The Last Supper in Milan: How to Get Tickets, Even When They Are Sold Out

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Leonardo da Vinci’s Last Supper is one of the most famous paintings in the world and one of the hardest to see. It covers a wall of the former refectory of Santa Maria delle Grazie in Milan, it cannot travel, and to protect it, only small groups are admitted for about fifteen minutes at a time. The official tickets sell out within hours of release, often months in advance, and many visitors arrive in Milan only to discover that there is simply no way in on the day.

The good news is that there are still ways to see it, even at short notice. This guide explains how the official booking system works, when a guided tour is the better option, how to combine the Last Supper with the Duomo and the rest of Milan, and what to expect inside those fifteen minutes.

Your Ticket Options at a Glance

Option	Availability	What you get	Best for
Official ticket	Released in blocks months ahead; sells out fast	Timed entry, about 15 minutes inside	Planners who book the day sales open
Ticket + guided tour	Often available when official tickets are gone	Entry plus an expert guide	Most visitors, last-minute plans
Small-group tour	Limited places	Guide, smaller group	Art lovers, couples
Walking tour + Last Supper	Good	City centre walk and entry	First-time visitors to Milan
Duomo, Last Supper and La Scala	Good	Three highlights with a walking tour	One full day in Milan
Last Supper + bus tour	Good	Entry and a hop-on hop-off tour	Families, travellers who prefer to ride

How the Official Booking System Works

The Last Supper is managed as a state museum, the Cenacolo Vinciano. A reservation is mandatory for every ticket, and tickets are released in blocks covering several months at a time. In 2026, for example, tickets for May to August went on sale in late March, and tickets for September to December in late June. Online, you can book up to five tickets per order.

The museum is open from Tuesday to Sunday, from 8:15 to 19:00, with the last entry at 18:45, and it is closed on Mondays, on 25 December and on 1 January. If you know your travel dates early, set a reminder for the release date and book within the first hours. If you do not, or if you are reading this a few weeks before your trip, go straight to the tour options below.

Why a Guided Tour Is Often the Better Choice

Guided tours buy blocks of entry slots in advance, which is why they are frequently available when the official calendar shows nothing. The price is higher than a bare ticket, but you get more than entry. Fifteen minutes is very little time in front of a painting this layered, and a good guide prepares you before you go in: which apostle is which, why Judas is in shadow, how Leonardo used perspective to draw your eye to Christ, and why so much of the original surface has been lost.

• The Last Supper: skip-the-line ticket and guided tour: the core option, with the guide’s explanation before and during the visit.
• Small-group guided tour: the same visit with fewer participants.
• Semi-private tour of the Last Supper and the Duomo: an upgrade for travellers who want a more personal pace.

What You Will See in Fifteen Minutes

Leonardo painted the Last Supper between about 1495 and 1498 for Ludovico Sforza, Duke of Milan. Rather than working in true fresco on wet plaster, he experimented with paint on a dry wall, which let him work slowly and build up detail but meant the paint began to flake within decades. Over the following centuries the painting suffered damp, overpainting, and in 1943 an Allied bomb that destroyed much of the refectory; the wall survived, protected by sandbags. A restoration lasting more than twenty years was completed in 1999.

What remains is still extraordinary. Leonardo captures the moment just after Christ announces that one of the apostles will betray him, and the twelve react in four groups of three, each figure a study in shock, denial or doubt. Look for:

• Christ at the vanishing point: all the lines of the room converge on his head.
• Judas: leaning back into shadow, clutching a small bag, the only figure whose face is darkened.
• Peter and John: Peter leaning in towards John with a knife in his hand.
• The opposite wall: Donato Montorfano’s Crucifixion, painted in 1495, which most visitors forget to turn around and see.

Before you enter, you pass through a series of filtered chambers that control humidity and dust. Arrive at least 20 minutes before your slot; late arrivals cannot be accommodated.

Combine It with the Duomo

The Duomo di Milano is the other unmissable sight, and the rooftop is the highlight: you walk among the Gothic spires and statues with the city spread out below. In 2026, the Duomo Pass including the cathedral, the rooftop and the museum costs around €22 with the stairs or €26 with the lift. Entry to the cathedral alone is free, but expect a security queue, and shoulders and knees must be covered, including on the rooftop.

The combined tours are worth a look if you have only one day: the Duomo and Last Supper with guided city tour or the Duomo, Last Supper and La Scala tour covers the big three. If you have the Last Supper sorted already, the Duomo fast-track ticket with rooftop access and a walking tour handles the rest.

A Leonardo Day in Milan

Leonardo spent nearly twenty years in Milan, and you can build a whole day around him:

• Morning: your Last Supper slot at Santa Maria delle Grazie, then a look at Bramante’s tribune in the church itself.
• Late morning: across the street, the Casa degli Atellani and the restored vineyard Ludovico Sforza gave to Leonardo.
• Lunch: in the Magenta district, one of Milan’s most elegant residential neighbourhoods.
• Afternoon: the Sforza Castle, where Leonardo decorated the Sala delle Asse, and Michelangelo’s last sculpture, the Pietà Rondanini. The combined guided tour covers both sites.
• Evening: aperitivo in the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, then the Duomo lit up at night.

More Leonardo in Milan

If the Last Supper leaves you wanting more, Milan has several other places where Leonardo’s mind is on display:

• The Pinacoteca Ambrosiana: Leonardo’s Portrait of a Musician hangs here, and the neighbouring Biblioteca Ambrosiana holds the Codex Atlanticus, the largest collection of his drawings and notes, shown a few sheets at a time in rotating displays.
• The National Museum of Science and Technology Leonardo da Vinci: a short walk from Santa Maria delle Grazie, with a gallery of models built from his designs for machines, bridges and flying devices. It is a good choice with children.
• The Leonardo3 Museum: in the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, with interactive reconstructions of his inventions and a digital study of the Last Supper, useful before or after your visit.

Together with the Sforza Castle, these make Milan the best city in the world to understand Leonardo not only as a painter, but as an engineer, scientist and court designer.

Practical Tips

• Book the Last Supper first: it is the hardest ticket in Milan. Build the rest of your plans around your time slot.
• Avoid Mondays: the Last Supper is closed.
• Bring ID: tickets are often personal, and names may be checked.
• Travel light: large bags are not allowed inside. If you are arriving or leaving that day, use Radical Storage near Milano Centrale or Cadorna.
• Arriving by air: a private transfer from Malpensa takes you straight to your hotel, and AirHelp can check whether a delayed flight entitles you to compensation.
• Stay connected: e-tickets and meeting points arrive by email and messenger. An eSIM from Airalo or Saily keeps you online; see our eSIM guide.

Frequently Asked Questions

How far in advance should I book the Last Supper?

As early as possible. Official tickets are released in blocks covering several months and often sell out within days. If they are gone, guided tours usually still have availability.

How long can you see the Last Supper?

About 15 minutes. Groups are admitted at fixed times to protect the painting.

Is the Last Supper open on Mondays?

No. It is open from Tuesday to Sunday and closed on Mondays.

Can I buy Last Supper tickets on the day?

Rarely. Occasional cancellations appear, but you should not count on it. A guided tour booked online is the realistic last-minute option.

Is the Last Supper a fresco?

Not in the strict sense. Leonardo painted it on a dry wall, not on wet plaster, which is why it began to deteriorate so early.

Plan Your Stay

Milan is the gateway to the Italian lakes. Spend a day or two on Lake Como with our Lake Como travel guide and our town-by-town hotel guide, or treat yourself to a stay at Villa d’Este. For more tickets in the city, browse all Milan attractions.

Related guides: read our articles on a Lake Como day trip from Milan, Turin tickets and a two-day guide and Venice tickets.

Spending time in Milan? See our guide to Milan: the Duomo rooftop, La Scala and the Navigli.

For fashion, design and contemporary art, see our guide to Milan for design and fashion lovers.