GAM - Galleria d'Arte Moderna

The GAM houses Italy's most comprehensive collection of 19th and 20th-century art outside Rome, with works spanning Romanticism through early modernism. You'll find Francesco Hayez's famous The Kiss (yes, another version), plus stunning Divisionist paintings that shimmer with pointillist technique, and lesser-known gems from the Scapigliatura movement. The Grassi and Vismara collections add French Impressionists and Post-Impressionists to the mix, making this Milan's answer to the Musée d'Orsay.

The neoclassical Villa Reale provides an intimate setting where you move through elegant salons with original period furnishings and frescoed ceilings. Each room has a distinct personality, from the dramatic Romantic galleries to the light-filled Impressionist spaces overlooking the English garden. The scale feels manageable - you can actually focus on individual works without museum fatigue setting in after an hour.

Entry costs €5, making it exceptional value compared to Milan's pricier attractions. Most visitors rush through to tick boxes, but the real treasures are in the lesser-known Italian movements - spend time with the Divisionists like Segantini and Pellizza da Volpedo rather than bee-lining for the French Impressionists. Skip the ground floor contemporary sections entirely and head straight upstairs to the 19th-century masterpieces.