We are looking to avoid the hassle of either buying Eurostar tickets from Milan to Venice on line or standing in line at Milan Centrale. Is it possible to buy train tickets in Malpensa airport?

We will be in Malpensa to return car rental and catch shuttle to Centrale. I would like to buy train tickets 2 weeks before when we first land in Milan.

We won't be in any large cities during our first two weeks, so do not imagine there will be anywhere else to buy tickets ahead of time. We will be in the Lake Maggiore and Liguria regions before heading back to Malpensa for the Venice leg of our trip.

Appreciate any advice.

Yes: the software for Italian Rail bookings is national, indeed international. Moreover, I think you can buy in any station of Italy, large or small.

Ben Haines, London
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There are travel agencies everywhere in Italy as well as train stations in the smaller towns.

Hi DB,

You can buy your tickets on line at www.trenitalia.com.

You will get a confirmation number that you show to the conductor.

If you are fluent in Italian, you can buy tickets over your cell phone as late as 5 min in advance.

Thank you all so much. It is good to know there are so mnay options!

Grazie...

I'm not sure that you can buy them at Malpensa. The railway station there is a private line - not FS.

Your only option there, I think, may be an agency.

Steve

We were rank novices when we took our first trip to Italy; except for Canada, we had never been out of the States. And our first mission once we deplaned in Milan was to get to Venice by train. These were my pre-Fodor's days, but we found the shuttle to Centrale and then some how I managed to use the automated ticket machine to get us two for Venice. Maybe it was just dumb luck, but it couldn't have been simpler. And if there were lines at the windows, I don't remember them being horrendously long. The line to the fast food place in the station was another matter. Actually, there is no "line"; it's just who can shove their way to the front first. Now that was an interesting lesson!