Sono andato al Museo del Violino a Cremona senza sapere praticamente niente di violini, pensavo…read morefosse una cosa per esperti. Invece mi ha sorpreso tantissimo: è moderno, con schermi touch e audio che ti spiegano tutto in modo semplice, e vedere da vicino gli Stradivari originali è davvero impressionante, sembrano opere d'arte perfette. L'auditorium è bellissimo e ho avuto la fortuna di sentire un violino storico suonato dal vivo: un suono incredibile! Consigliatissimo anche a chi come me non è un musicista, vale ogni euro del biglietto.

We visited this museum in 2015 and have wanted to come back ever since. It really is a great,…read moremodern museum which has excellent displays of violins, violas, and other string instruments. The museum is absolutely stunning! It takes you through Cremona's five-century history of violin making by introducing you to the great masters and their violins, violas and cellos. Step-by-step, the museum describes everything that rotates around the life of the violin. You begin with how it all started; then, moves on to the luthier's workshop, where you can smell the scent of resin and wood. There is an onion shaped room for listening (which was closed on this visit). In the next room, the virtual books speak of Cremona's school of classical music and on a map of Cremona from the Stradivari era you can see the distribution of the shops. Perhaps the best part of the museum is their "Treasure Room," a room entered through heavy tapestry with lighting focused to highlight the superb violins on display. There were several made by Antonio Stradivari and by "del Gesù," among others. Both men lived in Cremona in the early part of the 1700's and knew each other. Bartolomeo Giuseppe Antonio Guarneri ("del Gesù") was an Italian luthier (violin maker) from the Guarneri family of Cremona. He rivals Antonio Stradivari with regard to the respect and reverence accorded his instruments, and for many prominent players and collectors his instruments are the most coveted of all. (Think $2-4 million for a Stradivari and $8-10 million for a "del Gesù."). At the end of your visit, you get to see the Permanent Collection of Contemporary Violin Making. The collection also explores how the modern world has joined the world of the violin with the promotion of the friends of Stradivari network. The last room is dedicated to the violin's role in films. This museum should not be missed. It is truly a treasure. The museum is closed on Mondays.

A great museum that is perfect to do with children or by yourself. Audio tour available in multiple…read morelanguages. Kids interactive area. Many hands on exhibits. Covers the works of da Vinci with displays, touch screens and models. Really nicely done.

The DaVinci Museum is a must in Milan. Seeing his brilliance come to life in this exhibition of his…read moreinventions, many interactive, is an excellent representation of why he is remembered as an engineering genius as well as a painter. 45

This is a museum/school. It was a bit hard finding the museum, but pretty amazing once you find…read moreit. Tons of religious paintings that are larger than life and I mean large! Couldn't believe the size of some of these. It is strange that the exit is the entrance, so you will have to walk ALL the way back. Still, an amazing place and check out my pictures!

This museum is a must see when in Milan. It is so wonderful that I would even recommend a trip to…read moreMilan just to see it. The art is mostly religious but the setting is what makes it special. The wall color is different in each room and the scale of the art is unlike anything I have ever seen in either the Uffizi, Prado, the Louve or the Met. Paintings the size of Times Square billboards cover walls of intense blues, teals and magenta. We had the good fortune of seeing a spectacular exhibit featuring the work of Giorgio Armani whose elaborate creations were on display in almost every room. The building itself was a marvel. Timed tickets are a must.

The museum is a small museum on the side of the duomo and houses a great collection of mostly…read moreItalian artists for the 1900s, including my very favorite Modigliani! It is worth visiting because of the art in the museum. The museum itself is not functional, the lighting is not designed to present the art at its best (artificial light reflects on the glass so you have to move to a side to enjoy some of the art with glass in the front) and it has a weird flow that requires staff to guide visitors in and out. It is very small, so good size if you want to get in and out, especially if you have young ones with you that may not enjoy museums as much.

Handsome installations in beautiful, colonnaded spaces offer a concentrated view of Italian…read moremodernist art, with the an emphasis on Futurism. With few signs, wayfinding is very difficult, and the separation of up and down escalators (each is located at opposite ends of the building) result in an unnecessarily tiring experience.

Take a cruise or a ferry to explore Lake Como…read more We booked a day trip from Milan to Lake Como with Ciao Florence. The public ferry was an interesting experience. Our family was able to find a place to stand on the top deck and eventually find seats. Our tour guide and group were scattered all over the ferry which made it a bit disorganized. The ferry itself was amazing. The views were magical on a wonderful sunny Friday. When our guide finally located most of the group that had migrated to the top floor, he gave us a bit of insight into Villa Carlotta. The history is one with many families involved. Originally built on ancestral land by the Clerici family who became successful silk merchants. The country estate and gardens were built in the 1690s. As with many wealthy families, the great grandson spent too much money building an extravagant palazzo, the Palazzo Clerici in Milan, which forced his heirs to see their Lake Como villa sold to cover their debts. Over the next couple of hundred years, the property continued to exchange hands until it was eventually was converted to a museum and gardens by royal decree. Nice to be able to see it from the ferry. Maybe next time, we will have more time to explore the villa and its gardens.

What an amazing place! It's a museum and a garden, the bottom floor is a cool interactive museum.read more