Navigli, Milan: the canal district, boat tours and where to drink

Market dates, boat tour prices and the night rules below were checked on the official sites on 5 October 2026.

What the Navigli are

The Navigli are canals built to bring water and goods into Milan. Work on the Naviglio Grande began in the late 12th century, and the marble for the Duomo came into the city along it. Until the 1950s Milan was still a busy inland port, and the traffic ended at the DarsenaMap, the dock at Piazza XXIV Maggio where the two canals meet.

Today the district is where Milan goes out in the evening. The banks are lined with bars, restaurants and old tenement houses with long shared balconies (case di ringhiera). Walking along the canals is free and there is nothing to book.

How to get to the Navigli

From	How	Time
Duomo	Walk 1.8 km to the Darsena	about 25 min
Duomo	M1 red to Cadorna, change to M2 green to Porta Genova	one change
Milano Centrale	M2 green direct to Porta Genova	8 stops
Tram or bus	Trams 3, 9 and 10, bus 71	to the Darsena

Porta Genova is the Navigli station on the green M2 line. A single metro, tram or bus ticket costs €2.20 and is valid for 90 minutes, or you can tap a contactless card at the gate. Our Milan metro guide explains tickets and lines, and if you are arriving by train, the Milano Centrale guide shows where the M2 entrance is. The De Amicis and Sant’Ambrogio stops on the blue M4 are at the northern edge of the district.

What to see in the Navigli

Start at the Darsena and walk west along the Alzaia Naviglio Grande, the towpath on the north bank. Everything below is free to see from the street.

The Darsena

The old dock was renovated in 2015 and is now a pedestrian waterfront. On the Piazza XXIV Maggio side, the covered Mercato ComunaleMap has food stalls inside and tables outside facing the water. You can eat or have a drink there from morning to evening; hours vary by stall.

From here, Corso di Porta Ticinese runs north toward the city center, a street of independent shops.

Naviglio Grande and the Vicolo dei Lavandai

A few minutes along the Naviglio Grande, turn into the Vicolo dei LavandaiMap, a short alley with an old washhouse. The stone stalls where laundry was scrubbed are still there, fed by a stream from the canal, and the washhouse was in use until the end of the 1950s. The name means “washermen”: in the 19th century the work was done by a guild of men.

The old shop that sold soap to the washerwomen is now the restaurant El Brellin (see below). Keep walking and you pass the plaque at Ripa di Porta Ticinese 47, on the other bank, where the poet Alda Merini lived; the bridge there carries her name.

San Cristoforo sul Naviglio

Further west, at Via San Cristoforo 3, San CristoforoMap is a pair of small churches side by side on the canal. The older one dates from 1192. The one on the right, the Cappella Ducale, was built in the 15th century after the plague of 1399. Opening hours are not posted, so treat it as a walk-by unless you find the door open. The MUDECMap museum of world cultures is about 800 m away.

Naviglio Pavese

The second canal runs south from the Darsena toward Pavia, with fewer bars and more residential streets. It was finished in the early 19th century.

The Navigli antiques market

The Mercatone dell’Antiquariato takes over the first stretch of the Naviglio Grande, almost 2 km from Viale Gorizia to the Via Valenza bridge. It has more than 380 stalls, mostly antiques: furniture, watches, silver, books, prints and toys. Via Corsico and Via Paoli, off the canal, are kept for vintage clothes. The shops, bars and art studios in the area stay open on market day.

It runs on the last Sunday of the month. The organiser, the Associazione del Naviglio Grande, publishes these dates for the rest of 2026:

2026	Note
Sunday 25 October	Last Sunday
Sunday 29 November	Last Sunday
Sunday 20 December	Moved a week earlier

Stalls set up in the morning and pack up in the late afternoon. The 2027 dates will appear on the organiser’s calendar.

Saturday markets: Senigallia and Papiniano

On Saturdays the canal district has two more markets, both free to browse.

• Fiera di SenigalliaMap, Milan’s flea market, runs every Saturday from 7:30am to 6pm along Ripa di Porta Ticinese, the south bank by the Darsena. Look for vintage clothes, records and second-hand bits and pieces.
• Viale Papiniano marketMap, a few minutes north toward Sant’Agostino (M2), is one of the city’s biggest street markets: Tuesdays from 7:30am to 2pm and Saturdays from 7:30am to 6pm, when it has more stalls. Clothes, shoes and household goods, with food at the Piazza Sant’Agostino end.

Our Milan shopping guide has more markets and vintage shops.

Navigli boat tours

The official boat tours on the Milan canals are run by NavigaMI. Boats leave from the NavigaMI pierMap at Alzaia Naviglio Grande 4, next to the Darsena. They are hybrid or fully electric.

Tour	From
Boat tour of the Navigli and the Darsena, 50 minutes	€19
Aperitivo on the boat (one drink and snacks)	€33
Cruise with brunch	€39

The classic tour goes west along the Naviglio Grande past the Vicolo dei Lavandai to San Cristoforo, turns, comes back under the Scodellino bridge into the Darsena and heads into the first stretch of the Naviglio Pavese before returning to the pier. The live commentary is in Italian. The aperitivo cruise has an audio guide in English and six other languages.

The 2026 timetable runs until 1 November. From Monday to Thursday, the main route leaves at 11:30am, 1:50pm, 3pm, 4:10pm, 5:20pm, 6:30pm and 7:40pm; from Friday to Sunday there are extra departures in between, about every 30 to 40 minutes from 11am. Book on navigami.com. Some departures can be cancelled, so check your date on the site before you plan around it.

GetYourGuide also sells Navigli canal cruises, including the aperitivo and brunch versions, with free cancellation on most listings. Compare the departure point and length with the official tour before you pay. For a guided evening on foot, look at the food and aperitivo tours in Milan.

Aperitivo on the Navigli

Aperitivo here starts around 6pm. You pay for the drink and snacks come with it. My advice: if the waiter brings chips and olives, they are included in the price of your drink: it is not a trick to charge you more, so don’t get angry with the waiter. Our aperitivo in Milan guide explains prices and the bars in other parts of the city. Four cocktail bars in the area are worth booking:

• RitaMap, Via Angelo Fumagalli 1, just off the Naviglio Grande. A cocktail bar since 2002, number 49 on Europe’s 50 Best Bars 2026. Open Monday to Saturday from 5:30pm to 2am, closed Sunday, and you can book a table online.
• CaricoMap, Via Savona 1, toward Tortona. Opened in 2020, with a weekly changing cocktail list. Open Wednesday to Monday.
• The Doping ClubMap, the bar of the Aethos Milan hotel on Piazza XXIV Maggio, facing the Darsena. Everything in the room, including the furniture, is for sale. Open daily.
• Backdoor 43Map, Ripa di Porta Ticinese 43. It claims to be the smallest bar in the world, with room for four guests who book ahead. Passers-by can buy takeaway cocktails through a small window.

Where to eat in the Navigli

• El BrellinMap, Alzaia Naviglio Grande 14, at the Vicolo dei Lavandai. An 18th-century building on two floors serving Milanese recipes such as risotto, tagliatelle with ossobuco ragù and cotoletta. Dinner daily from 7:30pm to 11pm, plus lunch at weekends. Expect €€€ prices.
• Trattoria MadonninaMap, Via Gentilino 6, south of the Darsena. An old-school trattoria with ossobuco, saffron risotto and outdoor tables.
• Berberè NavigliMap, Via Vigevano 8, near Porta Genova. Sourdough pizza, bookable online.
• LangosteriaMap, Via Savona 10. A seafood restaurant listed in the MICHELIN Guide, in its top price band.
• ContrasteMap, Via Giuseppe Meda 2, a short ride south. One MICHELIN star in 2026, with two tasting menus.

For more options across the city, see our best restaurants in Milan and what to eat in Milan.

When to go

Go in the early evening, when aperitivo starts, around 6pm, and on a weekday if you can, because the Navigli get packed at weekends. The exceptions are the antiques market on the last Sunday and the Saturday flea market at the Darsena. Weekend nights are the busiest and the loudest, which also matters if you are sleeping here. For the season, our guide to the best time to visit Milan covers weather and events month by month.

Is the Navigli safe at night?

The Navigli are crowded until late, and the area is watched. The Darsena and Navigli are one of Milan’s “zone rosse”, reinforced surveillance zones where police can order people with a criminal record who behave dangerously to leave. The current order runs to 30 March 2027.

From 11 June to 2 November 2026, a city ordinance also limits late drinking in 12 nightlife areas, including the Navigli and the Darsena:

• Shops cannot sell alcohol from 10pm.
• Takeaway alcohol from any venue stops at midnight.
• Outdoor tables close at 1am, or 2am on Saturday and Sunday nights.

Pickpockets work the crowds, so keep your phone off the table and your bag closed, and take a licensed white taxi or the metro home. The M2 does not run all night, so check the time of the last train. If the Navigli are part of a bigger night out, our Milan nightlife guide covers the other districts.

Staying in the Navigli

Hotels here usually cost less than in the center, but expect noise at weekends and a metro ride to the sights. Maison BorellaMap is a four-star on the Alzaia Naviglio Grande, and Aethos MilanMap is a five-star boutique hotel on the Darsena. Our guide to the best hotels in Milan compares them with the rest of the city, and you can search hotels in the Navigli for your dates.

If you only have a day in Milan, the one day in Milan itinerary ends here for aperitivo, and the 2 days in Milan plan gives the Navigli the evening of day 2. Our list of things to do in Milan covers the rest of the city.