Timing of arrival in Milan and train for Venice

When I did this a few years ago, I just bought my ticket from Malpensa to Venice out of the vending machine at the Malpensa train station. Now days, you could buy it with a smartphone app. I guess I was not too concerned with my seat location. With Italotreno offering competing service, I doubt the trains would be full, but just my way of thinking. At least when I buy the ticket once I am in Italy, I know I am already there and ready to go.

You can indeed just buy a ticket and go. Trenitalia runs enough trains so that there is almost always a seat available. Just look at tomorrow on www.trenitalia.com for example, to get an idea.

Please note that tickets for high speed trains are issued, as airplane tickets, for a date and time - only that date and time. If you are late, you cannot board a following train using the same ticket; some tickets are not refundable (usually the cheaper ones) and time cannot be changed, some may be converted at an extra charge to another time before the train leaves, some may be converted within an hour from departure time. Check the fine print, every category of ticket has its own rules and usually more convenience means higher price. - On the other side, some tickets bought very early are so cheap that you can easily forfeit them and buy new tickets if necessary.

you wouldn't want to be out the price of your ticket if your plane is changed - that happens a lot - or delayed. Or hanging about waiting for the time to come if you're early and you watch a train you could have been on leaving without you.

In this case the extra price for a last minute ticket is worth it IMHO. And you can use the Italo and Trenitalia apps and decide which train is best for you.

What constitutes a "good seat"? As long as I am sitting close to my companions, I am fine, and I have not ever been sitting diagonally from my folks, either directly across or beside them. Many folks (myself included) purchase all of our train tickets in advance for our trips EXCEPT the arrival day. It would be much more relaxing to get to the train station and purchase the next available tickets to get to Venice. I just did a quick search and the trains are VERY frequent. The difference in price is only about 30 euro from the base price of ANY class to the regular price. I would rather pay that extra 30 euro to not have to stress about making a train if my timing is tight and lose out on my 30 euro I already paid OR be bored at a train station while I was waiting around for a 30 euro savings. Either way it could be at the most the price of the missed train or the difference in price for a low priced early purchased ticket.

There is almost a 99% guarantee that the trains won't be sold out (unless you are arriving on May 1) and at the most you will need to buy first/business class to get on a specific train if 2nd class is sold out or wait for the "next train" which might be in 30 min, where you could grab a snack and get your bearings and be able to get on the train at a relaxed pace.

Buy your ticket at the kiosks at the airport (as a pp has said, I have never flown into Milan, only Rome, so I assume it works the same) and see what is available to you. When I flew into Rome, I had my eye on a few trains that would be my preference at a "reasonable" time for us to be exiting the airport. I thought that we made good time getting out of the airport, but our time was NOT the time I expected us to get out.

I buy my train ticket ahead of time. Yes, you could get it from a kiosk, which makes the most sense, but on one trip the kiosk wouldn't take my credit card and I ended up waiting in a LONG line to get a ticket at the counter. I usually allow about 3 hours from the time I land at MXP until I board the train at Milano Centrale. I've been fortunate that that has worked for me in the past.

Wow, this is the first time I have used the forum, and I am so impressed with all of the great help/answers that everyone has offered. Thank you so VERY much to all of you for your thoughtful input!

My one caveat is that my husband was just diagnosed with Parkinson's. The fatigue is really the only issue he is dealing with, and I am not sure how he will do with the travel/time change, so I wanted to be sure we got a good seat for the trip to Venice. We were on a train last year from Ghent to Amsterdam, and we had to stand for most of the trip, so I didn't want to have to deal with something like that for the first day on the ground.

Thanks again!! Kathy

All fast trains have required seat assignments so you don’t need to worry about standing!

I don’t see that anyone mentioned the Trenitalia app
It’s easy to use, you can buy the whole trip MXP to Milano Centrale and onward on a fast train to Venezia S Lucia once you land and get thru passport control

The problem is not getting a good seat on the trains - all seats are fairly equivalent, and you cannot get on fast train without a reservation, so a seat is guaranteed. The problem is that at Milano centrale there is no place to sit down when you are waiting. Either you go to a cafe or a restaurant and sit there, or you use one of the private lounges; I once waited two hours at the Italo lounge, in a magnificent position over the tracks and with free snacks and refreshments, but a first class Italo ticket was needed and a 10 euro supplement per person. - So your aim should be not really getting a good seat on the train, but minimizing the wait at Milano Centrale.

Thanks Christine and Lachera - great info from both of you. How long is the ride from the airport to Milan Centrale? I think I read maybe 30 minutes?

53 min
Runs every 30 min

There are trains to Milano Centrale and to Milano Cadorna
You want Milano Centrale

Download the app now and play around with it so you are familiar with it

I believe it is easier to set up your account on the official site on a desktop or laptop

Thanks so much to everyone for their input and guidance. I was able to decide what I wanted to do based on your input! MANY THANKS!! Kathy