hello! We are getting so much closer to figuring this out with all the great advice from this site! So, our family of four arrive at Malpensa at 1:30 pm (stopping in Frankfurt first, so assuming customs will be there)? We are hoping to go straight to Florence to rent a car to go to a hill town. The rental car office at the train station and in town, which would be most convenient, closes at 7 pm. The one at the airport is open until 11 pm.
We have the Italy rail pass. Would you recommend renting from the airport in case there is some delay in getting to Florence, or does that seem to be plenty of time to get there before their 7 pm closure? We were going to rent a car in Chisui, but since we also want to visit some towns just south of Florence, it makes the most sense to rent from there so we don't have to go north to San Gimignano then all the way back to Chiusi to return the car, then all the way back to Florence again.
Thanks for your advice!
Posted by
Vernon, Canada
32405 posts
I leave the car rental question to the others, but one important point to mention....
"We have the Italy rail pass."
You'll most likely be using the fast Freccia trains from Milano Centrale to Florence, and your rail pass does NOT include the compulsory reservations for that class of train. You'll need to buy those separately and pay out-of-pocket. If you're caught without valid reservations for the train you're riding on, you'll likely face hefty fines which will be collected on the spot! I'm not sure whether you'll be able to use the rail pass for the Malpensa Express from the airport to Milano Centrale. Rail passes are rarely a good deal for travel in Italy.
Posted by
San Francisco Bay Area (USA)
16240 posts
First of all, if you are flying Lufthansa I wonder why you haven't booked a flight to Florence instead of Malpensa. Lufthansa has 6 daily pairs from FRA to FLR. It may have cost you a bit more over flying to Malpensa, but once you factor in time and cost (trains or car) you might have come ahead. See if that flight change is possible at no exorbitant cost.
Regarding the time of travel. Passport control occurs in Frankfurt in your case. Customs is in Milan, but unless you have anything to declare you just walk through the green line (nothing to declare). The customs officer might pick you for a random check but it's so rare that it has never happened to me in over maybe 50 times. From FRA to MXP it is like a domestic flight. However delays, can happen in flight arrival, or baggage claim. Once you walk across the terminal to the station, it's 53 minutes from MXP station to Milano Centrale, then 1h 40 min from Milano C to Florence (Firenze SMN). To that you need to add the waiting time because the trains run on average every 30 min. So from the time you land to the time you arrive at the rental office it could very well be after 7pm or close. I think you are better off renting from the airport. As I said in an earlier post I would probably pick up the car at Malpensa but I understand some people have problems with jet lag.
You won't have a lot of time to tour Tuscany on the day of arrival. Even if you make it to Florence quickly and you are on your car by 7, by the time you are out on the road to your final destination, it will be close to sunset. Don't book in Chiusi on your day of arrival. Your chance of making it to Chiusi on your day of arrival before the rental office closes is as close to ZERO as you can get.