You see them in many cities … the big red double-decker buses that are open in summer. They drive around the most important sights of the city and offer sightseeing tours.
In Milan there are 3 different bus routes to explore the city. All lines start at regular intervals at Castello Sforza. In the course of the tour, the lines cross again, so there is the possibility to change buses. However, you can get on at any stop and buy your ticket directly on the bus. During the journey, you can listen to an audio guide in 9 different languages, which provides interesting information on the various points along the route.
Actually, we prefer to use public transport or walk when we are out and about in a city. This time in Milan, we took the comfortable Hop On Hop Off bus. Not only is this option comfortable, we also used it as a “source of information”. Our idea behind it: to go to the most important points, to hear the most important information, to decide what is “worth” a more detailed visit.
We chose a 48-hour ticket with the ulterior motive of riding at least 2 different tours at our leisure. Very positively, the tickets could even be bought by card directly on the bus. The brand new headphones for the audio guide were included in the price.
We started with the “red line” at Castello Sforza. This took us past the Castello, Sant Ambrogio, Leonardo da Vinci’s Canal, the old port of Milan, the Duomo and La Scala. A really beautiful route that gave us a lot of inspiration for further excursions.
We rode the “blue line” on the second day. Again, we started at the Castello. The route led us past Parco Sempione, Arco Della Pace, Corso Como, Palazzo Lombardia, the main railway station, Porta Venezia and the cathedral. Here, too, there was really a lot to see. We only got off at the main station, but many other passengers got off and on at several stops.
The tour with the buses was definitely worth it for us. There was a lot of information, a lot to see and it was really pleasant to travel through the city in the open upper deck. It is a pity that Milan is very “cable-heavy”. This means that due to the many trams, power cables and lamps, there is hardly any possibility to take photos during the ride (and often directly in front of interesting points) that are without cable clutter.
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