Malpensa Express

Hi Jana,
It's possible you can make the 11:10 train but I wouldn't buy tickets until you arrive at the station. You could hit a snag in your schedule, for instance your plane could be delayed making the 11:10 impossible and the tickets you bought unusable.

Thanks! I just want to confirm, that I don't have to worry about getting advance tickets on Thello from Milan to Nice and can buy them the day we get there. Is that right? We're going in April if that makes a difference too.

It is extremely rare for a train in Italy to sell out and for tickets not to be available for the day of travel. You have several variable time factors that you cannot control. Assuming you coming from the US, the first concern is will the plane land on time. Second, the time for immigration and customs can vary greatly - could be 30 minutes, could be two hours. I once took three hours in Rome. Then the train itself is another hour and if you just miss it, you have to wait 30 minutes. If I could a super economy ticket for 15.10 I would buy realizing that if I missed that train it is a throw away but the price saving could be worth the gamble. That should give you a wide enough window for your plane unless the flight is cancelled.

Jana,

Have you used the Malpensa Express before? There a couple of things you'll need to be aware of.

There's a slight possibility that you would be able to connect with the 11:10 departure, but I wouldn't suggest buying tickets until you actually arrive there. You should be able to buy tickets for both trains at the airport rail station ticket office or Kiosks. Note that your destination station will be Nice Ville. Keep in mind that the Malpensa Express takes about 52 minutes for the trip from the airport to Milano Centrale, so you'll have to allow for that travel time as well.

That is a very close call. All planets need to be perfectly aligned to make that train.

The trains to Milano Centrale leave the airport every half hour at :13 and :43 min after the hour. The trip is 52 min long.

Milano Centrale station is huge and you need time to walk from the arrival platform to the departure platform. In order for you to make that connection comfortably you need to be on the Malpensa Express departing the airport station at 09:43 (which arrives at Milano C.le at 10:35). That is only 1 hr and 8 minutes after your scheduled flight arrival.

In that time you will need to deplane, go through passport control (immigration), retrieve your luggage at baggage claim, walk through customs, then across the terminal to the Malpensa train station, buy the train tickets, stamp them, then get on board.

Whether you can make it or not will depend on several factors, starting with whether your flight will land on time.

I flew into Malpensa a year ago. I didn't have the correct train schedule with me. I passed the bus kiosk (the bus also goes to Centrale) and didn't ask when the next one was leaving. When I got to the train station, I found I had just missed a train and would have an hour's wait for the next one. For some reason, the trains were not running on the schedule Roberto notes (which I am pretty sure is the one I had with me). At that point, I didn't want to trudge back to the bus with my luggage to find out if I could get into the city earlier that way, knowing I'd have to return to wait in line again to buy my Malpensa Express ticket. In hindsight, I wish I'd asked, on the way to the train, when the next bus was leaving.

Note that you may not be able to buy your tickets on Thello at the airport. The Malpensa Express is not part of Trenitalia and the agents there do not sell Trenitalia tickets. I tried to buy my ticket to Venice from one of the Trenitalia machines, but none took cash and my U.S. credit card didn't work.

I would buy the ticket for the later train, leave my luggage at Milano Centrale, and take the metro to the Duomo stop for a look around, a nice walk, and lunch. I would much rather stroll around for a few hours after a long flight before a train trip of several hours.

Thanks everyone. You Rock! Looks like I'll just relax and plan on taking the 15:10 train. I'll wait to get tickets when I get there. We've done the Malpensa Express once several years ago on our way to Venice. This was all very helpful.