mmmooommm

I will arrive at 9:35am into Milan, then link to Milano Centrale, where I will take a train directly to Venezia Santa Lucia. I would LIKE to purchase early for the cost savings, and too, concern that a few days before Christmas, travel will be busy. HOWEVER, it is quite probable that flights will be not on time coming into Milan, which throws the whole thing off!!

Questions.

Do you think I should gamble with a reservation? Or gamble with purchasing tix when I get to Milano Centrale?

Thanks!!! There are four of us traveling, FYI.

mmmooommm

Too, just a thought, we might want a bite to eat somewhere along the path in Milan. Do you have a CONVENIENT recommendation??

(always gotta have a good meal!!)

Man_in_seat_61

A routine air travel decision.

Do I allow 3 hours, then book a cheap ticket OR buy two cheap tickets on different trains so I have a backup, OR just buy a full price ticket when I get there.

Www.trenitalia.com to check - base price is what you pay on the day.

ira

Listen to MinS61

Enjoy your visit.

Sandramiani

The best fare is a walk up second class ticket. Do not stress about buying in advance. If you don't catch one train, you'll catch the next one.

mmmooommm

I like your take, Sandra, however, darn it, Fares/Schedules aren't up yet. Hope they add more Sunday trains at late December time frame. As the LATEST is a 11:35. So, that leaves 2 hours.

Is there another option I am not aware of? Other than the obvious, spend the night in Milan, which I don't want to do. Guess I could check into car rental. Bummer.

Thanks all.

mmmooommm

just sent an inquiry into a car/driver in Italy, so perhaps a driver could be somewhat close to the 76 euro times 4 people cost of the train at full price. just a thought!!

anyone have a recommendation of car/driver companies in northern Italy? (I searched Fodors to find the inquiry I sent, but they seem based out of Florence).

kybourbon

>>>just sent an inquiry into a car/driver in Italy, so perhaps a driver could be somewhat close to the 76 euro times 4 people cost of the train at full price. just a thought!!<<<

That would be the price of transfer from the airport to Milan. Driving isn't usually any faster than taking the train, but might be late at night. A driver from the airport to Venice will likely run 400€ or more.

The Malpensa Shuttle (bus service) from the airport to Milan Centrale is 10€.

http://www.malpensashuttle.it/web2011/e-tariffe.php

>>>I would LIKE to purchase early for the cost savings<<<

Trenitalia doesn't seem to get their winter schedules fully loaded until few days before they are due (2nd weekend in Dec.). You wouldn't be able to purchase too far in advance. They were very late loading the summer schedules on this particular route. The walk up fare for the fast train Milan/Venice is 37€. SuperEconomy is 9€ (which you might not be able to get for the entire group).

>>>As the LATEST is a 11:35. So, that leaves 2 hours. <<<

? The Milan/Venice trains are usually 2 per hour until about 9 pm.

mmmooommm

kybourbon, 76 euros was the fare I saw online for the train, per person, full fare. I suppose I am looking at this wrong, as you say that 'would be the price of transfer from the airport to Milan?' I guess I don't understand!! But, sounds like more times are available, and at 37 euros, that makes that much more economical. I will revisit the site, and thanks for the shuttle link.

mmmooommm

ah, I see, so sorry, 76 euros was for the four of us, such a deal!! Something cheaper than I expected, always a nice surprise!!

PalenQ

In any case do not worry about getting on trains after reaching Milan - like kybourbon says (and she is one of Fodor's real Italian train experts - take everything she says seriously! - just buy the tickets for the next train - to save money take an IC train - much cheaper than faster trains though as this is not really a high-speed route not that much slower.

Forlots of great info on Italian trains check out www.seat61.com - Man in Seat 61 (who posts above) - his commercial site; and www.ricksteves.com and www.budgeteuropetravel.com.

No need to pre-book and if you can get say one of the 9 euro fares then just leave a whole lot of fudge factor time in Milan - have a leisurely lunch if you find yourself with time to kill - plenty of restaurants of all types right in Milan Centrale train station.

mmmooommm

PalenQ, thanks, I will! And thanks for the great links, I wasn't familiar with the first, what a great site, all my answers there. I appreciate all of your kind help!!

StuDudley

This past April, we flew into Milan (the city airport - not Malpinsa), took a taxi to Milano Centrale, purchased train tickets, & went to Verona with no problems. This was just a couple of days before Easter weekend. I believe that the train went on to Venezia.

Stu Dudley

kybourbon

Sorry, I thought you were saying you had a driver quote for 76€. Anyway, shuttle bus or train from the airport into Milan will be about 10€ per person. Full price fast train Milan/Venice is 37€. If you are traveling with family members under a certain age, you might be able to get the "famiglia" discount. This discount is good without advance purchase if still available (for regional trains as well as fast trains).

http://www.trenitalia.com/cms/v/inde...003f16f90aRCRD

Trenitalia is being annoying and not showing prices for Malpensa/Milan on their website. You can get it on their Trenord website (they operate trains in that area)along with schedules. The Trenord site is only partially in English (an improvement since it was all Italian until recently). It appears you can purchase tickets in advance on the Trenord website and they are good for a four hour time window. I don't really see any advantage to it since there's no discounts (at least doesn't appear to be). It further states in Italian that the ticket doesn't need to be validated on the ground as most regional tickets do. Don't know if that is only for online purchases or also walk-up purchases.

http://www.trenord.it/IT/servizi/motore-orario.aspx

On Trenitalia, if you have a ticket with an assigned seat (all IC,AV Frecce tickets have assigned seats) the ticket is checked on board so you don't need to validate it track side.

PalenQ

Last I knew there was a Trenitalia (or FS?) rail desk right outside Customs exit at Malpensa Airport where you can easily buy tickets - of course allowing time for the train transfer - buy both tickets at once - English guaranteeably spoken.

PalenQ

the only potential fly in the potential ointment with Italian trains are those pesky and in the past all too common 6-hour train strikes - these are usually announced ahead of time and certain trains I believe are strike immune - there used to be a way in Italian train schedules that indicated which trains were strike immune but not sure about that any more.

mmmooommm

Thanks for the heads up, palenq, glad they're are only six hours. We'll get tix at airport