In this blog narrative we discuss arriving in Milan, Italy and connecting to a popular Italian destination like Venice. Arriving in Milan from an international major destination like Paris, London, Istanbul in Europe or New York, Miami or Atlanta in U.S.A. will get you into one of 2 major Airports. The biggest one is Milan Malpensa (MXP), over an hour from the City Center. And the smaller but nearer airport hub is Linate.
So one word of caution when considering connecting transportation from Airport to Milan City center. Typically there’s not much price difference. If you ever get a private taxi, just like us in one instance when we’re very tired and opted for a taxi, please ask for information from the driver like a card. What you don’t want to do is see somebody holding a sign for taxi and just jump in it. There are unregulated private carriers that may charge you a lot more than what is the standard price. There are a lot of hotel options in Milan central city that easily connects from Linate or Malpensa airport so you can take taxi, you can take bus; if it’s daytime you can pretty much get any major type of transportation to Milan. Do keep in mind, Malpensa Airport is much further (over an hour) compared to Linate (20-25 mins) from Milan City Center. So a Bus maybe cheaper option from Malpensa considering the distance.
If you get your hotel near the “Milano Centrale”, the main train station of Milan at the heart of the city, you can get direct trains to all major destinations within few minutes walk from your hotel! So it’ll probably be faster and cheaper on a train than flying. You don’t have to go to security, you don’t have to go to the lounge, you just have your luggage put up and whatever. And not putting down our Amtrak in the U.S., but these trains, their speed is really high. Some of them reach over 200 kilometers an hour and maybe more. So they’re fast trains and very comfortable.
In terms of connection, from Milan, some of the most popular ones are Milan to Venice, Milan to Rome, and Milan to Florence. For cities south of Milan, the main hub is Bologna. So the line travels from Milan to Bologna and then Florence, down to Rome, Naples and so on. You can also go westbound from Milan to Torino, to Nice and the French Riviera. And also even international, like Milan to Vienna, Austria or Munich, Germany. From Milan to Venice, which is the Eastbound line with no major stop, I think it’s like little less than two hours.
So from Milan to Venice, for a direct train service on Train Italia, you can buy the ticket beforehand, via online (recommended about 2-4 weeks in advance for popular lines line Milan-to-Venice) or even at the station. Then you go to the platform and look on the display board, your train’s number. And it will say from what city to what city and the platform number. About 20 to 25 minutes before your train departure, you’re going to see your line, but you may not see a platform yet. Do not panic because there is only a limited number of trains that can occupy the platform! Typically 10 to 15 minutes before departure you see the platform number and then you can just go to the right platform and board the train. Also make sure you know your carriage number so you don’t have to walk through a bunch of them passing other passengers. You can download your ticket on the phone, when purchased online, which is a convenient way to get it checked by the train conductor who pays everyone a visit once the train has departed the station.
Listen to the podcast video below for an in-depth audio guide to arriving in Milan and connecting to another Italian City like Venice.
All Around The World 