Hinterland Milan – All our local tips

A long long time ago, in 1135, a French Cistercian abbot decided to found an abbey in the rich plain just south of the town of Milano. It quickly became a very important religious and economical center.

The present church, that is still in a very agricultural area, was erected between the XII and the XIII century in French gothic style with Italian influences. The walls are made up of red bricks, that were used more often than stone at the time. The interior is decorated with frescoes from the XIV-XVII century. You should definitely not miss the fresco on the right side of the transect, around the stairs that lead to the ancient dormitory of the monks. It is dedicated to the genealogical tree of the Benedectine Order.

On the right side of the church visit the cloister and have a look in the superb dining hall of the monks! Another thing that is very particular as architecture is the bell tower just over the church. A little curiosity, most of all if you’re coming from Czech Republic: the first king of Bohemia was buriedn in this church.

It’s not very easy to get there without a car. There is only the 77 bus, that runs from the metro station of Corvetto (and not too frequently). If you take it, it stops just in front of the abbey.

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Abazia di Chiaravalle | Art & culture | Free
Via S. Arialdo 102 | Hinterland
Tue – Sat 09:00 -12:00 & 14:30 – 17:30, Sun 14:30 – 17:30

My friends and I have had for a few years a recurrent appointment to go out on Thursday nights. But as you surely know, sometimes it’s hard to get everyone to agree on where to go: beer or wine, a small bite or a nice restaurant? When we can’t get an agreement, someone usually says: La Ratera?

A small pub with a sizeable covered courtyard, they specialize in quality beer from different countries (from Sardinia to Belgium, they have a nice list), but don’t forget wine drinkers either.

Perhaps more surprising for a pub, their food list is quite long and rather different from what you would expect of a pub. Dishes like ‘Roast lamb with sweet garlic  sauce and Brussels sprouts’ or ‘Parma culatello with onions “Duchesse de Bourgogne”‘ sound (and look) like they would be more at home at a high-scale French restaurant. Unfortunately, another thing they have in common is the size of the portions, not particularly generous; but unless you are really starving, I assure  you will enjoy the experience thoroughly.

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La Ratera | Bars, Restaurants (International)
Via Ratti, 22 | Hinterland | +390248202932
19:30 – 01:30 daily

Milano is definitely not a very “green” city, but luckily there are a few nice parks just out of the city center.

One of the nicest is definitely the parco delle Cave, near Baggio, in the south-west part of the town. The area was once occupied by open quarries that has been filled with water, so to create some nice little lakes, around which there is now grass and woods.

It’s a really pleasant place, most of all in a sunny late spring afternoon, when it’s not yet too hot and it’s great to lay down on the grass just in front of the lake. During the weekend it can be quite crowded since a lot of people go there to have a pic-nic and get out of the pollution of the city.

Remember that inside the park there are no cafés or places where you can buy anything, so if you plan to have lunch there you need to take everything with you.

I would definitely not suggest swimming in the lakes: the water is not clear and it can be quite dangerous since it’s quite deep. I wouldn’t go there in the evening after sunset. It was once known as quite a dangerous area by night, now it has improved a lot, but I wouldn’t feel too safe anyway.

In winter the park lose quite a lot of its charm (as most parks, actually), but maybe a walk in a sunny day could be not such a bad idea anyway!

To get there you can get the 67 bus near the metro stop of Conciliazione or Bande Nere and than get out at the stop “Forze Armate – Barocco”. From there you take via Cascina Barocco and, near the end of the road, on the right, there is one of the access to the park.

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Parco delle Cave | Relaxing | Free
Parco delle Cave | Hinterland
Open daily

Saturday nights are good for sitting down with friends over a good glass of wine (or 2 or 3!) and when I feel like a change from Italian cuisine I find “Seven” is a nice alternative. The steak is good, and a friend took the chicken and couscous as pictured and was also happy.

The wine list is excellent and usually their special of the month is good value and good quality. They are well informed about wine and give good advice.

What I also like about this place is the atmosphere. There are a few different rooms to dine in and also a fantastic outdoor area, I recommend asking for a table outside if you can. Regardless, the place is decorated in an interesting manner with a predominance of IKEA furnishings. Bright and colourful IKEA style, but nice and cosy too. Across the canal (not quite a Venetian canal, but a canal nevertheless) you can stop off for an after dinner drink or dance at Ragoo (see the Ragoo article)

You can also find Seven restaurants more central on Corso Columbo, 11 and Viale Monte Nero, 29.

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Seven | Restaurants (Intern.) | Meal & wine € 25.00
Via Bertelli, 4 | Hinterland | +39022615190
Mon – Sat 19:00 – 00:00