The city of Milan is normally safe for tourists, but there are pickpockets, scam artists, and dangerous neighborhoods you should know about. Generally speaking, tourist safety in Milan is on par with most European big cities, and well above that of comparable large cities in America. In times of heightened global awareness, fortunately, neither Milan nor Italy as a whole seem to be on any terrorist radar.
Safeguarding
The most important advice to follow is that use common sense and keep your eyes open wherever you are. Here are some basic safety tips you should follow in Milan.
- Don’t carry a lot of cash with you. It’s not necessary.
- Always have your bag securely across your shoulder.
- Never carry your wallet in your back pocket, keep it in a secure inside pocket.
- Never put your valuables in a a backpack.
- Carry your backpack on the chest if it’s not too big
Dangerous Areas
The two worst streets to keep away from that come after the Loreto metro station are Via Padova and Viale Monza. Another street located in southern part of the city that you should stay away from is Via Giambellino.
Safest Areas
The Brera district is pretty high-class, and likely to be the safest. Police highly discourage crime in this area due the fact that many rich Milanese, and rich travelers frequent the area. Navgili is also a good area, while the historic city center is also good, but does have some tourist scams at present.
Brera District
If you want to have a positive answer on is Milan safe city, than Brera, the artistic heart of the city, is definitely the safest area of Milan. It’s really really a nice place, with streets just for pedestrians as well as restaurants of all kinds and some illustrious art galleries like Pinacoteca di Brera.
Navigli District
Navigli district is an art lover’s haven and one of the safest Milan hot spots that sometimes makes Milan look like Venice. It’s the right place to spend a nice evening there, sipping your favorite Negroni wrong aperitif.
Storico Centro
The Milan city center concentrated around the Duomo, the huge Gothic cathedral, with numerous art galleries, museums, the Scala Opera and shopping complex in the area, is to be considered, the safest, since there are a lot of police in the area. But do note there are some tourist scams around Piazza del Duomo.
Other Tourist Areas
In the most the touristy of areas you can generally walk around without worries, but there are some scams you know about which are tourist specific.
Keep in mind the gulden rule while traveling is to use use common sense at all times. If you find yourself with stranger who presents a scenario that seems too good or too convenient to be true, it’s most likely the opposite.
Milano Centrale
Almost anywhere in the world, large railway stations are dangerous. Large numbers of travelers, mostly for first time on this huge station are ideal customers for petty thieves like pickpocket. Milan Central Station is perfect place for this.
Definitely avoid this place during the night but even during the day you’ll see drunk immigrants, homeless people and drug dealers. If you have to take a night train, take the metro to get to the station. You can walk directly into the main hall of the railway station, passing through well-lighted areas, as there are always people around.
Don’t leave your personal luggage unattended in the place like Milano Centrale. Even if there are a lot of policemen present all the day long, the minimal distraction and your bags will be target for theft.
Piazza del Duomo
Pickpockets and scammers are present in this highly tourist visited piazza. Be aware of free corn to feed pigeon’ scam, scams like ‘a wristband around your hand’ unless you will pay 20 € to remove it. Do not fall into the trap baying counterfeit luxury goods from street vendors as you’ll risk a fine up to 300 €.
Sempione Park
A nice place to be there but during the night it’s not recommended to walk around this enormous park. During the evening nearby Corso Sempione is ‘to be seen place’, as people come to have a drink in the different fancy bars.
Porta Venezia
The area of Indro Montanelli Park and Corso Buenos Aires used to be quite bad at night. Lately this zone gas more night activity thanks to bars and restaurants has become safer than before. The whole avenue that extends from Porta Venezia following Buenos Aires street all the way to Piazza Loreto is full of stores and restaurants. Still it pays be vigilant here. Check this route on the map!
Solo Travelers
During the day it’s very safe. If you are alone at night, you might want to stick to well-lighted and populated areas.
If you are looking for nightlife places in the evenings you’d best stay in the Brera or in the Navigli districts, not so much for a safety issue but rather because it’s where all the nightlife is.
Don’t get too drunk. Having a social drink is the norm for Milan, known as an aperitivo, but getting too drunk like anywhere else is a potential danger.