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travel transportation in italy

our international flight is chicago to dublin, dublin to milan. but our 5 nights accomodations are at the hilton resort in pisa. is train transportation the best option for travel from milan to pisa, and then rent a car to tour tuscany for the 5 days? also is it best to wait to purchase train ticket when we arrive in milan? and what train company do you recommend. thank you, jan

Posted by
7731 posts

Yes you can take the train to Pisa from Milan.
As you never know when your flight will be delayed it is best to buy the train ticket when you get to Milan.
This site has all the schedules http://www.trenitalia.com/ you have to use the Italian spelling of the city
e.g. in your case you would use: from Milano Centale to Pisa Centrale

Posted by
23178 posts

Train is probably the easiest given you would be dealing with jet lag. Not the best time to drive.

You can save money by buying discounted tickets BUT they are no change, no refund so if your plane is late or you miss the train for some reason, you would to buy new tickets so it is best to buy the ticket when you arrive. You can buy all your ticket at the airport train station and gives the best options for your timing.

Go with the Italia. The only train system. You best schedule is a fast train about every hour with a change in Florence for a total of little over three hours from Milan Centrale so add another hour from the airport plus another 30 minutes or so for restroom and waiting. Total transit will be about 5 hours.

Posted by
3812 posts

There are a few direct intercity trains from Milano to Pisa taking about 4 hours. You'd save the transfer in Florence, but you's spend 1 hour more on trains.
These direct trains depart at 06:10, 08:10, 16:05, 17:05 18:05, 19:05, 13:10, 20:10...

Note that:

  • the Milano Centrale-Firenze SM Novella high speed line is served also by Italotreno, the private - and often cheaper - competitor.
  • Trenitalia's regionale trains (those going from MXP to Milan and from Florence to Pisa) have no reserved seats, so they can't sell out. First come, first seated. They offer no discounts for advance purchases, either.
  • Regionale tickets locally purchased MUST be time-stamped before gettin' on the train. As there is NO need to time-stamp regionale tickets purchased on trenitalia.com/tcom-en many tourists prefer to buy online, but time-stamping takes 0.5 seconds.