If you’re in Milan and you’re an outdoor fun or sports enthusiast, you can’t miss the Idroscalo.
Located near Milan Linate Airport, the Idroscalo is an artificial water basin (circa 2.5k x 300m) built out of a sandpit, in 1928, as a seaplane landing base. With the decline in popularity of seaplanes as a means of transport it was re-equipped as a highly successful sports-recreational area.
In the summer season the "Milano beach" entices those who seek a seaside vibe but, year round, it also attracts families and sports enthusiasts thanks to its wide range of sporting and recreational activities.
Numerous sports disciplines are catered for such as trekking, running (6 km track), fitness, swimming, rugby, climbing, sailing and canoeing (at the Italian Naval League nautical base), sport fishing, roller skating and skateboarding, biking along the cycle path or the adventurous MTB path, and even surfing. Indeed, the Idroscalo boasts the first Wave pool in Italy that has an artificial wave for surfers. The grassy banks around the pool are equipped with benches, picnic areas and dog areas. For the summer season the entire east bank is decked out like a real beach with a dedicated pool, deckchairs, sun umbrellas and lifeguards. For the Children's Village head to the west bank for water games, picnic areas and playgrounds. Circolo Arci Magnolia, on the western shore, hosts concerts such as the MIAMI Music Festival and DJ sets, plus, a skate park and climbing wall.

ANECDOTES 

This clean and shallow basin is an ideal training and competition area for rowers, so much so that it hosted the National Rowing Championships in 1934, the European Championships in 1938 and, for the first time ever, the 2003 World Championships.
In 1960 the Idroscalo entered the collective imagination and the history of cinema as the most famous sequence of Luchino Visconti’s ‘Rocco e i suoi fratelli’ (Rocco and his Brothers) masterpiece was filmed along its banks.

NOT TO BE MISSED
Don't forget to check out the impressive Parco delle Sculture (Sculpture Park), located in one of the Idroscalo’s most beautiful panoramic points between the Punta dell'est entrance and the entrance to the Bosco.