hello. i am hoping to get some traveling help. we will be traveling to italy next month, arriving in malpensa at 0745 am. we have reservations to stay in riomaggiore, so any info on how to get there would be very helpful. then a few days later, we will be staying in venezia for a few days. once again, and info to get from riomaggiore to venezia would be very helpful. thank you in advance!
Posted by
Green Bay
21394 posts
First take the Malpensa Express train from the airport to Milano Centrale. Trains run about every half hour and cost about 14 euro. There are trains involving at least one change of trains every hour that will get you to Riomaggiore. Takes 3 to 4 hour and cost between 20 and 30 euro.
You can see the train schedules at: http://www.trenitalia.com/trenitalia21.html
Since all schedules include at least one regional train, use the same day of week in the next 7 days to see the prices. Depart from Milano Centrale.
Same procedure to find trains from Riomaggiore to Venezia Santa Lucia.
Posted by
WPB, FL & Firenze
3112 posts
For the Riomaggiore to Venice leg, you can also travel via Florence. Going via Florence costs about the same as going via Milan and often saves about an hour of travel time. There’s no way to avoid multiple train changes regardless of which way you go, so pick the routing that best fits your desired departure and arrival times.
Posted by
Rick Steves' Europe
16895 posts
How to Look Up Train Schedules Online gives you the DB train schedule link and tips for using it. For instance, search from Milano Centrale station to Riomaggiore and from there to Venezia S. Lucia station (the closest one to the sightseeing and downtown hotels). The Malpensa airport shuttle is not reflected on the primary train schedule sites, but does run direct to Milano Centrale (confirm destination before boarding; there is a separate train to Cadorna station). This will give you all the connection info, but does not sell tickets. You can buy tickets in the stations as you go, or buy both in Milan.
Posted by
OP
3 posts
thank you for your quick replies! we're hoping it's smooth travel.
Posted by
OP
3 posts
another question-
is it better to have purchased the tickets in advance for when we arrive or is it something we can/should do as we arrive? we bought train tickets from venezia to munich to be sure we got a seat since it was long travel, but am wondering if we should do the same for these two trips? thanks again!
Posted by
Glostrup, Denmark
1408 posts
Yes - you want to buy tickets as sson as you can (about two months before departure), Make sure to leave enough time to change in Milano Centrale when you arrive form the airport
My personal opinion: you can buy the long-distance trip long before the local trip, so make the long-distance as long as possible :-) This means going from Milano to La Spezia with the long-distance train and back to Riomaggiore with the local train.