Quick answer
Start with the Leonardo da Vinci science museum (submarine, rockets, trains), MUBA for children up to 11, the aquarium in Parco Sempione and the Duomo rooftop. Children under 14 ride public transport free and the civic museums are free under 18, so a family day costs less than you might expect. Most museums close on Mondays.
Prices, opening hours and rules below were checked on the official sites on 5 October 2026.
Getting around Milan with kids
Children under 14 travel free on the ATM metro, trams and buses. They need an identity document (a passport is fine) or an ATM under-14 card. Adults pay €2.20 for a 90-minute ticket or €7.60 for 24 hours, or tap a contactless card at the gates.
An orange 1930s tram at a Milan stop; children under 14 ride trams free.
Strollers ride free as well. ATM’s rules say that on the metro the brake must be on and an adult must hold the stroller at all times. All stations on the M4 line have lifts, while the older M1, M2 and M3 lines are uneven, so check the lift status in the ATM app before you choose a route. Our Milan metro guide has the full fare table.
Best things to do in Milan with kids
| Place | Best for | Adult | Child | Closed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Science museum | Ages 5 and up | €13 | €8 (ages 3-26), free under 3 | Monday |
| MUBA | 12 months to 11 years | €7.50-8.50 | €9.50-10.50 | Monday |
| Natural History Museum | All ages | €10 | Free under 18 | Monday |
| Planetarium | Ages 6 and up | €5 | €3 reduced | Varies by show |
| Civic Aquarium | Toddlers and up | €8 | Free under 18 | Monday |
| Duomo terraces | Ages 6 and up | €16 stairs, €18 lift | Free up to 5 | Open daily |
| San Siro tour | Football fans | €37 | €27 under 14 | Open daily |
Leonardo da Vinci science museum
The Museo Nazionale Scienza e Tecnologia Leonardo da VinciMap suits school-age kids best. The galleries hold Leonardo’s machines, a Space area with a Moon fragment and a Vega rocket, locomotives, aircraft and parts of the Conte Biancamano ocean liner.
The Enrico Toti submarine in the outdoor courtyard of the science museum.
- Tickets: €13 for adults, €8 for ages 3 to 26, free under 3.
- Hours: Tuesday to Friday 9:30am to 5pm, weekends and holidays 9:30am to 6:30pm. Closed on Mondays that are not holidays.
- Submarine: a guided visit inside the Enrico Toti costs €10 on top of the museum ticket and must be booked.
- Weekends: entry is not guaranteed without an online ticket with a date and time, so book ahead.
It is at Via San Vittore 21, next to Sant’Ambrogio station (M2 and M4).
MUBA, the children’s museum
MUBA, Museo dei BambiniMap is a museum built only for children, inside the Rotonda della Besana. Activities run at fixed times with limited places, grouped by age: REMIDA (creative play with recycled materials, 12 months to 5 years), Connessioni (an interactive play exhibition, 3 to 8) and La camera delle meraviglie (nature, 6 to 11).
Families can visit on weekends, public holidays and some Friday afternoons, since schools use it during the week. A child ticket costs €9.50 on weekdays and €10.50 on weekends and holidays, and an adult €7.50 or €8.50. Buy online, since weekend sessions fill up; tickets for November go on sale on 20 October at 10am. The museum is all on the ground floor, with stroller parking in the entrance hall, and the garden outside has a small public playground.
Natural History Museum and Planetarium
The Giardini Indro Montanelli, near Porta Venezia, hold both the Natural History Museum and the Planetarium, a few minutes apart.
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The red brick facade of the Natural History Museum in the Giardini Montanelli.
The Natural History MuseumMap is Milan’s oldest civic museum, with fossils, a dinosaur section and a first floor of dioramas showing the world’s natural environments. It is open Tuesday to Sunday from 10am to 5:30pm (last entry 4:30pm) and costs €10 for adults. Under-18s go free, but every child still needs a free ticket booked online.
The Civic PlanetariumMap next door is Italy’s largest, with a 19.6-meter dome and more than 300 seats. Children’s shows run on weekends, last about an hour in the dark and are recommended from age 6. Shows are in Italian, with free AI translation into English on request; tell the staff before the show starts. Tickets cost €5, or €3 reduced, and latecomers are not let in.
The park itself has three playgrounds, small rides, bumper cars and a little train on rails. The Giardini MontanelliMap are open from 6am to 10pm between October and March, and until midnight from April to September.
Civic Aquarium and Parco Sempione
The Civic AquariumMap is a small Art Nouveau building from 1906 at the edge of Parco Sempione, with tanks of more than 100 species from Italian seas, lakes and rivers. It is a good first museum for toddlers. Adults pay €8, under-18s are free (book the free ticket online), and it is open Tuesday to Sunday from 10am to 5:30pm. The nearest metro is Lanza (M2).
Behind it, Parco SempioneMap has a children’s playground, kiosks and plenty of lawn. Sforza Castle sits at the other end of the park. On weekend afternoons, percussionists gather with bongos and djembes at Arman’s Accumulazione musicale e sedutaMap, a 1973 artwork shaped like a small amphitheatre, behind the park’s basketball court, and children can sit on the steps and listen.
Duomo rooftop
On the roof of the DuomoMap you walk among the marble spires, high above the square. Terraces-only tickets cost €16 by stairs or €18 by lift, and children up to 5 go free. Prams are not allowed on the terraces, and the lift only reaches the first level, so plan to carry a toddler for the last stretch. Our Duomo tickets guide compares every ticket, and guided Duomo tours are an option if you want someone to keep teenagers interested.
The terraces of Milan Cathedral, where visitors walk between the marble spires.
Sforza Castle
The castle courtyards of Sforza CastleMap are free every day from 7am to 7:30pm. The museums inside cost €10 for adults and are free under 18. The Merlate walk along the battlements is €10, free up to age 5, and has a lift for strollers. Details are in our Sforza Castle guide.
Navigli boat ride
A 50-minute boat ride from the NavigaMI pierMap on the Naviglio Grande costs from €19, with separate fares for children aged 5 to 15 and free travel under 5. The 2026 timetable runs until 1 November. Commentary is in Italian, so for kids the point is the ride itself. Our Navigli guide covers the canal area, and you can also book Navigli cruises on GetYourGuide.
Things to do in Milan for teenagers
These suit teenagers better than younger children.
- San Siro stadium tour. The San SiroMap Museum&Tour costs €37 for adults and €27 under 14, with dynamic prices. The Skywalk on the roof is not open to children under 7. See our San Siro tour guide or San Siro tours on GetYourGuide.
- Highline above the Galleria. The Highline MilanoMap walkway runs about 250 meters along the roof of the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele IIMap. Tickets are €10 for ages 13 to 18 and €7 for ages 7 to 12; it is open Tuesday to Sunday, 10am to 6pm.
- The Last SupperMap. Worth it for older children who have studied Leonardo. Every visitor needs a booked ticket, babies included. Our Last Supper tickets guide explains how to get one.
- La Scala. Teatro alla ScalaMap puts on children’s and family performances where under-18s pay €1 (two per adult). The La Scala MuseumMap has a Family Junior ticket for €25 (two adults and one or two children aged 6 to 14). The guided theatre tour is not for children under 12. More in our La Scala guide.
Free things to do in Milan with kids
Under-18s enter the civic museums free every day: the castle museums, the Natural History Museum, the aquarium and the Museo del NovecentoMap. The Pinacoteca di BreraMap is also free under 18, with a booking. On the first Sunday of every month, the civic museums are free for adults too; that day you get tickets at the door, not online.
The parks cost nothing: Parco Sempione, the Giardini Montanelli playgrounds and the castle courtyards.
A free game in the center works with children of any age. Under the arches of Piazza dei MercantiMap, two minutes from the Duomo, one person stands facing a column of the Palazzo della Ragione portico and whispers into it, and the other, facing the column diagonally opposite, hears every word. Try it.
For a break from the center, Cascina CuccagnaMap, an old farmhouse at Via Cuccagna 2/4 near Porta Romana (M3 Lodi T.I.B.B.), has a courtyard where I like to have a coffee, and on Tuesday afternoons a farmers’ market from 3:30pm. Our list of free things to do in Milan has more.
One day in Milan with kids
A day that works for children aged 5 to 12, with little time on the metro:
- 9:30am: science museum (book a timed ticket on weekends).
- 12:30pm: lunch, then metro M2 from Sant’Ambrogio to Lanza.
- 2pm: Civic Aquarium, then the playground in Parco Sempione.
- 4pm: walk through the castle courtyards toward the Duomo, about 15 minutes.
- 5pm: Duomo terraces (last entry 6pm), then the Galleria.
With toddlers, swap the science museum for MUBA on a weekend and spend the afternoon at the Giardini Montanelli. If you have two or three days, add the Natural History Museum and the Planetarium on one morning and a day trip on another. Our one day in Milan itinerary and 2 days in Milan plans show the same sights at an adult pace.
Day trips with kids
- IdroscaloMap. A large park around an artificial lake next to Linate airport, run by the Città Metropolitana. Take the M4 to Linate Aeroporto and walk about 15 minutes to the western entrances. On 5 October 2026 it was open from 7:30am to 9pm.
- LeolandiaMap. A theme park with more than 50 rides in Capriate San Gervasio, about 20 minutes from Milan by car on the A4. Without a car, Nord Est Trasporti bus Z301 runs from Sesto San Giovanni or Lampugnano to a stop 500 meters from the entrance. Opening days change through the year, so check the park calendar.
- GardalandMap. The theme park on Lake Garda. Frecciarossa trains reach Peschiera del Garda in about 57 minutes and regional trains in 1 hour 32 minutes for €12; a free shuttle runs every 30 minutes for the 2 km to the gates. Opening hours vary by date. Our Milan to Lake Garda guide has the train times.
- Lake Como. The direct train to Varenna takes about 65 minutes, and children usually enjoy the ferry more than the villas. See our Lake Como day trip guide.
Where to stay in Milan with kids
Family rooms are easiest to find near the station and the Duomo. Ostello Bello Milano CentraleMap has private family rooms for 4, 5 or 6 people, 100 meters from the station, and Ostello Bello Milan DuomoMap has ensuite family rooms near the cathedral. iH Hotels Milano CentraleMap lists a family room and a crib on request. Our guide to the best hotels in Milan compares more options by area, and you can search family rooms in Milan on Booking.com for your dates.
Frequently asked questions
Is Milan a good city to visit with kids?
Yes, if you plan around the closing days. Children under 14 ride the metro, trams and buses free, the civic museums (castle, aquarium, Natural History Museum) are free under 18, and the science museum, MUBA and the planetarium are built for children. Most museums close on Monday.
What is there to do in Milan for kids on a Monday?
Most museums are closed on Mondays, including the science museum, MUBA, the aquarium and the Natural History Museum. The Duomo and its terraces, the Sforza Castle courtyards, Parco Sempione, the Giardini Montanelli playgrounds and the San Siro tour are open.
Do kids pay on the Milan metro?
No. Children under 14 travel free on ATM metro, trams and buses with an identity document. Strollers travel free too; on the metro keep the brake on and a hand on the stroller.
Can you take a stroller up to the Duomo rooftop?
No. Prams are not allowed on the terraces, and the lift only reaches the first level, so you continue on stairs. Children up to age 5 go up free.
What is the best museum in Milan for kids?
For ages 3 to 11, MUBA is the only museum in Milan built for young children, with timed play sessions you book online. For older kids, the Leonardo da Vinci science museum has a real submarine, a Vega rocket and a Moon fragment, and costs €8 for ages 3 to 26.
What can teenagers do in Milan?
Teenagers usually like the San Siro stadium tour (€27 under 14, €37 adults), the Duomo rooftop, the Highline walkway above the Galleria (€10 for ages 13 to 18) and the submarine visit at the science museum. Civic museums are free for them up to 17.
Is Gardaland a day trip from Milan?
Yes. Trains from Milano Centrale reach Peschiera del Garda in about 57 minutes on the Frecciarossa or 1 hour 32 minutes on the regional train (€12), and a free shuttle covers the 2 km to the park every 30 minutes.