Porta Venezia, Corso Buenos Aires

This is a prime shopping area without the elegance, or the prices, of Montenapoleone. Porta Venezia is the crossroads of three of the city’s different worlds: the elegance of Porta Nuova; the bustle of Corso Buenos Aires with its increasing immigrant population; and the more conventional Porta Romana. Along Corso Buenos Aires there are large department stores, cheap clothing boutiques and shoe shops, as well as supermarkets. The main street is wide and crowded with pedestrians and traffic, and here the buildings are large early 20th-century blocks. However there are some quiet side streets with attractive façades. Although this is not the most attractive area of the city it beats the others on price, public transport, and ease of shopping. Porta Venezia opens up into the Giardini Pubblici (now Parco Indro Montanelli) with the Villa Reale, one-time royal residence and now the city’s museum of 19th-century art, and the Pavilion of Contemporary Art (PAC). See also Porta Nuova.