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Train station in Milan

We are a family of 5 & I’m trying to navigate the tricky train schedules & various prices to find what’s best for us in route from Lucerne to Venice in mid July. I think I’ve found the best scenario - purchasing tickets from Lucerne to Arth-Goldau; from there to Milan & then Venice. My question involves the amount of time we should allow from the time we arrive in Milan to the time the train departs for Venice. I know this station is really big, so we want to allow plenty of time to change trains. You all have been my experts in all things Europe so I trust whatever u say. Thank u, Linda

Posted by
23177 posts

Personally I would plan on 30 minutes but we have been through Milan before. However, you might consider an hour since there is a nice grocery (7/11 style) store and you may want to buy lunch or use the restrooms. Milan is big but it is easy to find your way.

Posted by
8889 posts

purchasing tickets from Lucerne to Arth-Goldau; from there to Milan & then Venice.

Why 3 separate purchases? And where are you purchasing these tickets (which website)?

The route is Luzern - Arth Goldau - Milano Centrale - Venezia S. Lucia
Sometimes you have to change at Arth-Goldau (3 trains), but at some times of day you can get a train from Luzern to Milano, so just 1 change (2 trains).
There is also one option where you don't change in Milano:

Luzern dep 09:18, Bellinzona arr 10:45
Bellinzona dep 10:51, Venezia S. Lucia arr 15:40

You can look up the complete trip (Luzern to Venezia S. Lucia) on the SBB website: https://www.sbb.ch/en
This will give you recommended change times for all changes, including Milano.
Milano is a big station, monumental, but it is easy to navigate. It is a dead-end station, all platforms are parallel, so you just go to the front of the train, round the end of the platform and to your platform.
See this photo: https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7023/6765402307_3bf97b4e31_b.jpg

As to buying tickets.
SBB will sell you a ticket from Luzern to Venice, one purchase only. But sometimes Trenitalia undercuts SBB for Italian trains. However Trenitalia does not sell tickets for Swiss internal trains. So there are 2 options, you need to see which is the cheapest for your trains:
1) Decide which trains you are taking.
2) Get a price on SBB.
3) Work out if there are any Swiss internal trains involved (Luzern to Arth-Goldau or Luzern to Bellinzona)
4) If there are NO Swiss trains (1 train Luzern - Milano), price the whole trip on Trenitalia, it may be cheaper than SBB.
5) If there are Swiss trains involved, price the Swiss train(s) on SBB, and the cross border and Italian train(s) on Trenitalia.

Sounds complicated, but that is the best way.

Posted by
3812 posts

At Milano Centrale one can walk from the 1st to the last track in around 15 minutes, I agree with the above post: 30 minutes should be enough.
Make a single purchase if you can, it's easier.