Italy 2026 - Day 8, Piedmont - Milan
Day 8 | 12 September 2026
Weather: Beautifully clear and sunny by the time we reached Milan, with blue skies through the afternoon and warm golden light towards sunset. Perfect weather for one final walk around the city.
Leaving Tenuta dei Fiori that morning was harder than expected. After three wonderful days with Valter, Yvette and Simone, Calosso had begun to feel less like a stop on our itinerary and more like staying with family. But every good trip eventually moves on, so we said our farewells and drove back towards Lake Orta to return our rented car.
From there, we took a train back to Milan for the final night of our Italy journey.
After checking into our apartment, we wasted no time. Bags down, shoes back on, and straight out again. We wandered through the Brera district before somehow finding ourselves back at the Duomo. Funny how Milan seems to keep pulling you towards its most famous landmark.
This time, however, we wanted to see it from above.
We headed up to the rooftop at Highline Galleria, where Milan suddenly looked very different. The Duomo’s forest of spires rose almost at eye level, glowing in the late afternoon sun, while Piazza del Duomo stretched out below us. As sunset approached, the sky turned shades of pink and orange over the city. Not a bad way to spend our final evening in Milan.
With the light fading, we jumped onto the train and headed to Navigli. After days of tasting menus, vineyard lunches and long Piedmontese dinners, our final dinner was refreshingly simple. Pizza at Fabbrica Pizzeria. Properly good pizza, a lively neighbourhood and exactly what we felt like eating.
But apparently dinner was not quite the end of the evening.
Back at the apartment, we opened the bottle of Barolo we had bought earlier. There was something rather fitting about ending the trip this way. No restaurant, no tasting room, no itinerary left to follow. Just the three of us in our Milan apartment, a bottle of Piedmont in the glasses and plenty of memories from the past eight days to talk about.
From Milan to Lake Orta, Lake Como and Piedmont, then finally back to where we started.
One last glass of Barolo. One last night in Milan. And that familiar feeling that the best trips always seem to finish far too quickly.
