Hi,
My husband and I are heading to Italy for the first time. We'll be traveling straight to Venice from the airport, and I wanted to know what would be the earliest train we could take. We land at 1215pm in April and will most likely have one checked bag with us. I'm currently looking at a train schedule from milan centrale to venice that departs at 1600 and 1630. Would we be able to make those train times with a 1215pm arrival time?
Thanks for your help!
I think you would have plenty of time to do this. The bus in front of terminal 1 ,going to milano centrale is often faster than the train.
I agree that you could make those trains, even if your flight were a little late.
Thank you both for the reassurance!
If you're planning to purchase train tickets in advance, keep in mind that there may be unforeseen delays at the airport such as going through customs & immigration, waiting for baggage, plus your flight might be delayed.
It's usually not recommended to pre-purchase the train tickets for the day of your arrival.
If you buy super-economy tickets in advance and you don't make the connection, then it's no big loss.
It's very easy to purchase your train tickets at the ticket counter at the airport.
lalah,
If you're planning to pre-purchase tickets for the Milan - Venice trip, note that these are specific to train, date and departure time, and can ONLY be used on the one train listed on the ticket. If you board any other train, you'll face hefty fines which will be collected on the spot!
If you use the Malpensa Express from MXP to Milano Centrale, there are a couple of important points to keep in mind, especially as this is your first trip to Italy. You can buy your tickets at the airport station, but you MUST validate these prior to boarding the train or you'll be subject to hefty fines. This is also true on other Regionale trains, and on Buses and Metro. Also, the M.E. has two routes, one going to Milano Centrale and one to Milano Cadorna. BE SURE to board the correct train. The trip is about 52 minutes.
As the first reply mentioned, you can also get from MXP to Milano Centrale via the Malpensa Shuttle (bus). I've used that many times and although it's subject to traffic, I've found the travel time is usually about an hour (so not much longer than the train). The Bus is the only transportation option from MXP Terminal 2, where some of the budget airlines arrive.
As Priscilla noted, it's a bit of a gamble to buy in advance but the cheapest ticket from Milano Centrale to Venezia Santa Lucia is 9 euro, so it may be worth it to you. Personally, I would take a slightly later train just to be more secure.
