it worth stealing, but most criminals are just opportunistic and simply take the next bag that is easier to remove. |
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How to book European train tickets:
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This is the best way that I know of to find a hotel on the internet. I used this method for every place we stayed at for our entire six week holiday in Europe/UK/Singapore and it worked very well. The basic steps are:
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How to actually do it:
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I've been a keen photographer for over 10 years and have been creating 360° panoramic images for about that long too. I've sold some individually, for web sites, a couple of weddings and projects for clients where I work as a visualisation artist. All the panoramas on this page were taken handheld because you are not allowed to use tripods in most of the places I visited so you may find some strange gaps where the photos are stitched together because of this. | The camera used for all of these photos is a Canon 5D MkIII digital SLR with a 24-105mm L series lens. This camera works great in low light situations, has a full frame sensor to get wide angle shots and produces super sharp photos. Unfortuantely it is very big, heavy and expensive so I made the decision to choose quality over comfort. A camera store assistant once told me: A man invited a lady over to his place one night to show her his photos. She said, "Gee, they're great photos. You must have a great camera." She invited the man to her place for dinner the next night and after the meal he said "Gee, that was a great meal. You must have a great oven." |
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