Milan Travel Answers

italian trains are quite simple they work quite well and are cheap there are 3 sorts of trains in italy the eurostar fast train which you do need to reserve a seat on - five minutes before the intercity which you can reserve a seat on or the regionale which you cannot reserve a seat on all stations have machines with an english option - occasioanlly you find out the train you wanted to book is full tell us where you want to go from and when and we might be able to help you more

Miss Jen (craic) is right. (Ciao, Jen!) I usually recommend that you wait until you arrive in Italy before making your train reservations or buy a ticket since you never know how late your flight might be. The only exception would be if you want to travel at a very busy time (e.g. Fridays and Sundays around holidays, etc.) FYI, for Eurostar trains, you can save 20% using the Amica fare, but you have to buy your ticket by midnight the day before you travel. It's one of the fare options available to you on the automated ticket machines. So, yes, as Jen has suggested, let us know when and where you want to travel from/to. We can help.

www.trenitalia.com/en/index.html is pretty clear. It will tell you which trains require reservations, where to change if required and give you fares for journeys (click cart icon). As noted, you don't need to make a reservation at all, unless travelling on a reservation-only train. There are few of those, and you can get your ticket up to a few minutes before departure if there is availability. Other trains do not get 'full-up'. If there are no seats available one simply stands (in the corridor or between carriages, not in the carriage aisle or compartment).

Take a look at the transportation tips in my Italy page where I discuss some of these issues, such as the different types of trains, relative costs, which ones do and don't require reservations (although the trenitalia website that J referred to is the final authority), and so on. Believe me, once you get the hang of the way the Trenitalia site is done, it's actually one of the better sites in Europe for national railroads, and as noted, your questions will all be answered there... Bill

I am coming into MXP on June 30th in late afternoon-4pm and need to go to Verona. I want to get to Verona before dark if possible. I would not be able to use Amica for that but perhaps on my other leg from Verona to Badhofgastein. Is there a discount ticket to use for two different countries? I bought tickets on the internet in US last time and had to change them so I don't want to do that again because it was a very big hassle.I spent too much time standing in line in France for train tickets. I will go through customs in Amsterdam and then on to Milan. The train I looked at said reservations but I didn't know if that meant they were posssible or if it was mandatory.Thank you.

I doubt you can get any sort of disount that covers two countries, but I may be wrong. A Eurail pass is highly unlikely to be any cheaper than the point-to-point fare. Eurail is not a train operator, it is a ticketing agency. You do not have to stand in line to get tickets. All Italian stations have easy-to-use (even if you have no Italian) ticket machines and all the larger ones have machines with English options. The Trenitalia site I lined above willgive you times and fares for Milan> Verona. Although the site only carries data a few weeks in advance, it is unlikely that either will change very much before you arrive. If you click on 'Connections' on the left-hand menu of: sea-aeroportimilano.it/en/ma... you will see all your options for transport from Malpensa. The train arrives at Milan Cadorna station and you will need to get to Milan Centrale, so you will have to use Metro or taxi. a better choice would be to take the airport bus, which stops at Milan Centrale. There are plenty of trains to Verona which you can catch from Milan Centrale station with an arrival time of 4pm at Malpensa. The journey takes around 1.5+ hours (depending on which train you choose). Standard one-way fare is 14.30 euro (hardly expensive). The last train is at 22.30, so you need not be unduly concerned even if your flight is delayed. Several trains say 'reservations must be made in Italy', which simply means you reserve your seat when you buy your ticket. There is absolutely no need for you to buy tickets online for the journey from the airport or from Milan Centrale.