Train Station

First off, it is not the closest station. It is the station that trains leaves from. In this case it is Centrale. The big, main train station in Milan. Second, there is no specific name or number since there is roughly a train each hour to Varenna and takes an hour and couple of minutes. It is a Regionale train. No discount tickets available and no seat reservation required. Tickets are cheap. Buy a ticket at the window or from a machine, validate prior to boarding, get on and go. Kind of like a bus on rails. Go to trenitalia.com to check the schedule.

Is that Milano Centrale?

Yes, Milano Centrale. You can take the Metro from close the the Last Supper site to Milano Centrale, or a taxi if you like.

When I try to book Milano Centrale to Varenna, for October 8, 2023, I receive this alert.

“ No travel solution found. Please try again by changing the ‘Frecce/Main Solutions’ options or the departure and arrival stations.”

Tom

Check again on June 11, or use now a date before for your planning. It's March 9 after all.

Hello tohenry47,

The destination station you're looking for is "Varenna-Esino" but the schedules aren't set for October yet. You currently can't book that ticket past early June right now.

I wouldn't worry about booking the ticket before you need to use it. The trains run virtually every hour and in October the crowds shouldn't be a problem. I did this train on a Friday in early September last year and just bought the tickets for the train I wanted and got on.

If you want to get a feel for the schedule check a random day in May and see how frequently they run.

Have a great trip,
=Tod

I wouldn't worry about booking the ticket before you need to use it.

To clarify the above: you do not need to purchase the ticket before and you cannot reserve a seat anyway. It is a regional train and it basically works in the same way as US commuter trains such as, I don't know, the Long Island Railroad in New York. You can buy ahead of time if you want, but it is just as easy to use a Trenord (=name of the train company for the line to Varenna) ticket machine at Milano Centrale just before you board the train.

Regional trains can't sell out and standing is allowed, so the above messages are right.

I prefer to get tickets online at the last Minute and not at the ticket machines. E-tickets do not need to be time-stamped before boarding.

Note that there are trains to the Lake departing from Milano Cadorna station, too. Unfortunately the direct trains from Milan Cadorna go to the Como station by the ferry docks and not to Varenna-Esino.

Dario is right (of course) I didn't add my usual advice to get and use the Trenitalia app to check on trains, get platform information and buy tickets on the fly. If you are going to be using the Regionale local trains the app is the way to go.

I downloaded it on the advice of a friend who spends 6 months a year in Italy and was a little skeptical but the first time the lines for the ticket machine were really long I bought tickets while the ticket line moved by about two people and we left the line and walked to the platform. If we had to wait for the ticket line I am sure we would have missed that train and would have had to wait for the next one.

Have a great trip,
=Tod

Thank you very much. These are all excellent responses and my questions have been answered.
My wife and I were in Italy a few years ago, and I waited until the last minute to purchase the regional train ticket. As such the line was long and when I finally got to the machine, I couldn’t read the directions as they were in Italian. Because of that I wanted to purchase early. Yes, I know it’s in October, but it’s a long vacation filled with activities and tickets. I’m trying to get it all in order. I’ll try again in June and also look at the app.
Mahalo for all your help.

Kona Tom

I think all of the ticket machine can be in English -- at least that is our experience. I personally would not buy a Regionale ticket on line because you have to specify a starting time and then the ticket is only good for four hours. Do it if you know exactly when you want to board the train. If you more flexibility, buy the ticket when you need it. Remember, you can always buy it the day before since it has to be validated (time stamped) prior to boarding.

Look for the UK flag on the ticket machines to conduct the transaction in English.

The Trnitalia app Is easy to use, but don't wait until literally the last minute, because you have to buy the ticket more than 5 minutes before scheduled departure time. It does take a bit of time to buy a ticket via the app. You'll need to enter your name, email address, telephone number (I think k) and credit card info unless they're stored in the app and you log in. (Remember that password!)

There's absolutely < typo corrected > no benefit to buying a regional ticket way ahead of time. Wait till you're already in Italy.

1. Yes, push the Union Jack to switch ticket machines to English. Unless you stumble upon one of the old machines without a screen. I doubt there are such machines left at Milano Centrale.
2. All train tickets can be purchased up to 6 months in advance. You can install Trenitalia's app now and register to the site. Then get the tickets via app before you exit the Hotel/BnB to go to the station.
3. As I said above, The benefit of getting tickets online on the day of travel is that e-tickets do not need to be time-stamped before getting on.