Milan Airport to Florence by Train & I've Never Quite Got the Hang of Italian Trains

I'll start. For trains in Italy, either the whole train is reserved seats (InterCity and Freccia trains), or the whole train is unreserved (Regional trains); the class of ticket purchased is irrelevant. If you bought a ticket and were not assigned a seat, then it is a Regional train and there are no assigned seats on that train. So it seems like your description is a result of some misunderstanding. Perhaps it was a train with assigned seats, but you didn't read your ticket carefully, so were in the wrong seat?

Trenitalia, the national train operator, operates basically two types of trains:
REGIONAL TRAINS-These are commuter trains like the Washington DC Metro rail or the NJ Transit trains. Seats are not reserved. First come first served. If all seats are taken, you ride standing up.
INTERCITY trains and HIGH SPEED “FRECCIA” trains- These are high speed trains. Each passenger has an assigned seat which is displayed on the ticket (train car number and seat number are both displayed on the ticket). Basically these trains operate like airplanes with seat assignments.
More info below:
https://www.seat61.com/Italy-trains.htm

Remember that Intercity or Freccia train (assigned car and seats) tickets don’t need to be validated (date/ time stamped) prior to boarding the train, however, you do need to validate Regionale train tickets but only if purchased at the train station.
If you book your Regionale tickets online, they are already validated and thus you don’t need to validate them.

Here are a couple of helpful website.

• To check train schedules and book train tickets go to Trenitalia.com.

• Here’s an invaluable website: Seat61.com

To travel from MXP, you’ll take the Malpensa Express (Regionale train- ticket needs validating) to Milano Centrale, then you’ll transfer to a train to Firenze S.M. Novella.

Have a great trip!

If you have a smart phone, install the Trenit app on it. It's very handy to check train schedules, real-time delays, etc. You can find out which platform your next train (if you are connecting somewhere) leaves from before you even get off the train, know if it's on time, etc.

MXP to Florence via Milano Centrale should be a piece of cake. Centrale is a huge train station but flat - no stairs to go under tracks to change trains. There are a lot of tracks, but not needing to go up and down stairs (or find an elevator) makes it easier than some Italian train stations.

Just pay attention to the validation issue mentioned above. You MUST validate regional train tickets bought from a machine or from an agent. If you buy them online or on your phone (with Trenit) for a specific time, you don't need to validate them. If you have assigned seats, it's not a regional train so no need to validate. All validation does is make sure you don't try to re-use the ticket on another train if no conductor comes by - and you obviously can't do that if your ticket is for a specific time and day. When in doubt, validate at a machine - doesn't hurt!

And if you forget to validate and realize you are on the train and it is about to leave or has left...DON'T WAIT, find a Trenitalia employee on the train ASAP and explain that you forgot to validate your ticket; they can write a validation on a paper ticket with their name etc. Don't wait for an inspector to come through and then say you forgot when you don't have a validated ticket - you'll get a stiff fine!

Regarding MXP to Florence.
You can buy tickets for the entire journey at the Malpensa T1 station.
You will receive two tickets for the two segments:
1st segment: Malpensa to Milano Centrale. This segment is aboard the Malpensa Express, a Regional Train. The journey is about 50 min. There are no seat assignments (like a commuter train). Make sure you validate the ticket (date stamp it) at the machines next to the tracks before boarding. Regional trains need to be validate it to prevent fare evaders (“portoghesi” in Italian) from reusing the same ticket multiple times.
Once at Milano Centrale you will transfer to a high speed FrecciaRossa train to Florence. Check the seat assignment on that ticket. It will show the number of the train car (“carrozza”) and the seat number (posto). Look for the car before boarding, then board that car and look for the seat number. There is no need to validate the Freccia ticket. These tickets are specific to a train date and time, so one could not reuse that ticket multiple times.

md,

You've received lots of good information so far, and I'll add my "boilerplate" on travel from MXP to Milano Centrale.....

"The quickest and easiest way to get from MXP Terminal 1 into Milan is to use the *Malpensa Express (train). There are several departures each hour and the trip takes 52 minutes. You can buy tickets at the airport station either from a Kiosk or staffed ticket office, and the cost is currently €13 PP. Note that some departures have a change at Milano Nord Cadorna, so try to choose a train that goes directly to Centrale, unless Cadorna is your desired destination. You can see all the solutions on the Trenitalia website.

As mentioned in previous posts, you must validate (time & date stamp) your ticket prior to boarding the train on the day of travel. Validated tickets only have a "shelf life" of about four hours so do not validate the day prior to travel or the ticket will have expired by the time you used it. Validating also applies to Bus tickets in Florence, Metro or Bus tickets in Rome, etc. Those with ticket irregularities will face hefty fines (in some cases €50 PP), which are collected on the spot!

There are a few important points to note. First, the M.E. has two routes, one to Milano Centrale and one to Milano N. Cadorna, so be sure to board the correct train! Next, it's necessary to validate (time & date stamp) your tickets prior to boarding the train, or you'll risk hefty fines which will be collected on the spot! You'll arrive at Milano Centrale on Track (Binario) 1 or 2, and will then have to walk into the main hall to either connect with another train or exit the station. Check the large digital displays to determine the track number of your train to Florence.

There are several rail stations in Florence, and your destination will likely be Firenze Santa Maria Novella. You'll need to specify that when you buy your ticket. I find second class seats to be perfectly comfortable.

Your plan to wait until arrival at MXP to buy train tickets is a good idea. Tickets for the express trains (Intercity, Freccia) are specific to train, date and departure time. If your flight is late or there other other delays that prevent you from using the express train you've booked, your tickets are worthless and you'll have to buy more at full price (Base Fare).

Perhaps it was a train with assigned seats, but you didn't read your
ticket carefully, so were in the wrong seat?

That happened to me once. When we found our seats they were already occupied by a British couple, who insisted they had tickets for these seats. After some time they realized they were on the right seats but in the wrong carriage. Remember to check both carriage number and seat number

Great advice above. Thought I'd just add this as I'm sort of a visual animal. :O)

https://followyourhartman.blog/2017/05/11/how-to-interpret-your-italian-train-ticket/

This is not my blog but it has examples of various Trenitalia tickets. Not quite halfway down the page there is an image of a ticket for a train with assigned seats.

It notes the specific train number: Treno 9525, in this case
Carriage: Carrozza 008, in this case. Look for your number on the outside of the carriage
Seat number: Posti 14A

Where that seat is positioned, in this case Finestrino = window. It may also be Corridorio = aisle or Mediano = middle.

As the ticket info is very specific - train#, carriage#, seat#, date and hour of departure (data/ora/partenze), date and hour of arrival (arrivo/data/ora) - you don't have to validate it.

There are also a couple of pictures of tickets for regionale trains with no specific carriage or seat assignments. This is the type of ticket you need to validate and you can sit in any empty seat on these trains.

Editing to add: as Andrew noted, yes, Milano Centrale is an easy station if needing to switch trains 'cause all of the tracks are on one level. That station is also an interesting one architecturally!

Note that the train from the airport may stop at other terminals in Milan (like Milano Garibaldi) before Centrale, so dont get off too early, when you see the Milano sign flash.

The advice above should have you on the right track. Ticket procedures and available train services have continued to change over the years, as faster Eurostar Italia/ Le Frecce trains were introduced, then expanded. Seat assignments became required on the mid-speed InterCity and EuroCity trains where they previously were not. And the time window for using Regional train tickets has narrowed to help reduce fraud.

Phew. Sorry for the 'post and run' post here. I was on a last hurrah trip with my family and unplugged to the best of my ability.

Thank you SO much for this information folks. This is very, very helpful. I've hit some of the train websites and have saved off the train times from MXP to Milano Centrale and onward to Firenze SMN. We'll hang tight and just buy all of the tickets upon arrival. When I've bought tickets in the past, I've always bought via a ticket counter just because the kiosks really confuse me or I allow myself to be confused by them.

There is a lot of good information for me (and others hopefully) here to parse. It's been a decade since our last trip to Florence and we never have visited with our daughter (she's been to Rome and Venice twice with us). We are excited to reacquaint ourselves, show her some great things in Florence and around Florence, and of course visit the Hard Rock since it wasn't there on our last visit (kidding of course on that one.

@ken - you said you reference a boilerplate set of text which you then quoted. Curious, do you have your own mini-guidebook of sorts that you're quoting?

Here is the book you need 😉 Italy Explained: Italian Trains. Full disclosure: I know the author.

Grazie! :)