How to get to Milan - the best way to travel

Milan is located in Lombardy in the interior of northern Italy, about 50 km south of the border with Switzerland.

The city is easily accessible via three airports and long-distance trains and buses from Italy and abroad also arrive directly in the centre.

By air

Milan has 3 major international airports in its vicinity and they are superbly and very cheaply accessible from European and international destinations.

Click on the airport name for information on transport to/from the airport, terminals or services.

Milan Malpensa MXP - Large airport with many low-cost and regular routes throughout Europe and a large number of direct long-haul routes to Asia, North America, South America and Africa
- 44 km from the city centre
- Most flights easyJet, Ryanair, Wizz Air
- Direct long-haul routes such as Emirates, Qatar Airways, Delta, United, American Airlines, Air Canada, Air India, LATAM, Singapore Airlines, Hainan Airlines, Ethiopian Airlines and many more
Milan Bergamo BGY - A major hub for low-cost airlines
- 60 km from downtown
- One of Ryanair's largest bases
Milan Linate LIN - Airport close to the centre, mainly used by major European airlines for flights within Europe
- 9 km from the centre
- Most ITA Airways flights

Airport MXP

Linate Airport Terminal

Where to buy tickets to Milan

Ideally, buy your tickets to Venice 2 to 3 months in advance for the lowest price, either on the airline website or through one of the flight search engines.

The cheapest tickets for most routes across Europe can be purchased from low-cost airlines such as Ryanair, easyJet and Wizz Air, which have a significant presence at Milan airports.

However, you can also buy tickets to Milan from the following airlines:

For example, you can compare all flights via Skyscanner. We recommend that you always choose from the options offered by clicking directly on the airline's website.

Compare airfares to Venice in 1 click

The advantage of visiting Milan from European destinations is the price of flights, which often cost no more than 80 eur for a return ticket, especially in autumn, January or March. When promotions are available, you can get prices attacking 50 eur or less for a return flight.

By train

Milan is one of the most important rail hubs in Europe and has very busy domestic and international connections.

International trains

Direct trains to Milan from abroad run on routes such as:

Milan - Lugano - Bellinzona - Arth/Goldau - Zug - Zurich
Milan - Brig - Visp - Spiez - Thun - Bern - Olten - Basel - Freiburg - Karlsruhe - Mannheim - Frankfurt
Milan - Brig - Visp - Sion - Martigny - Montreaux - Lausanne - Geneva

You can also take the train to Lyon, Paris, Nice, Munich or Vienna with one change.

Buy your ticket at trainline.com

The vast majority of international trains run to/from Milano-Centrale or Milano-Porta Garibaldi station.

Domestic trains

Tickets for regional services can be bought easily at all stations from a ticket machine or ticket office, and the price is always the same as when you buy online. On the other hand, for long-distance services, tickets are always cheapest when bought online, ideally at least 3 weeks before departure.

From Milan you can use the services of the following railway companies in particular:

Trenitalia - high-speed trains, long-distance and local trains throughout Italy, for Regionale and Regionale Veloce services it is not necessary to buy tickets in advance, for the others the price will be lower online.
Italo - fast trains on the main line to Turin - Milan - Bologna - Florence - Rome - Naples - Salerno, usually slightly cheaper than Trenitalia
Trenord - local trains around Milan especially northwards (e.g. to Malpensa airport)

Timetables and the possibility to buy tickets online can be found on the links above, just click on the name of the railway company.

More conveniently, you can compare prices on routes with more than one carrier via thetrainline.com, where you can also buy a ticket directly at no extra charge.

Ticket prices to closer destinations such as Novara, Bergamo or Piacenza are around 7 eur, destinations further afield such as Turin, Venice, Pisa or Florence start at around 20 eur and the cheapest tickets to Rome, for example, can be purchased for a high-speed train ride at speeds of up to 320 km/h from around 35 eur.

In Milan, Milano Centrale is the main station from where the vast majority of long-distance services depart, but some may start at nearby Milano Porta Garibaldi or Milano Cadorna, so always pay maximum attention to your departure point.

Milano Centrale

Milano Cadorna

By bus

Buses often offer cheaper tickets than the train.

International connections

The vast majority of international buses to Milan are operated by Flixbus, with Regiojet also operating towards Austria and the Czech Republic.

All long-distance services depart from Lampugnano bus station (see map) near the eponymous M1 red line metro station.

The prices of single tickets are very volatile and depend mainly on the availability of the particular service. For nearby destinations such as Zurich or Geneva, the cheapest tickets can usually be purchased from 20 eur, while tickets for more distant destinations such as Munich, Prague or Vienna usually cost from 40 eur upwards.

	Online tickets	Travel time	Frequency
Zurich	Flixbus.com Regiojet.cz	4.5 hours	1x per hour
Prague	Regiojet.cz	14 hours	1x per week
Lugano	Regiojet.cz Flixbus.com	1.5 hours	7-9x daily
Geneva	Flixbus.com	5 hours	6x daily
Lyon	Flixbus.com	6.5 hours	10x daily
Munich	Flixbus.com Regiojet.com	7.5 hours	7-9x daily
Nice	Flixbus.com	6 hours	3x daily

National buses

Often many times cheaper than the train, long-distance buses are available throughout Italy. Convenience is considerably lower, frequency is usually lower, journey times are longer, and bus services concentrate on the largest Italian cities.

However, if you're heading from Milan to Venice, Turin, Florence, Bologna, Rome or Pisa and want to save money in particular, the bus is a great option. In fact, tickets about 3 weeks in advance can be bought from a symbolic 2 eur, even on longer routes to Turin or Florence. Buy tickets online at the websites of the two biggest bus companies:

All long-distance services depart from Lampugnano bus station (see map) at the same M1 red line metro station.

Getting to Milan