๐ฎ๐น Milan ยท First days
First 48 hours in Milan
The first two days in Milan, in priority order: what has to happen, what should, and what can wait. Tick things off as you go.
For Milan
How long you are staying
Must do
- TIM, Vodafone, WindTre and Iliad all sell prepaid SIMs; bring your passport and, if you have it, your codice fiscale, since operators register both at activation. A local number unlocks Satispay, SPID and most app sign-ups.
- Paper single tickets went in January 2026. Tap a bank card or phone at the metro gates (in and out) and once on trams and buses, or buy digital tickets in the ATM Milano app.
- Book the Agenzia delle Entrate appointment now if you did not get the code at a consulate. Nothing is signed or registered without it.
- Non-EU arrivals have eight working days from entry. Collect the yellow kit at a post office, hand it in at a Sportello Amico counter (or sign at the Sportello Unico if your visa is for work), and keep the receipt on you.
- Ask the landlord to register the contract with the Agenzia delle Entrate within 30 days and send you the RLI receipt. Without it there is no residenza, and without residenza no health card.
Should do
- The single emergency number for police, ambulance and fire. 113, 118 and 115 still connect too.
- The shop with the blue T sign sells bus tickets, marche da bollo for official forms, phone top-ups and stamps, and many take bill payments.
- Where paper tickets are still sold, stamp it in the machine on board or at the gate the first time you use it. An unvalidated ticket counts as no ticket, and inspectors fine on the spot.
- Do it the day you move in. The address check for residenza is unannounced, and a name nobody can find closes the file.
- Bring your passport, codice fiscale and lease. Without residenza you may only be offered a non-resident account, which you can upgrade later.
- That is where you register with the health service and choose a doctor once you have residenza or a permit receipt. Look up the one for your address.
- Both are camera-enforced on weekdays from 07:30 to 19:30. Area C costs โฌ7.50 a day; Area B bans older vehicles outright, and the list grows every October.
- Advertised rents leave out the building charges for heating, the porter and the lift. Ask for last year's statement before you sign.
Nice to do
- Ask for un caffรจ and drink it standing at the counter. Pay first at the till in busy bars, and expect to pay more for the same coffee at a table.
- From about 18:30, a spritz or a Negroni sbagliato comes with snacks; in some bars a buffet. It is how Milan meets after work.
- Most embassies run a registration or alert service for nationals living abroad. It takes two minutes and helps in an emergency.
Your first 48 hours in Milan0/160% done. Ticks are saved on this device.
- Must do0/5
- Should do0/8
- Nice to do0/3
Emergency112 ยท Police 113
Land with an Insider beside you โ