Help in Planning Train Schedule Milan/Florence/Rome/Milan
 

We are flying in and out of MXP in October 2015. We will need to get from MXP to Florence for 3 nights. Then we leave Florence and will need to take the train to Rome (staying near the Spanish Steps) for 5 nights. Then taking a train back to Milan for 2 nights ... Then home. We are flying from the US. We will not be checking luggage. How long should we plan to go through customs? And based on what I've read I should buy our train tickets in advance to get the best price. How far in advance should we buy them? Can you please give me advise on this, how to do this, how much time to allow once we land in MXP to make sure I choose the right time for the train? There are two of us traveling. Your help is appreciated. Thanks!

VERY generally speaking, it doesn't take more than 15 minutes to pass through passport control at Malpensa. However, if you are arriving at a peak moment during a fashion festival in Milan, that line can stretch. But I persoanlly would be very surprised by any more than 30 minutes.

Regarding buying your train tickets in advance to get the discount, if you miss the train (due to your flight being delayed), you can exchange the ticket for a new ticket good for the next departing train, but you lose the discount. But if you wait until your arrival to buy the tickets, you are certain to lose the discount.

Also, if you are traveling by train on any weekends, be sure to check if you can get a 2-for-1 discount.

You might look at train schedules to see if it makes any sense to head to Rome your first day and then work your way back north. Might not. Just a thought.

What time does your flight arrive at MXP?

Immigration can take any amount of time, depending on other flights coming in at the same time. Usually, if I want to get on a train immediately after landing in country, I don't buy the tickets ahead of time. This is because I don't know how long it will take me to get to my train.

From MXP you'll need to take a train or bus to Milan.

http://www.airportmalpensa.com/airport-train.php

From there you can get any number of trains to Florence.

trenitalia.com

It is possible that 2nd class Milano Centrale > Firenze SMN may be sold out for the very next train, but you can either purchase 1st class, or tickets for the next train. These are fairly inexpensive tickets.

Since you know the exact times that you want to travel from Florence to Rome to Milan, you can buy those tickets ahead of time, using the trenitalia.com website.

Play with a little, but it's not an unfriendly site. Using the Italian names of stations helps.

I believe 90 days is the amount of time you need to get the best discounts.

My flight arrives at 12:30 p.m. on a Thursday. Thanks for the information!

I did a post about buying train tickets in Italy on my blog

http://winenchocolate.com/buying-tra...ets-for-italy/

Hope this helps.

Take a read through the info here to familiarize yourself with how trains work in Italy. Great site, the bible of European trains.

http://www.seat61.com/

You've gotten great advice above from sandara and tuscan and others - the early bird gets the worm - but those tickets are non-changeable non-refundble I do believe so be sure of your timings and don't miss the train or you'll have to buy full fare. For lots of good info on Italian trains check not only www.seat61.com for great info on discounted tickets but for general nfo www.budgeteuropetravel.com and www.ricksteves.com. and Treno Italia - not sure of its name now competes on the Milan-Florenc-Rome route with Trenitalia so check both sources for prices - both are high-speed trains though Italo Treno or whatever they call it may use secondary stations in cities which is not a problem and may even be easier to navigate.

Yes, it is possible that the heavily discounted tickets are non-exchangeable, so if you miss the train, you lose whatever you paid for it. So it only makes sense to take the risk if the ticket price is one you can cheerfully afford to lose, or if the connection is quite leisurely, and the chance of missing it very small. It's a gamble.

As others have said, I wouldn't buy the ticket from Milan to Florence, for the reasons given. I used to buy tickets for trains from Rome to my home after arrival at Fiumicino, leaving a generous cushion for late flights. I realized that usually I could have caught an earlier train, and, after an overnight flight, waiting for the next train just because I already bought the ticket is even worse than missing the train.

For the others, buying in advance makes sense. The tickets for the fast trains go on sale 120 days in advance, and the best discounts get snapped up quickly.

You can buy the tickets on http://www.trenitalia.com/tcom-en . You have to use the English names of the cities: Firenze, Roma, Milano. In Florence, you'd want Santa Maria Novella as the station. In Rome and Milan, there are several stations used by the fast trains, but the most central in Rome is Roma Termini. In Milan it depends on where you're staying. In both Rome and Milan you can choose "tutte le stazioni" (all stations) to see all possibilities.

If you want to try Italo, it's www.italotreno.it . Sometimes they have discounted tickets after they're already sold out on Trenitalia. However, they don't run as often and more of their trains go to the less convenient stations.

If you take the train from MXP into Milan, you can book that ahead online. It doesn't save you any money (no discounts on this train), only saves you time stopping to get a ticket in the airport. You would buy that ticket from Trenord (can be purchased up to 6 months in advance online). You select a date/time and it's good for a 4 hour window. Ticket is 12€ and travel time from MXP to Milan Centrale is 52 minutes.

http://www.trenord.it/en/

bourbon - is that a print at home ticket or is there a handling/shipping fee? thanks!

Thanks for all the great information!

As others have said, I wouldn't buy the ticket from Milan to Florence, for the reasons given>

I agree wholeheartedly - full fare is not that awful in 2nd class and you can hop the next convenient train from Termini - after asking about that at the Rome Airport ticket window and be able to relax - if a discounted ticket on the plane and the plane is getting late it can be nerve-wracking and if you put a lot of fudge factor time in you may be twissling your thumbs in Termini for a few hours - not all that bad though as they are many restaurants, caffes, etc there to while time away in.