Questions about Milan areas and transportation
 

There seem to be quite a few three star hotels in walking distance from the central railway station. We will only be there for one night and arriving by train. It would certainly be convenient to stay in that area and then take the shuttle bus to the airport the next morning. However, frequently areas around main train stations are not good, and I don't want to feel uneasy. Any comments on the area regarding safety and about how many metro stops to the duomo area? Or would it be better to taxi from the central station to a hotel in the Nord Cadorma area and then take the express train from Nord Cadorma to the airport the next morning? About how much is the taxi from one train station to the other? I would appreciate your opinions.

Carroll, Two years ago I stayed at the Hotel Canova and thought it was pretty nice. It's only a couple of minutes walk from the train station and in a decent area.Web site is hotelcanova.com It also shows a map with the hotel's location.The subway is nearby.

Staying near the Cadorna station is fine, and you're in the full center of the city. Like you said in the morning, you can get up and take the Malpensa Express without a problem.

The Central Station is also in the center, but about 5 stops away on the metro. In the day it's not bad, but at night it's not great. I always suggest returning home by taxi. In any area. In the morning from the Central Station there are busses that depart every half hour or hour (I don't remember, but I'm sure someone here does), that bring you to Malpensa. It's a 45 min ride.

So from either station you're alright. The Cadorna option is the "nicer" of the two in my opinion. I like the area and the train. But tons of people swear by the Central station area.

The Cadorna Station is appx. 10 min by taxi from the Central Station.

Hope this helps.
Melissa

The main train station is attached to the metro and a quick 2-3 stop ride to the Duomo. Very easy to stay here overnight, get up early, hop on the metro to the main trainstation to catch the bus to Malpensa! That's what we did. Hotel Speronari, 88 euro, clean, decent size room with private bath. lots of stairs but great location!

Hi,
I write you .... from Milan.
1) From Central Station (Stazione Centrale) to Piazza Duomo: 4 stops YELLOW line (direction SAN DONATO);
2) From Central Station to Cadorna Station: 5 stops GREEN line (direction FAMAGOSTA);
3) avoid if possible Central Station at evening /night (as everywhere in the world...);
4) from Milan to Malpensa get the train (Malpensa Express) from Cadorna Station, avoid the bus it takes longer and can have problems with traffic.

Ciao, have a nice trip!!

Gianni

We stayed at the Andreola Centrale Hotel which is a block from the train station. We stayed 3 nights, it was fine. We walked around at night, no problem. I wouldn't suggest just "hanging around" outside the station for no reason, or in any of the subway stations either. There were people who approached us in the subway when we looked like we didn't know what we were doing, they offered help and asked for money, they were not threatening. The Andreola is a 4 star hotel, we got a very good price through venere.com.

oh, I forget to mention that we took an early bus from Centrale to Malpensa airport.It was quick and easy.

Gianni! Our new expert on Milano! I hope you'll continue to help us...

Thanks so much for all of the replies. Can anyone recommend a hotel in walking distance to the Cadorna station. There seems to be an abundance of them close to Central station, but I am having difficulty finding something close to Cadorna station. I'm thinking we would like to just walk to the Malpensa Express the morning we leave.

Hi

My wife and I went to Milan last year in June and we stayed at Hotel Marconi located at Via F. Filzi number 3 (near Repubblica Metro station). It was great being able to live close to the Metrol so that we could get around town and we lived within walking distance of the central station and that made it easy when we were going by train to Venice and by bus to Malpensa. You can read more details in my trip report (with pictures) which is posted on my personal homepage www.gardkarlsen.com :-D Maybe you can find some useful information there

Regards
Gard
Stavanger, Norway

Carroll,
Gianni is right once again...
No need to stay around the Milano Central station. Go to the Duomo area and find a hotel in the centre. Four stops on the metro takes about 8 minutes.