The Leonardo gallery
His machines built from his manuscripts — the world's largest model collection.
Paolo Soave — CC BY 4.0 · 01albertop — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Rehman Abubakr — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Rehman Abubakr — CC BY-SA 4.0
Italy's largest science and technology museum bears Leonardo's name by double right: his flourishing city, and a gallery embodying his machines — cranes, flyers, war engines — as working models built from his manuscripts, the largest such collection in the world. But the museum runs far beyond Leonardo, and it is a declared family paradise: the real submarine Toti, entered on a booked tour; ships and locomotives at full size in vast halls; a space section with a Moon rock and craft; interactive labs for children in every wing — an old monastery become a science city in which a day disappears easily. It is Milan's answer when art has saturated the young — and its closeness to the Last Supper makes the pair a precisely balanced family half-day.
His machines built from his manuscripts — the world's largest model collection.
A real Italian submarine, walked through its narrow gut on tour.
Full-size ships and locomotives under vast roofs.
The space wing with its lunar stone and craft — wonder's finale.
Via San Vittore 21, 20123 Milan
Basilica of Sant'AmbrogioBeneath the high altar, behind the glass of a silver casket, three men lie side 5 minutes walk4.6
Leonardo's Last SupperOn the refectory wall of Santa Maria delle Grazie, between 1495 and 1498, Leonar5 minutes walk4.5
Palazzo LittaA seventeenth-century palace on Corso Magenta west of central Milan, its undulat8 minutes walk4.5
San Maurizio al Monastero MaggioreBehind an unpromising grey front on Corso Magenta hides the "Sistine of Milan": 8 minutes walk4.7
Roman Imperial PalaceThe remains of the Roman imperial palace in Milan, low ruins below street level 10 minutes walk4.5From four the labs and trains cast their spell; from eight the whole museum lands, submarine and space included. Teenagers find the interactive physics and communications wings at their level — few museums span the age arc so.
Painting first on its strict slot, then the open-ended museum — ten minutes' walk apart. Families sometimes split: adults to the mural, children ahead to the museum, lunch reuniting all in quiet San Vittore.
Two hours for the focused family route: Leonardo, submarine, one hangar, space. A full day comes easily to the willing — take the entrance map and plan; the building is a maze of wings.