Hi, I'm staying in the central part of Milan (Hotel Romana Residence) in Oct and planning to take a train in the morning to Siena (on a workday). Two questions... 1. Is it advisable to book the train in advance or at the station?
2. If I plan to leave at 9am in the morning should I allow extra time to commute into the center via a train/subway to the Centrale station or grab a cab? I'm a bit concerned about rush hour (both a full train or a cab in traffic). Thanks for the great advice!
Posted by
Vernon, Canada
32398 posts
Jason, Regarding your questions..... 1.) I generally buy tickets when I arrive in Italy. You can check the Trenitalia website to determine which train you prefer, and then buy the ticket a day or two before you'll be travelling. There's a train at 09:20 with only one change at Firenze SMN, which is the one I'd use. The first segment is via Freccia train, so reservations will be required. The second segment is via Regionale, so DON'T forget to validate! 2.) You didn't say which part of Milan you'd be staying, but the Metro will be a much better option is there's a station close by. Be sure to leave lots of time, as the Metro may also be "busy". I assume you're going to be staying in Siena for a few days, rather than making a day trip? The trip that I mentioned above is 4H:18M, so that's not ideal for a day trip. Happy travels!
Posted by
Elk Grove, CA, USA
6898 posts
You can easily book your entire trip once you arrive in Milan. 1-2 days in advance is not uncommon. The trip will take about 4.0-4.5hrs and will require 1-2 train changes depending on the run you . The base fare is 57.70Euro. If you are willing to accept tickets with limitations and lock into specific dates and travel times, you can register on www.trenitalia.com and take advantage of economy and super economy fares. Here's a LINK to a morning schedule for Oct 23. As for the morning rush hour, you are a bit of distance from Milano Centrale. I'm not familiar with the morning metro rush so I can't comment. Perhaps a taxi ride would work well here.
Posted by
Wichita
831 posts
Jason,
Be sure to look at the connection in Florence. In the example Ken used you would be sitting in Florence for an hour. You could walk across the street and get a bus which would put you in Siena sooner, as opposed to down the hill at the train station. See http://www.sitabus.it/sita-toscana/Firenze%20-%20Siena.pdf