I am going from Milano Centrale to Venenzia S. Lucia in Venice on 9/20 & will get a one way Trenitalia ticket at Milano Centrale. That part is clear to me.
This next part is confusing to me. When and where to buy the tickets and what type of tickets and what type of trains?..........
On 9/24 I need to go from Venenzia S Lucia to Milano Centrale to Varenna-Esino-Perledo station. Then on 9/30 I need to go from the Varenna station to Milano Centrale to MXP for a 16:10 flight. I know that It is suggested to get a round trip ticket from Milano Centrale to Varenna and back to Milano Centrale because of the lack of services at the Varenna station.
So on 9/24, do I buy a ticket at the Venice station to go to Milano Centrale, and then at Milano Centrale get the round trip ticket to Varenna and back to Milan? And then get a ticket to MXP?
I hope I was able to explain this in a clear manner! (I want to know what to do ahead of time so I don’t end up missing my flight!)
Any timing suggestions will also be appreciated!
Posted by
Tresana, Highlands Ranch, CO, USA
23284 posts
Generally you don't buy round trip tickets. Just two one-way tickets. You should always be able to buy tickets in a train station. If there isn't a ticket window, could be machine, or the coffee/snack shop there will sell tickets. And you can buy all of your tickets at any ticket window in any station. Since Milan has a lot of ticket windows, you could buy all your tickets at the same time. Probably will be using most Regionale trains so those tickets are open tickets. Just buy them for your day of travel and they are good on any Regionale train that day but has to be validated (time stamped) prior to boarding the train.
Posted by
Minneapolis
1216 posts
Betty, Frank gives good advice. On or before 9/20, you can go to Milano Centrale or any station in Italy and buy all of these tickets at once. To avoid confusion / language issues, I suggest you write down the list of tickets you need (from, to, date, time) on a piece of paper to show the ticket agent. You could also buy all of these tickets online (trenitalia.com) in advance and save a little money, but if you don't want to deal with that, just buy at your convenience at any station in Italy. Enjoy your trip!
Posted by
Washington DC
27163 posts
Even if I kinda sorta have some facility with the local language, it's my practice to print out the necessary info about the tickets I need (origin and destination in all caps) and show it to the ticket agent. You can see them relax when an obvious tourist (the sun hat is a give-away) provides written instructions rather than trying to communicate orally.
But remember that Europeans write dates in a different format--DD MM YY. So September 8th would be 08-09-19. If I know the name of the month in the local language, I use that rather than all numbers; anything to reduce confusion.
And Google for info on how Europeans typically form the numerals 1 and 7.
Posted by
Vernon, Canada
32212 posts
Betty,
The ticket office at Milano Centrale is on the bottom floor and there's often a long queue, so be sure to allow lots of time if you plan to buy tickets thre. You can also use the Kiosks.
If you're planning to buy tickets as you go, you might consider something like this.....
Milano Centrale to Venezia S. Lucia - buy your ticket from a Kiosk a day or so before you'll be travelling.
Venezia S. Lucia to Varenna-Esino - buy your tickets when you arrive in Venice (you'll be at the station anyway), either at a Kiosk or staffed ticket window. You'll receive two tickets, one for the Venice-Milan segment and one for the the Milan - Varenna segment. The Milan - Varenna segment is via Regionale so DON'T forget to validate the ticket prior to boarding the train on the day of travel.
Varenna-Esino to Milano Centrale to MXP - you could also buy those tickets in Venice but if you'd rather wait, just buy them at the helpful *Tivano Tours * travel agency in Varenna. As I recall it's in the station now. The Varenna-Milano Centrale and Milano Centrale-MXP segments are both Regionale so DON'T forget to validate your tickets before boarding on the day of travel.