Milan raises its hand to high-end fashion

Unless you're coming here to shop or ogle da Vinci's Last Supper, save your cash and keep on trucking.

A big, bustling, superficial city, Milan is an economic hub that is as far away from the Tuscan countryside as you can get.

Long synonymous with end-high fashion, this is the place to get dressed for success.

Too bad about the world's fourth-largest cathedral (dominating the Piazza del Duomo); most tourists in Milan are too busy worshipping at the hemlines of Gucci, Prada, Armani and Versace.

The wares of these top Milan-born designers are concentrated in the pedestrianized Golden Quad fashion district northeast of the Piazza del Duomo and marked by the streets Mazoni, Monte Napoleone, della Spiga and Sant' Andrea.

You'll also find clothes by less bank-breaking, up-and-coming designers around Corso di Porta Ticinese.

With a bit of patience and fashion savvy you can even bag yourself a designer outfit at an affordable price by trawling Milan's glut of factory outlet stores, some of which lie quite a distance from the centre.

Central Milan is domainted by the Castello Sforzesco with its collection of museums and galleries and a 47-hectare park.

South of the castle lies the Santa Maria delle Grazie church, where Leonardo da Vinci's Last Supper fresco graces a wall in the adjoining refrectory.