“We do lots of walking and see things from the outside and make a list of what we want to see when we come back,” she said, adding that “maybe it’s going to be something that we have to live with.”

Outside La Scala., two Neapolitan women sat on a sunny bench and complained about how empty the city felt.

“It was the wrong time to visit,” said Maura Rivitera, with a shrug.

She said she had moved her ticket up because she was concerned that her southern region of Campania could “from one moment to the next” refuse to admit people coming from the north, or force them into quarantine if the situation in Milan worsened.

Ms. Rivitera, a teacher, said that she was soul searching about whether to put herself in a voluntary quarantine given that a classroom full of children awaited her back home. Still, she and a friend did not let that get in the way of their Milanese getaway.

“Last night we went dancing at a discothèque called Spirit,” said Eleonara D’Elia, who is also a teacher in Naples.

“It was madness,” Ms. Rivitera said.

“There weren’t many people,” Ms. D’Elia added. “So there was more room to dance.”

Emma Bubola contributed reporting.