Blondie21

I've read different things and even the advice of the proprietor of the hotel in Verona is confusing. She said to buy tickets at Malpensa airport where you take the train from Malpensa to Milano Centrale and then change to Verona.She sait to buy these tickets at the airport. I read Do Not take the airport train it goes to a different train station in Milan and then you'll have to take a taxi or metro to get to Centale.
So which is correct??
When arriving in Milan Malpensa airport do you take the shuttle bus to Milano Centrale to buy tickets to Verona and at Centrale get the train? or do you purchase the tickets at Malpensa and get a train there which goes directly to Verona? Please be as clear as possible as I am at your mercy!
Once I figure out the proper way to get the tickets, the next question is that after staying in Verona three nights, we plan on traveling by train to Venice. Do we buy the tickets on the day we travel to Venice or should we buy the tickets the same time we purchase tickets for Verona, on arrival in Milan (at the airport, etc.)

Grazie!

greg

For Italian train info, www.fsitaliane.it

"take the train from Malpensa to Milano Centrale": This <u>IS</u> correct info. You can verify at the web site noted.

"I read Do Not take the airport train it goes to a different train station in Milan and then you'll have to take a taxi or metro to get to Centale.": This <u>WAS</u> correct several years ago but NOT now. <u>At THAT</u> time the train from airport went to Milano Cadorna only and only bus went to Centrale. This is a <u>HISTORICAL</u> info.

Recommendation to when to buy differs from whether you are taking a high speed train or not. The web site noted tells you this. For slow train, you CAN buy on the day of travel, however, you need to allocate time to do this. For fast trains, there is a significant discount buying advance tickets online.

Blondie21

Thank you very much, Greg, and your response underlines how important it is to make sure information online is up to date.

As far as buying the tickets in advance, my problem, as other travelers must experience, is I don't know if my plane will arrive on time so I don't want to risk buying online in advance. I will just have to take the other risk of buying at the airport once we arrive.

Thanks again for your insights.

GAC

QUOTE:

"As far as buying the tickets in advance, my problem, as other travelers must experience, is I don't know if my plane will arrive on time so I don't want to risk buying online in advance. I will just have to take the other risk of buying at the airport once we arrive."

OBSERVATION:

An astute and accurate statement. IF you were to purchase one of the discounted promotional tickets for the reserved Frecciabianca train from Milano Centrale to Verona Porta Nuova (see below), and IF you were to MISS the train owing to a late-arriving plane, you would forfeit the ticket (whose cheapest price is only 9 Euros). This is true even if you were to MISS the train by only one second.

Nevertheless, the price difference is not great here:

1. From MXP Airport to Milano Centrale, the train fare is fixed, and there are NO promotional discounts (apart from the Child's fare), so there is absolutely no reason to buy in advance (plus, you don't know when your plane will land). Plus, seats on this train are all unreserved.

BEWARE: Be carful to take the train going to Milano CENTRALE, and not to Milano CADORNA.

NOTE: There is also an airport BUS from MXP Airport to Milano CENTRALE station (slower than the train, and subject to traffic delays; there are two different bus companies on this route).

2. From Milano Centrale to Verona Porta Nuova, IF you take the UNRESERVED "regionale" train, there are again NO promotional discounts (apart from the Child's fare), so again there is absolutely no reason to buy in advance. The "ordinaria" fare is only 11.30 Euros (travel time 115 minutes).

3. From Milano Centrale to Verona, IF you take the RESERVED Frecciabianca train, the "BASE" (regular, undiscounted) fare is 20.50 Euros (travel time 82 minutes). The SUPER ECONOMY fare of 9 Euros is difficult to find, and the ECONOMY fare (19 Euros) would be extremely silly to choose, since this fare is NON-CHANGEABLE, yet saves a mere 1.50 Euros from the "BASE" fare!!!

RECOMMENDATION: Buy the train tickets at MXP Airport (for BOTH trains), making sure to give yourself a sufficient connection at Milano Centrale from the airport train to the Verona-bound train. Don't fret too much over the differences between the unreserved "regionale" train and the reserved Frecciabianca train (Milano Centrale to Verona). Choose the solution which best fits your arrival time. The "regionale" train ORIGINATES at Milano Centrale, so you WOULD find a seat on that train as long as you board promptly.

GAC

QUOTE:

"The next question is that after staying in Verona three nights, we plan on traveling by train to Venice. Do we buy the tickets on the day we travel to Venice or should we buy the tickets the same time we purchase tickets for Verona, on arrival in Milan (at the airport, etc.)"

ANSWER:

If you take the UNRESERVED "regionale" train from Verona Porta Nuova to Venezia S. Lucia, there is no reason to buy in advance (apart from convenience), since there are no promotional discounts (save for the Child's fare). The "ordinaria" fare in second class is 7.40 Euros, and travel time varies ( from 1.5 to over 2 hours).

If you take the RESERVED Frecciabianca train, the "BASE" fare is a steep 21.50 Euros, and it's unlikely that you'll find a SUPER ECONOMY fare of 9 Euros by booking only a few days in advance. The Frecciabianca takes only 71 minutes (which is twice as fast as the "regionale" in some cases).

RECOMMENDATION: Take the unreserved "regionale" train for only 7.40 Euros. Buy the ticket on the day of departure from the Verona station manned ticket window OR electronic kiosk. To save travel time, choose the "regionale" which takes only 1.5 hours to reach Venice (if convenient). If you're looking to take the FASTEST train, choose the expensive Frecciabianca, which has reserved seating.

BEWARE: The faster "regionale" train originates in Milan, and COULD be full or nearly so by the time it gets to Verona. There MIGHT be problem finding seats, depending on your travel date and time.

lovetotravel2

I am so thrilled to find this thread! We will be flying into Malpensa and spending our first 3 nights in Verona and all the forums I was reading indicated we needed to take bus from MXP-Milan Centrale and then train. But now I did find the actual schedule on the Italian rail site to take the train the entire way. We plan to get some sort of rail pass (still to be researched) as we will be traveling Italy, Switzerland, Germany by train.
Another question while I have you, we will be staying at the HOTEL Giulietta e Romeo in Verona. Any chance we can walk from train station to hotel? Thank you!

Mimar

Check the hotel web site or better, look up the location of the hotel at one of the Internet mapping sites, like Google maps or www.viamichelin.com, and compute the walking route and time from the station. (There's a little icon showing a walker; choose that instead of the car.)

Dukey1

When we are in verona we generally stay in a hotel closer to the P-Nuova rail station. You COULD walk to your hotel from the train station since the route is basically flat and involves paved sidewalks, etc., but you might find it a troop.

Go to Google maps and use that for the distance finder and map from the train station to your hotel address and you can judge for yourself.

In your particular case I would probably opt for a taxi.

Blondie21

Thanks very much GAC for your detailed reply.

Once we get to Verona, we'll be staying at Hotel Torcolo. The lady at the hotel recommended going to a travel agent in town to buy the tickets to Venice.

Is it easy enough to buy the tickets yourself at the Verona station or would it be easier to buy through an agent? They would charge some sort of fee, I'm sure. Have you ever done this? I don't speak fluent Italian and am concerned there might be a problem buying tickets. What do you think? How much could they charge?

Need to check exactly where this Hotel Torcolo is.
Don't think we can walk from the train station to it.

Again, many thanks for your help.
Again, many thanks for all your help.

ellenem

Travel agents authorized to sell train tickets have not charged a fee to sell train tickets in the past. I've bought from agents a number of times and have never been charged extra. Going to an agent near the hotel will save the trek to the train station if you don't buy them as you pass through on arrival.

If you are concerned about speaking Italian, you can research a few different train options online before you go, and then print the options. Give the agent the printout of the option you decide to buy. If you know the tickets you want already, you can also buy them at Malpensa or at Milano Centrale if you have time between trains.

It is possible to walk from the station to Hotel Torcolo, but having made the walk a number of times, I would not do so with luggage. It is 1.6 km--about a mile--and not particularly interesting. Just grab a taxi at the station and make life simple.

Mimar

We find it much more convenient to buy train tickets from a travel agent in Italy. Never been charged a fee, and they almost always speak English. (It's a job requirement.) If, in the course of your sightseeing, you see a travel agency with the Trenitalia logo, just stop in.