Temperatures below 1 mK on-chip hold great potential for quantum physics but present a great challenge due to the lack of suitable thermometry and the detrimental pulse-tube vibrations of cryogen-free refrigerators. Here, we solve the pulse-tube problem using a rigidly wired metallic sample holder, which provides a microkelvin environment with low heat leaks despite the vibrations. Further, we demonstrate an improved type of temperature sensor, the gate Coulomb blockade thermometer (gCBT), employing a gate metallization covering the entire device. This immunizes against nanofabrication imperfections and uncontrollable offset charges, and extends the range to lower temperatures compared to a junction CBT with the same island capacitance, here down to $\approx$160 $\mu$K for a 10% accuracy. Using on- and off-chip cooling, we demonstrate electronic temperatures as low as 224 $\pm$ 7 $\mu$K, remaining below 300 $\mu$K for 27 hours, thus providing time for experiments. Finally, we give an outlook for cooling below 50 $\mu$K for a future generation of microkelvin transport experiments.