The marble cathedral that took 578 years to finish, built by one body that still owns the quarry and sells the tickets.
Walk the nave under 52 columns, climb or ride to a roof of 135 spires, and look up at the golden Madonnina from forty metres away.
Every ticket, spelled outNave, roof, museum, baptistery: what each one covers
Stairs or lift, told straightWhich options ride, which climb, and how many steps remain
Refund rule on every cardThe Fabbrica's tickets are non-refundable; the operator tours are not
Secure checkoutBooked on GetYourGuide, with the seller named on each page
Tickets and tours
Choose your Duomo di Milano ticket
In the centre, the cathedral's own combined ticket: nave, roof, museum, over two days, stairs or lift. Either side, the
two guided tours that ride the lift, one from a Milan operator and one from the Fabbrica's own guides. Every card opens a full page.
Two hours with a Milanoguida guide: the nave explained, the lift to the roof, a walk among the spires, then San Gottardo and the museum. The listing says about 80 steps remain after the lift.
What's included
Skip-the-line tickets for the cathedral and the terraces, lift up
Live guide in English with headsets
Guided visit of the Duomo Museum and San Gottardo Church
The cathedral's own ticket sold through GetYourGuide: the nave, the rooftop terraces by stairs or by lift, the Duomo Museum and San Gottardo, used over two days. The listing states it is non-refundable.
What's included
Entrance to the cathedral and the terraces, stairs or lift chosen at booking
Duomo Museum and the Church of San Gottardo in Corte
Audio guide in ten languages with the audio-guide options
The Fabbrica's own guides take you through a separate entrance, the nave, the terraces by lift and the baptistery under the piazza, then leave you a museum pass. The listing states it is non-refundable.
What's included
Separate fast-track entrance and headset
Guided cathedral, terraces by lift and the archaeological area
Pass for the Duomo Museum and San Gottardo to use afterwards
Shared small group or private, in Italian, English, Spanish, German or French
Three questions settle it. Do you want the roof, and will you climb for it? Do you want someone to explain the building?
And do you need to be able to cancel?
Every option passes the same security check on the parvis; "skip the line" means the ticket queue. Shoulders and knees
covered, no large bags. The museum and San Gottardo are closed on Wednesdays.
Before you book
A church first. A monument second.
The Duomo is the cathedral of Milan and it works like one. Mass is said six times a day, confessions run from eight to six,
and anyone who comes to pray walks in free through the north door on the Galleria side. The tourist visit is a separate thing
with its own entrance, its own security lane and a ticket from the Veneranda Fabbrica, the body that has built and maintained
the cathedral since 1387 and still owns the marble quarry at Candoglia.
What you are really deciding is how far up you go and who takes you. The nave is one ticket. The roof is another, by
stairs or by lift. The museum, the baptistery under the piazza and the crypt of St Charles are add-ons or parts of a combination.
Every tour on this page is some mix of those parts plus a guide; the tour pages say exactly which.
1965
The year the fifth bronze door went in and the Fabbrica called the building finished, 578 years
after the first stone. The scaffolding never left: there is always a spire under repair.
Entry ticketRoof by liftRoof by stairsGuided tourPrivate guideWith the Last Supper
Candoglia marble: pink-white when quarried, grey where the city has touched it, and cleaned a spire at a time.
01
What needs a ticket?
The nave as a visitor, the terraces, the Duomo Museum with San Gottardo, the archaeological area and the Scurolo di San Carlo. Each area once per ticket.
02
What is free?
Prayer and Mass, every day, through the north door. The piazza, the facade and the Galleria next door. The Fabbrica's booked free-entry days, four a year.
03
Stairs or lift?
About 250 steps up a spiral staircase, or a lift from behind the apse followed by about 80 steps to the highest walk. The lift tickets go first.
04
Who should think twice?
Wheelchair users reach the first terrace only, by the south lift, 10:00 to 17:00. Anyone with vertigo, and anyone in shorts: the dress code is enforced at security.
Your visit
How a Duomo visit runs
An hour inside, an hour on the roof, an hour for the museum if you take it. Combined tickets are valid for two days, so the museum can wait until tomorrow.
01
Security on the parvis
Everyone queues for the same airport-style check in front of the facade. Shoulders and knees covered, no large bags. Fast-track tickets have their own lane at the terraces.
10 to 30 minutes
02
The nave
Fifty-two columns, the meridian line on the floor, St Bartholomew carrying his own skin, the Holy Nail forty metres up in the apse vault, and the saffron-yellow glass that, the story goes, gave risotto its colour.
About 60 minutes
03
Up to the roof
Stairs from the north side, about 250 steps in a spiral, or the lift from behind the apse. Then the walk between the spires, the flying buttresses and 3,400 statues, with the Madonnina above.
45 to 60 minutes
04
Museum and baptistery
The Duomo Museum in the Palazzo Reale holds the originals taken off the building; the archaeological area under the piazza is the 4th-century font where Ambrose baptised Augustine.
60 to 90 minutes
Plan your visit
Plan your Duomo di Milano day
Hours, the ticket, the dress code and the way there: one tab each.
Cathedral and terraces: open daily from 9:00; the Fabbrica's listings give 17:50 as the last entry for every site. The terraces close in rain, ice or strong wind.
Duomo Museum and San Gottardo: from 10:00, last ticket 17:50, closed on Wednesdays. Free on the last Sunday of the month with a booking.
Scurolo di San Carlo: closed on Sundays and religious holidays.
Worship: free entry 7:00 to 8:30 by the side doors and 8:00 to 19:00 by the north door of the facade.
Group visits pause during services: Saturday from 16:30, Sunday 9:30 to 12:30 and from 16:30. Check the Fabbrica's calendar for your date.
The Fabbrica sells the cathedral alone, the terraces alone (stairs or lift), the museum with the cathedral, the archaeological area and the Scurolo as add-ons, and combinations valid for two days. The same tickets are on GetYourGuide; three of them are on this page.
Each area can be entered once per ticket. Bring a passport or ID card; the Fabbrica's tickets are nominal.
Guided tours bundle the tickets with a guide and headsets. Groups of five or more must use headsets inside, which is why every tour here hands them out.
Reduced tickets exist for children from 6 to 12 and some students; under-6s go in free. Disabled visitors and one companion enter free. See the ticket guide.
Dress code: shoulders and knees covered, for everyone. No shorts, tank tops, sleeveless shirts, short skirts, see-through clothing. No high heels on the terraces.
Bags: no luggage or large bags, and there is no cloakroom at the cathedral. A small day bag passes. No food, drink, glass or sprays.
Cameras: photographs without flash are allowed on the visitor route; no tripods, no drones. Nothing during services.
Children: strollers are not admitted on the terraces and most listings exclude them altogether; a carrier works. Unaccompanied minors cannot go up.
Pets stay outside, assistance dogs excepted. Smoking, costumes and party groups are not allowed anywhere in the complex.
Metro: lines M1 (red) and M3 (yellow) to Duomo; the station opens onto the piazza. From Milano Centrale take M3 four stops, about seven minutes.
On foot from Centrale: about three kilometres, forty minutes, down Via Vittor Pisani and through Piazza della Repubblica.
Meeting points: every tour here meets on Piazza del Duomo, by a named shop at number 4, the Mondadori store, or the old metro entrance on the Museo del Novecento side.
Afterwards: Brera is ten minutes north past La Scala; the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II opens onto the north side of the piazza.
Height108.5 metresTo the top of the Madonnina. Until the Pirelli tower, nothing in Milan was allowed to stand taller.
Begun1386The apse first. The Veneranda Fabbrica was founded the next year to run the works, and never stopped.
StatuesAbout 3,400Inside and out, plus 135 spires and 55 monumental stained-glass windows.
StepsAbout 250To the first terrace by the stairs. The lift lands you there with about 80 to go.
MarbleCandogliaOne quarry on Lake Maggiore, reserved for this building since the 1390s and still worked by the Fabbrica.
RefundRead the cardThe Fabbrica's tickets are non-refundable. The four operator tours cancel free up to 24 hours before.
Where it is
Where the Duomo stands
Piazza del Duomo, the middle of Milan
Piazza del Duomo, 20122 Milano. Metro M1 and M3 "Duomo". Ticket offices at Piazza del Duomo 12 (museum) and 14/a (Sala delle Colonne).
The cathedral faces west across the piazza. Security and the visitor entrance are on the parvis in front of the facade; the
stairs to the terraces start on the north flank, the lift behind the apse on the east side. The museum is across the piazza to
the south, inside the Palazzo Reale. Every tour here meets on the piazza itself.
Milano Centrale to Duomo: M3 yellow, four stops, about seven minutes
Stairs entrance: north side, by the Galleria; lift: behind the apse
Museum and Biglietteria 2: Piazza del Duomo 12, closed Wednesday
Timing, what visitors wish they had known, the Mass timetable and the small print.
9:00, when the visitor entrance opens: the nave is quiet and the roof is empty for the first half hour.
The last slot before 17:50: the light goes gold on the spires and the Alps show on a clear day. Our pick from April to October.
Winter: fog is common from November to February and can hide the view; the stairs are the warmer option.
Sunday morning: group visits are suspended 9:30 to 12:30, so guided tours stay outside or reschedule. Book a ticket instead, or go in the afternoon.
Buy the lift option early. In summer the lift slots sell out days ahead while the stairs stay available.
Do the roof first on a hot day and the nave second: the spiral staircase is airless at three in the afternoon.
Combined tickets are valid two days. Nave and roof today, museum tomorrow morning, when it opens at ten.
Stand on the meridian line at solar noon, about 12:25 by the clock in winter time and an hour later in summer time, and watch the sun hit the month's zodiac sign.
From the Galleria's own rooftop walk you see the Duomo's flank at eye level; it is a separate ticket from a different seller.
Mass: weekdays 7:00, 8:00, 8:30 in the crypt, 11:00, 13:15 and 17:30; Sundays 7:00, 8:00, 9:30, 11:00 in Latin, 12:30 and 17:30. Free, through the north door.
Free-entry days 2026-27: 16 October and 4 November 2026, 2 February and 18 March 2027, booked a week ahead on duomomilano.it. See the free-days post.
Free museum Sundays: the last Sunday of each month from 27 September 2026, booking from the Tuesday before.
The Rito della Nivola lowers the Holy Nail from the apse vault once a year in September; on 4 November, the Feast of St Charles, the free opening runs 9:00 to 16:00 only.
The Fabbrica's tickets (combined, terraces, cathedral) and its own guided tour are non-refundable, including when you miss your slot.
The four operator tours list free cancellation up to 24 hours before and let you reserve now and pay later.
The terraces close in rain, ice or strong wind. The Fabbrica's guided tour swaps the museum in; plain ticket holders should check the notices on the Fabbrica's calendar page on the day.
The nave is open in any weather; the roof is exposed, so take a layer even in May.
3 hours · Guided walk, English, Last Supper reserved · Duomo or Santa Maria delle Grazie, by option
Every tour on this page stays within the cathedral complex. This one pairs the Duomo interior with the fifteen minutes in front of Leonardo's Last Supper that sell out weeks ahead, walking through the Galleria and past La Scala in between. The listing excludes the terraces, so add the roof on another day.
Last Supper reservedDuomo interiorNo terraces
FormatGuided walk, English, Last Supper reservedBook this
The guide
The Duomo di Milano, explained
Millions of people a year stand in front of a building that was a construction site for longer than most countries
have existed. Here is what they are looking at, and how to see it well.
Six centuries, one employer
Work began in 1386 on the site of the old cathedral of Santa Maria Maggiore, with the apse. In October 1387 Gian Galeazzo
Visconti, lord of Milan, set up the Veneranda Fabbrica del Duomo to run the works and gave it the marble quarry at Candoglia,
above Lake Maggiore; blocks came down the Navigli on barges marked AUF, ad usum fabricae, and paid no toll. French and German
masters argued with Lombard ones about the height, the proportions and the style, and the Fabbrica kept building through the
arguments. The main spire went up between 1762 and 1769, the Madonnina in December 1774, at night, without a ceremony.
Napoleon, crowned King of Italy under this roof on 26 May 1805, ordered the facade finished and it was, in 1813. The last of the
five bronze doors was inaugurated in 1965, and the Fabbrica called the building complete after 578 years. It still employs the
quarrymen, the marble workers and the restorers, and there is always one spire wrapped in scaffolding.
Candoglia marble in the Fabbrica's workshop. The quarry has supplied one building for six centuries.
What a ticket buys
The cathedral is a parish before it is a monument. Anyone may enter to pray through the north door, free, from eight in the
morning. The visitor route is different: a security check on the parvis, a nominal ticket, and a choice of parts. The nave on its
own. The terraces on their own, by stairs or by lift. The Duomo Museum across the piazza with the church of San Gottardo, the
archaeological area under the parvis, the Scurolo where St Charles Borromeo lies in rock crystal. The Fabbrica sells each part and
several combinations, valid for two days, and each area is entered once. Our ticket guide
goes line by line; the tour pages say which parts each tour includes.
The honest small print: "skip the line" never skips security, the lift lands you about 80 steps short of the
highest walk, and the Fabbrica's own tickets on GetYourGuide are non-refundable. The operator tours refund up to 24 hours before,
and their guides hold the tickets, which is the real queue you are skipping.
Stairs or lift
The stairs begin on the north flank, next to the Galleria: about 250 steps, most in a tight marble spiral with no landings to
speak of, then daylight on the first terrace. The lift is behind the apse and lands at the same level. From there both routes
share the roof: along the flank between the spires, up a further staircase of around 80 steps, and out onto the great slab over the
nave with the Madonnina above and, on a clear day, the Alps behind the Porta Nuova towers. Wheelchair users reach the first
terrace by the south lift between ten and five. Read the stairs-or-lift guide
before you pick an option.
The spiral to the first terrace. About 250 steps, no landings, and worth every one on the way down.
Timing it
Go at nine, when the visitor entrance opens, or take the last slot of the afternoon when the marble turns gold. Sunday mornings
belong to the liturgy and group visits pause until half past twelve. Wednesday is the museum's closing day. Winter brings fog that
can hide the view from the roof, and summer brings lift slots that sell out days ahead. Four days a year the Fabbrica opens the
cathedral and the museum free to anyone who books a week before; the dates are in our
free-days post.
Late afternoon on the roof, when the groups have gone and the Alps sometimes show.
Straight answers to what people ask most about the Duomo di Milano.
Do I need a ticket for the Duomo di Milano?
To visit as a tourist, yes: the nave, the terraces, the museum, the archaeological area and the Scurolo are all ticketed by the Veneranda Fabbrica, in several combinations. To pray or attend Mass, no: worship is free through the north door on the Galleria side, and the Feriale Chapel is open all day. Our ticket guide sets out what each ticket covers.
Is the Duomo free to enter?
For worship, always. For a visit, only on the Fabbrica's free-entry days, which must be booked a week ahead on duomomilano.it, and for disabled visitors with a companion. The Duomo Museum is free on the last Sunday of each month, with booking. The state-museum "first Sunday free" scheme does not apply: the Duomo is not a state museum. Details in the free-entry guide.
Stairs or lift to the terraces?
About 250 steps by the stairs, most of them in a narrow spiral; a short ride by the lift, then about 80 more steps to the highest walk under the spires. The lift option sells out first in high season. Our stairs-or-lift guide helps you choose.
How long does a visit to the Duomo take?
About an hour inside, 45 minutes to an hour on the roof, and two to three hours for the whole complex with the museum. The guided tours on this site run 1 to 2 hours; the Last Supper combination takes 3. Combined tickets are valid for the booked day and the next, so you can split it. See how a visit runs.
Can I climb up to the Madonnina?
No. The terraces end on the roof below the main spire; the Madonnina stands 108.5 metres up on top of it, and nobody but the Fabbrica's restorers goes there. From the highest terrace you look up at her from about forty metres away, which is as close as any visitor gets.
What does "skip the line" mean at the Duomo?
It skips the ticket queue, not the security check. Everyone passes the same airport-style control on the parvis, and the Fabbrica's own fast-track option uses a separate lane for the terraces. With a guided tour the guide holds the tickets, so you join the security queue and nothing else.
Is there a dress code?
Yes, and it is enforced at security: shoulders and knees covered for everyone, so no shorts, tank tops, sleeveless shirts, short skirts or see-through clothing. High heels are not allowed on the terraces. A scarf over the shoulders is accepted; a light pair of trousers in a bag is the summer fix.
Can I bring a backpack or a suitcase?
Luggage and large bags are turned away at security and there is no cloakroom at the cathedral. A small day bag is fine. Food, drink, glass, tripods, drones and sprays stay outside too, and non-folding strollers are not admitted.
Why is the Duomo Museum closed on Wednesdays?
Wednesday is the museum's weekly closing day, and the Church of San Gottardo in Corte closes with it. The cathedral and the terraces stay open. The Fabbrica sells a cheaper cathedral ticket on Wednesdays for that reason; the combined ticket is valid two days, so a Tuesday or Thursday museum visit still fits.
Is the Duomo di Milano a UNESCO World Heritage Site?
No. Italy placed it on its Tentative List in 1996 and took it off in 2005; a new candidacy was discussed in 2023. Santa Maria delle Grazie with the Last Supper, a few streets away, is the Milan site on the list. The history guide has the whole story, from 1386 to the last bronze door in 1965.
How do I get to the Duomo from Milano Centrale?
Take the yellow M3 metro four stops to Duomo, about seven minutes; the station opens onto the piazza. On foot it is about three kilometres, forty minutes. Every tour on this site meets on Piazza del Duomo itself, by a named shop or the old metro entrance, so there is no second journey.
Can I cancel a Duomo ticket or tour?
The Fabbrica's own listings are non-refundable: the combined ticket, the terraces ticket, the cathedral ticket and its fast-track guided tour. The four operator tours list free cancellation up to 24 hours before. Every tour page here says which rule applies before you click through.
Ready to book
Pick your ticket, pick your slot.
The cathedral's own combined ticket for two days at your pace, or a guide who rides the lift with you and cancels free up to 24 hours before.
Lift included
2 hoursFree cancellation
