Tips on How to Visit the Last Supper by Leonardo Da Vinci in Milan

Practical tips on how to visit, buy the cheapest tickets and book the best tours to see Leonardo Da Vinci’s Last Supper painting in Milan.

The Last Supper Museum in Milan may only be visited on time-slot reservation tickets and tours making it essential to secure tickets or book tours in advance. Tickets sell out even in the low season so last-minute tickets are very rare. Once reservations are made, turn up at the Piazza de Santa Maria delle Grazie on time to swap vouchers for tickets. Then proceed to the museum and enjoy 15 minutes with one of the most famous works of art in the world. Follow the procedures carefully — there is very little leeway in timing and tickets.

Top Practical Tips on Tickets and How to Visit Da Vinci’s Last Supper in Milan

Some basic tips on buying tickets or booking tours to see Leonardo Da Vinci’s Last Supper painting in Milan, as well as how to proceed on the day of the visit include:

Buy tickets as soon as possible.
Book tours if preferred (or if no tickets are available) — this is possible months in advance.
Turn up at the correct time.
See below too a short description of the procedure on the day of the visit.
Transportation options to get to the Last Supper Museum.

Buy the Cheapest Tickets to See Leonardo’s Last Supper

The cheapest tickets to see the Last Supper (Cencacolo Vinciano) in the Santa Maria delle Grazie monastery complex in Milan are sold directly at the website of the museum. Time-slot reservation tickets must be bought at least a day in advance and must be in the name of the person visiting the museum.

In case of cancellations, very rare, it is possible to buy tickets at the museum early morning. However, once the Sold Out sign is displayed, it is not possible to line up for tickets, as no further tickets will be sold on the specific calendar day even if there are further cancelations of ticketholders failing to turn up.

See Buying Tickets to See the Last Supper by Leonardo Da Vinci in Milan for the process of buying tickets and when tickets become available — basically, buy tickets as early as possible, if necessary check back frequently to see if tickets become available, or consider the more expensive tour option. Tours usually do add value even for individual visitors who prefer to arrive prepared with their own information.

Booking Guided Tours to See the Last Supper in Milan

Only the museum sells tickets but many legitimate resellers, such as Get Your Guide, Tiqets, and Viator, are allowed to sell guided tours to see the Last Supper. Such tours are of course more expensive than tickets only but have much higher availability and may be booked months in advance to ensure admission on a specific day.

The cheapest guided tours are the official tours that are automatically added when buying tickets for visits at specific times. These are good value but like the tickets-only option fairly hard to book, especially at busy times.

The cheapest basic tours are around an hour in total — including the process of obtaining tickets and the 15 minutes spent with the Last Supper. Guides generally explain the history of Santa Maria delle Grazie, the Last Supper, its miraculous survival, the restoration process, and finer details to observe in the painting. Guides are licensed and fully qualified so do ask questions, especially at the end when they have time to explain finer points.

The basic tours are the cheapest but some may find better value overall in longer tours that include further sights in Milan. A walking tour of Milan (including a visit to the Duomo) is popular but also further sights such as the Santa Maria delle Grazie church and monastery complex, La Scala opera museum, the Sforza Castle, and the Duomo roof. When booking tours pay attention to exactly what is included — in some cases the tour includes only the exterior of some buildings or admission tickets to a museum but no guided tour of the museum itself.

When is the Best Time to See the Last Supper?

The best time to see the Last Supper is at whatever time slot reservation a visitor could manage to buy a ticket (or book a tour). Tickets sell out even in the low season, so there are always around 30 persons in the group that is allowed to enter the museum at any given time.

The timing of entrance (and exit) is strictly controlled so the flow of visitors is fairly constant. The light and air conditioning are similarly set so the time of day or season also makes very little difference to the atmosphere on the day of the visit.

If given the luxury of picking a time (rather than grabbing whatever timeslot remained available), it may be sensible to pick a time when the Santa Maria delle Grazie or other nearby sights are open to visit before or directly after seeing the Last Supper.

Practicalities on the Day of Visit

Last Supper Museum and Santa Maria delle Grazie in Milan

On the day of visiting the Last Supper Museum in Milan, turn up on time at the ticket office. Identification is confirmed to exchange vouchers for personalized tickets. Small bags must be left in lockers at the ticket office but cameras and phones may be used inside the museum. (Large bags and hand luggage trollies are not allowed — book nearby storage online if needed.)

Line up outside the museum and enter at the given time. Go through a series of rooms and continue on as doors automatically open and close to regulate humidity.

Once inside the refectory, visitors have 15 minutes with the Last Supper before the group is ushered out again.

See What to Expect when Visiting the Last Supper Museum for a more detailed description of the procedure walk through the museum.

Transportation to Visit The Last Supper in Milan

Tram 16 from the Duomo area stops right at Santa Maria della Grazie and the Leonardo's Last Supper Museum.

Getting to the Last Supper Museum in Milan is fairly easy — walking from the center is a sensible option as visitors will pass many further sights. From the Duomo, plan on 20 minutes without stopping en route. Hop-on Hop-off buses stop at the adjacent Santa Maria delle Grazie church.

Public transportation is a great option too. Tram 16 (from near the Duomo) stops right in front of the museum at Santa Maria delle Grazie stop.

From further afield, the metro is fast — Conciliazione (line 1 / red) is the closest stop to the museum but Cadorna station (metro lines 1 or 2 / green) is only marginally further away.