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How to Get from Provence to Milan in January?

Posted by (Washington, D.C. ) on

Any advice or tips on the fastest way to travel via train or air from Provence (Nimes, Nice, Avignon, Marseille) to Milan? I am having a hard time finding a travel route that doesn’t eat up a bunch of time.

Context: I am planning a solo trip to Paris and Provence in January. But, I am a huge AC Milan fan girl, so I decided to squeeze in a football match at San Siro Stadio (Milan) before my flight from Milan back to the States. I already purchased a really affordable Air France ticket into Paris and out of Milan, but I did not realize when I did so that the train from the French Rivera—I think it started in Nice—to Milan no longer exists! Anyone have any suggestions on how I can get from Avignon, Nimes, Arles (which is where I plan on staying) or Nice or even Lyon to Milan without taking a whole day (15 hours or so)? Thanks for any ideas!

Posted by
6909 posts

If you go from Nice to Milan, travel times are reasonable: local French train to Ventimiglia, then Italian train to Milan (usually direct). About 6 hours total.

If you go from Marseille, then it would take the whole day by train. There are expensive direct flights on tiny planes (19-seater Beechcrafts) with airline Twinjet, if the price is OK for you and if you are not afraid of flying (while safe, it can be bumpy flying over the Alps on those planes), it is a very effective option.

Posted by
20144 posts

Right now, it is a 5 hour train journey from Nice to Milan, which is pretty good in my book. A plane would take just as long, considering travel to the airport, arrive 2 hours before flight, 1 hour flight, then 1 1/2 to 2 hours from landing to get into Milan.

Your problem might be that the train schedules all get adjusted on December 10, and many Italian trains will not show up on the schedule until close to that date. If that is the issue, just wait a while.

PS AC Milan is my team too!

Posted by
397 posts

If this helps your decision the Marseille airport is really easy to use. If you have a car the airport is easy to drive to, the car rental returns are right across the driveway from the terminals and then the terminals are small. There is also a bus directly to/from Aix-en-Provence which takes only about 1/2 hour. So if not driving you might reconsider where you stay in Provence and choose AEP instead of Arles.

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