Milan is a tough cookie for those with a big ego: the pressure to look great is enormous. Fair enough, selection of beautiful designer goods is breath-taking, but so are the prices.

Luckily, the locals engage in something the tourists are usually blindly unaware of: bargain hunt of the world’s greatest brands. It is a whole new parallel world altogether, where one has to know where and when to shop. Not surprisingly, Milan is a city with a really large designer outlets concentration. It won’t necessarily be extra cheap, but if you know where to look for, you are likely to get some very cool designer stuff with 50% discount all year long. This gets even more interesting during sales period, where the already discounted items get another 40-70 (!) % reduction, depending on the brand and of course, with lesser chances to find a suitable model/ size for you.

Bottom line, you need to be either a loaded attention seeking starlet or a complete tourist or wannabe to shop in the streets like Montenapoleone. If you feel cooler than that, you look for those underground places and go there with an open mind!

Even if you are stopping by at Milan for one day only, it IS feasible to visit few of such gems combining it with the sightseeing in Milan. There are much more good outlet stores in Milan than the ones I will be describing here, but with limited time at disposal, you cannot possibly hope to visit them all, so you have to make a choice based on the : 1) brands you like, 2) distance to the place vs city center, 3) accessibility, 4) prices you can expect.

I put together an itinerary visiting 3 great places for a day of shopping and sightseeing in Milan and rated those stores based on the above factors, 5 being the best mark, 1 the worst. I would not overdo and try to visit more than that- I tried though and got really exhausted! It doesn’t matter how addicted to shopping you are, it has to stay a pleasant experience!

Ready? Grab Milan map, circle these places and go for it!

If you want more details on each of these stores, check out my blog in the near future as I will be posting a detailed overview with pics and detailed descriptions.

1. Start the day of shopping at “Il Salvagente”or the “Human savior” (that’s what the name means!).

The store’s neighbourhood is quite nice and relatively close to the city center. You can get there using public transportation and walk to the exact address.

• Brands present: rate 5:

Givenchy, Dolce&Gabbana, Gucci, Armani,… they have really many.

• Distance to the place vs city center: 3.5

Around 30 mins walk.

• Accessibility: 4

A decent connection with public transportation and a short walk from there.

• Prices you can expect: 3

You will get around 50% off the original price all year long, which still is expensive for an outlet.

Total score: 3,9

Address: Via Fratelli Bronzetti 16, 20129 Milan

2. From “Il Salvagente” walk to the Spartaco street. They should better call this street “Etro” street, as most of the buildings scream “Etro” there. I believe Etro brand’s corporate headquarters are there, or at least one has a feeling it is there. Funny enough, while walking on the street, you may occasionally notice modest bell rings with other extra famous brands- Prada for example.

Naturally, this street hosts “Spazio Etro” Etro brand outlet store, which is located not far from the main “Etro” building, on the opposite side of the street.

• Brands present: rate 4.

Etro only. If you like Etro, then you hit a jackpot, it is a mono brand store.

• Distance to the place vs city center: 3.5

Around 30 mins walk.

• Accessibility: 4

Good connection with public transportation.

• Prices you can expect: 4

You will get around 50% off the original price for most of the items and, luckily, some items on “Special sale”, which can be discounted up to 70-80%.

Total score: 3,9

Address: Spaccio Etro: Via Spartaco, 3 – Milan

3. From Etro, prepare for a long walk to the city center. Stop for a coffee on a way, visit Duomo, La Scala, Galleria Vittorio Emmanuelle, other famous sites, do some people watching at Montenapoleone and surrounding streets. Go up via Montenapoleone street and you will bump into Via Manzoni. From there, turn right and while you are at Via Manzoni, head to DMagazineOutlet store.

• Brands present: rate 5.

Prada, Vivienne Westwood, Dolce & Gabbana- you name it, they likely have it.

• Distance to the place vs city center: 5

It is practically in the city center which is great for an outlet as you don’t feel to be loosing time.

• Accessibility: 5

Good connection with public transportation and on foot from Milan’s most famous sights.

• Prices you can expect: 2

You will get around 50% off the original price for most of the items. Trouble is, most items are from really old collections. Think Prada dress from 2011 collection with a discount of 50% from original price but still costing around 1000 EUR. That is expensive for an outlet!

Total score: 4, 25

Address: Via Manzoni 44, 20121 Milan

And now… time for another coffee (Armani coffee place is on the same street, opposite direction- or pick another, less touristy spot) and enjoy the rest of your stay in Milan!