Most Economical Travel Method for Munich to Milano

I use rome2rio website to get some feedback on transport logistics. One can't guarantee the fares until you go to the actual transport website, but it can give you some ideas of length of time, methods of transport and costs. Note that for some train travel, new schedules aren't out to cover September.

You can go to the DB Bahn site for German Rail https://www.bahn.com/en/view/index.shtml and look at schedules. Basically it would be a 7-8 hour trip by train, going either through Verona or Zurich. You can determine price as well by putting in the pertinent information, but sometimes pricing/tickets is not available.

For the time available, flying would be easier, but you are still looking at 4-5 hours to fly (considering security, flight, getting to and from the airport, etc.) 48 hours is just really tight for this trip.

A second option might be to look into returning the car in Munich, save yourself 3-4 days of rental, then fly or train to Milan, and fly Milan to Amsterdam. I assume you have air tickets to Amsterdam already, if not, then look into flying "Open Jaw", into Amsterdam, out of Milan.

Taking the night train is the most economical, because it saves you night in a hotel and you don't waste any time by travelling. Dinner in Munich, breakfast in Milano.

Fares start from 90€ in a double sleeper and there are cheaper options if you want to save money.

https://www.seat61.com/trains-and-routes/nightjet.htm

https://www.nightjet.com/en/reiseziele/italien.html

If you buy the train ticket for Munich to Verona 2-3 months in advance from Bahn.de, you can get a Sparpreis of 29-39 euros per ticket for the journey of 5 hours 23 minutes (direct train with no changes). Then buy a ticket from Verona to Milano Centrale on the fast Frecce train from Trenitalia; you can get a Super Economy price of 19 euro if you buy well in advance. Allow 45 min to an hour between the two trains at Verona.

When I had to travel from Munich to Milan for work I almost always took a cheap flight. I just checked a random future date and the saver fare for the train was 128€ Which is pretty similar to a cheap round trip flight.

One more option would be to drive. Gas and tolls will be a little higher than the train or flights but it will be more flexible. Depending on where exactly you are going in Milan this can be faster than the train. It’s a long drive but at least it’s beautiful.

DJ

If you have only 48 hours driving or taking a train/bus doesn't make much sense.

The only time effective methods are direct flights or better still travelling overnight(cheap, but gruelling and potentially dangerous on a bus, but comfortable and safe by night train).

Sounds really like nonsense.

48 hrs side trip to Milano is not meaningful. There are better and closer options to spend your time.

Sounds you want to to do the round trip by car which is really meaningless because cars are not allowed to enter the enviroment zones in cities without a sticker. Also fully uneconomical way of traveling between cities. Train and bus are by far better options.

Hope yu are aware of that you will need min 3-4 days for Berlin alone.

For a 48 hour trip to Milano, the night train is the only option that makes sense. You leave Munich in the evening, sleep on the train, and arrive the next morning in central Milan.

For a duration of 48 hrs, I would have to be pretty desperate to do that, something would have to be of utmost priority. Still, that doesn't mean I would refuse that trip.

Doing that route I would have no problems taking the night train, quite easy, convenient and direct. I'd take the night train option, yes, breakfast in Milano.

Munich is a convenient hub for night trains