We have a bit over an hour and a half at Milano Centrale. Not sure if enough time to go out of the station or if we should stay there. Arrive from Varenna at 9:40 and leave to Lauterbrunnen at 11:23. We will have our Rick Steves convertible backpacks as our luggage, so can be somewhat mobile with those. Thanks for any suggestions!
Jed
You can certainly take the Metro down to the Duomo and have a look, but don't dawdle! You'd probably have 30 minutes in the cathedral. Or sit in Bistrot Centrale and enjoy breakfast.
With only an 1 hour and 40 minutes or so, I'd stick around. The EC train at 11:23 originates at Centrale and they should have the train spotted on the track and posted on the departures board shortly after 11, so you can board, find your seats, stash you bags, and get comfortable before departure. The last time I had time to kill in Centrale, I spent it (horrors!) at Mickey D's. Hey, they have free wi-fi. You can probably find somewhere more Italian than that though.
You could do a very quick trip to the Duomo and take your bag with you as it is only 4 metro stops away, but I agree with Laurel and would have a leisurely breakfast or espresso at Bistrot Centrale.
Jed,
Although you could probably visit the Duomo or another sight, I'd suggest sticking around the station. Walking downstairs to the Metro, buying tickets, waiting for trains as well as the trip itself is going to take a good 20 minutes each way. Hauling luggage on the Metro would not be the most pleasant activity, especially if it's after a long international flight.
There are lots of food joints in the station, including the aforementioned Micky D's, Burger King and others such as Roadhouse Grill. One point to note is that WC's are pay-per-use so you'll need some coins if you need to use those.
Milano Centrale is huge and bustling, like an airport. There are all sorts of stores, including places to buy a nice picnic for your train ride to Lauterbrunnen. Here's their website, showing you the many options: http://www.milanocentrale.it/en/
To prove that I wasn't kidding about it being like an airport: looking at their website, I see they even have a chapel!
Well, the chapel was built from the very start, but now the station has been turned into a sort of shopping mall - sometimes it looks like Italian railways are a real estate development company with a side interest in transportation.
A trip to Duomo square is possible - having no luggage, knowing exactly where you are headed and barely making it back in time. I would not advice it to a first time visitor.
I am not sure your luggage would be allowed inside the Duomo, and checking/retrieving it takes time.
It's not unusual for train stations to have chapels.
Go window-shopping, have a cappuccino or coffee, watch the people passing by - I never get bored at a train station, unless I'm stuck there for many hours.
Have a sandwich and a coffee - or maybe 2 coffees.
We always use our 1.5 hour layover to buy snacks for the upcoming journey to Murren Switzerland. It's good to have some layover time because you just don't know what you may encounter...so let me tell you:
We had 20 reserved seats of which a group of senior citizens were in 6 of them because they decided they wanted to catch an earlier train. They had no idea their seat reservations for their later train were NOT valid on OUR train which was earlier than theirs. Their seat reservations were for the same seat numbers as ours, and it was like pulling teeth to pry their butts out of our seats. The train was also packed and the conductor was mad because there were still people lined up outside (including our group) trying to get into the train. Of course it was one of those cars at the very front that only had 1 entrance/exit door so it was just a HORRIBLE HORRIBLE mess. We eventually DID pry them up and they were NOT happy about it. They moved on down and took vacant seats and were again booted out by other travelers as they boarded the train. Ended up they were going to our exact location which meant they whined and complained the entire journey about how we ruined their seats.
Good grief people - make sure you know how to read a train ticket BEFORE you get on the train and take somebody elses seat.
We were there for about that length of time last month in between Lucerne and Florence. Not the best initial impression of Milan, or of Italy if it's your first visit. Crowded, no place to sit, gypsy panhandlers, not dangerous though. Be careful with your possessions. There's a little café as you come off the track area, into the main vestibule, all the way to the right. Decent food & a place to sit down. That's about it--grin & bear it!
The accident of people boarding the wrong train and claiming other people's places is relatively frequent. Another frequent issue are people having tickets for the wrong date. Even more frequent, people seated at the right place in the wrong car. Usually conductors in the end manage to remove offenders from their seats - and remember that boarding a freccia train on a ticket issued for another train does not mean that you are just lacking the seat reservation, it means you are completely without ticket, so you have to pay again the full ticket plus a fine.
Much more difficult is managing double reservations - it may happen and when it happens with groups it may be a major disaster. The poor conductor is not personally at fault but it will become the scapegoat of the railway administration.
I saw once, many years ago, a case of travelers getting so angry with the conductor that he summoned railway police and had them arrested at the first stop.
I would be conservative and stick around. use the bathroom, stretch your legs, grab a snack, review your itinerary and maps. make friends and enjoy some conversation. Just my opinion, but nothing gets better with rushing.
You don't really have an hour and 43. More like an hour. It take ten minutes to exit your train and to front of the station. Another five to ten to get to the metro, buy subway tickets, and get to the subway, maybe wait for the train. And return the same. I always view this as a trap. You think you have time but really don't. Milan not that bad a station to hang out in for a hour. Use the water closet, buy some snacks, enjoy a coffee somewhere and what the crowds go by.
I will echo most of the others & suggest staying at the train station.
We enjoyed Bistrot Centrale twice on our most recent trip.
They have sandwiches, salads, hot meals, pastries (yum), freshly fried potato chips, drinks, etc...
Enjoy your trip!
I had a similar situation with a 2 hour layover in Milano Centrale going from Stresa to Verona. The line to check baggage was super long so we took our luggage with us and tried to visit the Duomo. We were not allowed to take the luggage inside, nor was my friend allowed in due to her blouse having too low a neckline, so neither of us went inside. We got a super expensive coffee at a place in Victor Emmanuel Galleria, found a piazza with statues of famous people, then headed back to Centrale... 1 minute too late to catch our train!!! We actually watched as it pulled out of the station without us. And had to buy another ticket to Verona.
Thanks all for the advice! Will plan to have a bit of a walk around the station, have something to eat/drink and people watch. I guess a great way to look at our one hour 43 minute layover is that it's in Italy! :-)
Jed, do have a look around the outside of the station? Besides just getting some fresh air, Milano Centrale is an impressive piece of architecture. And there is an excellent gelato stand (Gelateria Sartori) around the right side of the station on Piazza Luigi di Savoia: the locals sent us there!
Grab some snack items and head over to Sforza Castle for a picnic. There is a metro stop nearby. Yes take your bags with you just incase there is a line at the luggage rack in MIlano Centrale. The times I've used the luggage it wasn't bad, no more then 5 people in front of me and didn't take long at all. But you never know.
