We will be flying to Milan and taking a train to Florence. We have already purchased our Eurail passes. Will it be necessary for us to make reservations for the train from Milano to Florence?
Posted by
Basel, Switzerland
8889 posts
OMG. Yes, and it will cost you €10. See here: https://www.seat61.com/Italy-trains.htm#Railpasses_for_Italy
The easy way to make reservations to go with a Eurail or InterRail pass is to use www.italiarail.com, just tick the 'I have a railpass' box. This will book the necessary €10 reservation on high-speed Frecciarossa, Frecciargento or Frecciabianca trains or the €3 reservation on InterCity trains, or couchette or sleeper reservations on night trains.
But, if you are flying in transcontinental, you can't predict when you will get to Milano Centrale station, so you don't know which train to reserve.
AND, the train from Milan Malpensa airport to Milan Centrale is not covered by a pass.
The "full fare" pay at the station on the day fare from Milano to Firenze is €55. The "Super Economy" advance fare is €29.90. How much per day is this pass costing you?
Posted by
Rick Steves' Europe
16895 posts
Yes, most trains between the big Italian cities are the faster, reserved type. Get your pass activated by a ticket agent and buy a 10-euro seat reservation for the next departing one of Trenitalia's Frecce trains at Milano Centrale station. The 365 Travel Agency offices in the station can do this and may have shorter lines than the main ticket windows. The activation is the only part that must be done by a human. For later trips within Italy, you can buy seat reservations from a machine.
The pass does not cover the Malpensa Express between Malpensa Airport (if that's where you arrive) and Milano Centrale, so buy the ticket there and activate/date stamp it in the machine before entering the track area.
Posted by
San Francisco Bay Area (USA)
16212 posts
No. not now. You don't know if the plane is delayed. Just go to the ticket office when you arrive.
Be aware that in the portion from MXP airport to Milano Centrale the Eurailpasses are not valid. You can use it only from Milano Centrale to Florence.
I hope you plan to travel a whole lot by train, because Eurail passes don't make much sense in Italy, where it's usually cheaper to simply buy point to point tickets.
Posted by
Green Bay
21279 posts
And don't be like these people who at first thought that their railpass included the Malpensa Express train (it doesn't) and then bought tickets and got fined for not validating them. And forgive me in advance if I assumed you are landing at Malpensa and you're landing at Linate.
Posted by
Shawnee, OK, USA
396 posts
I agree with Roberto. I never purchase a Rail Pass in Italy. Tickets are cheap and, if you travel during shoulder season, don't need to be purchased before hand.
Posted by
Tresana, Highlands Ranch, CO, USA
23653 posts
All trains in Italy except the Regionale trains require a seat reservation with a rail pass. There is no advantage to purchasing the reservation in advance so buy it when you get there. You can can buy the reservation at the airport ticket office when purchasing the tickets to Centrale. The train from the airport goes to two different train stations. Make sure you go to Centrale.
And don't be casual about getting reservations, validating tickets, etc., -- the ticket police are very unforgiving and the fines are immediate (pay on the spot) and expensive. And don't think it is a scam because it is not. Just a different way to do business.