How to Visit Sforza Castle: Hours, Entry, Free Days and Everything You Need to Know (2026)
The short answer
The three courtyards are free and open every day from 7am to 7.30pm. The eight museums share one €10 ticket and open Tuesday to Sunday, 10am to 5.30pm. The catch is the desk: the ticket office closes at 4.30pm, and so does the last entry to every museum. The first Sunday of each month is free for everyone, and the second Tuesday is free for anyone up to 25. Arrive by 3pm and you have time for the Pietà Rondanini and the ducal rooms.
Two visits behind one gate
The Castello Sforzesco works like two places at once. The courtyards are a public space. You walk in under the Filarete Tower from Piazza Castello, and nobody asks you for a ticket until you reach a museum door. The museums are the paid half: eight collections in the old ducal apartments, the Rocchetta and the former Spanish hospital, all on one ticket.
Knowing which half you want settles most of your planning. If you have half an hour between other sights, the courtyards are enough, and they cost you nothing. If you want Michelangelo's last sculpture, the Sforza rooms or the mummies, you need the museum ticket. Sforza Castle guided tours put that ticket inside the fare and walk you to the right door.
Opening hours, part by part
| Part of the castle | Days | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Courtyards | Every day | 7am – 7.30pm, free |
| Museums | Tuesday – Sunday | 10am – 5.30pm |
| Ticket office and last entry | Tuesday – Sunday | 4.30pm |
| Battlement walk (Merlate Panoramiche) | Tuesday – Sunday | 10am – 5pm last entry |
| Info Point, in the clock tower | Tuesday – Sunday | 9.30am – 5.30pm |
The museums close every Monday, and on 25 December, 1 January and 1 May. The courtyards stay open on those days. So a Monday in Milan still gets you the castle's outdoor half and Parco Sempione behind it. Save the museums for Tuesday. Some rooms can close at short notice, so check the current hours and notices the day before you go.
What the castle's own tickets cost
| Ticket | Price | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| Museums, full | €10 | All the museums, one entry each, on the day you buy it |
| Museums, reduced | €5 | Students, visitors 65+, EU citizens aged 18–25 |
| Museums, free | €0 | Under-18s, a visitor with disabilities and one companion, museum-card holders |
| Battlement walk | €10 / €5 | A stretch of the ramparts; museums not included |
| The castle's own guided visit | €20 | Saturday 11am in English, museum ticket included |
| Audio guide | €5 | Six languages, rented at the Bookshop |
Two rules matter more than the prices. Tickets are not refundable, so buy on the day if your plans might shift. And a free ticket is still a ticket. Under-18s and every other free category need one from the desk, or an ingresso omaggio online. Each reduced and free category is answered in the FAQs.
Free days, and how to use them
Two free days repeat every month, and both are worth building your trip around.
- First Sunday, free for everyone. The next are 4 October, 1 November and 6 December 2026, then 3 January 2027.
- Second Tuesday, free up to age 25. The next are 13 October, 10 November and 8 December 2026.
You still collect a ticket on a free day, and the desk still shuts at 4.30pm. Arrive when the museums open at 10am and the cut-off never becomes your problem. The events calendar sets the free days beside the exhibitions running this autumn.
Two desks, one ticket
The castle sells museum tickets at two desks, and one ticket works at either. The first is the Museo d'Arte Antica entrance. The second is the atrium of the Museo Pietà Rondanini, inside the Ospedale Spagnolo on the Cortile delle Armi.
Pick yours by where you arrive. The M1 stop at Cairoli puts you 200 metres from the main museum desk. Cadorna, on both metro lines, is 350 metres from the Pietà desk, and that atrium has lockers for your bag. The castle map marks both doors and the Info Point.
What is closed right now
Three things are off your route at the moment, and each has a stand-in.
- Leonardo's painted room. It opened briefly for guided scaffold visits in February and March 2026 for the Winter Olympics, and it has closed again. The Ducal Chapel of 1473 and the Sala delle Colombine sit on the same route through the Museo d'Arte Antica.
- The prehistory section of the archaeology museum is closed while it is re-arranged. The Egyptian gallery, on the same ticket, is open.
- Foppa's Madonna del Libro is off display for maintenance. A fifteenth-century Lombard Madonna and Child hangs in its place.
The Sala delle Asse is the one visitors ask about most, and it stays closed for restoration. You can still stand in the Ducal Chapel a few rooms away, frescoed in 1473. What to see plans a route through the rooms that are open.
Getting to Piazza Castello
The metro is the easy way. Take the red M1 to Cairoli, or the green M2 to Lanza, 240 metres from the desk. Trams 1, 2, 4, 12 and 14 stop alongside, and buses 50, 57, 58 and 85 run close by. Milano Cadorna railway station is 400 metres from the Pietà desk.
Leave the car behind. Piazza Castello is pedestrian and inside Area C, the city's charging zone. If you hold a disabled badge, you have two bays in the piazza and two on Via Quintino Sella. The accessibility guide covers the ramps, the lifts and the wheelchairs you can borrow.
How long to allow
| If you want | Allow |
|---|---|
| The courtyards only | 20–30 minutes, as the city walks do |
| A guided museum visit | 90 minutes inside |
| The reserved ticket with the app guide | Sold as a three-hour visit |
| Museums at your own pace | Be at a desk by 3pm |
The number that governs your day is 4.30pm. Last entry applies to each museum sector, not just the front door. A ticket bought at 4.25pm gets you into one museum, not eight. If the Pietà and the ducal rooms both matter to you, be in by 3pm.
Ticket, app or guide?
You have four ways in, and the right one depends on how much explanation you want.
- The desk ticket, €10. The cheapest, with no booking needed. The audio guide is €5 more.
- The castle's own guided visit, €20. Saturdays at 11am in English, with no booking; meet at 10.45 at the Info Point.
- A reserved ticket with an app guide, from $23. Your entry is reserved ahead, the commentary plays on your own phone in six languages, and you can cancel free up to 24 hours ahead. See the reserved ticket.
- A guided Pietà tour, from $58. Ninety minutes inside, the ticket in the fare, Michelangelo first. See the guided Pietà tour.
If you are torn, the question is whether you want someone to choose what you look at. Sforza Castle guided tours compared sets out what each guided fare includes, and the fare that adds the Duomo terraces too.
Where to begin
Walk in free at 7am if you like, but be at a museum desk by 3pm. Start at the Pietà if Michelangelo is your reason, and keep the ticket for the rest. Every way in, priced side by side, is on Sforza Castle Tours.
Fares that sort the ticket for you
Milan: Sforza Castle Entry Ticket with Digital Audio Guide
Reserved museum entry and an app commentary in six languages.
From $23 per person
Check Availability
Milan: Sforza Castle and Michelangelo's Pietà Rondanini Tour
Ninety guided minutes inside, museum ticket included, the Pietà first.
From $58 per person
Check Availability
Duomo with Terraces and Sforza Castle Guided Tour in Milan
Inside the Duomo, onto its terraces, then ninety minutes in the castle museums.
From $148 per person
Check Availability