Milan is famous for its wealth of historical and modern sights – the Duomo, one of the biggest and grandest Gothic cathedrals in the world, La Scala, one of the best established opera houses in the globe, the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele, an ancient and glamorous arcaded shopping gallery, the Brera art gallery, with some of the finest artistic works in Europe, the Pirelli tower, a majestic example of 1960s modernist Italian architecture, the San Siro, a huge and famed stadium, or the Castello Sforzesco, a grand medieval castle and the UNESCO’s World Heritage Site Santa Maria alle Grazie Basilica, containing one of the world’s most famous paintings: Leonardo da Vinci’s The Last Supper.
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The two terminals are connected by a free shuttle bus service (running approximately every 20 minutes). Such shuttles are very small and the frequency is inadequate: long queues tend to form, which prompts several taxi drivers to station right next to the stop and pick up those passengers who don’t want to or can’t afford to wait. It is not uncommon for passengers to wait up to 40-45 minutes for the transfers: most shuttles are packed, forcing passengers to wait for the next one.
Airport Transfer
Fare: one-way €11, round trip in a single day €14.50. A new offer allows a family (or group) up to 2 adult and 2 children (up to 18 year old) to travel one-way for € 25. Your ticket must be bought and validated in the station before boarding. It isn’t possible anymore to buy tickets on board. The only option for a passenger without a ticket is to contact a ticket inspector when boarding or immediately after boarding (a surcharge of €5 will be added to the cost of a full rate single ticket in this case).
The Malpensa Express Trains between Malpensa and Milano Centrale connect the the terminal 1 of the Malpensa airport to Milano Centrale. These trains also connect to Milano Bovisa and Milano Porta Garibaldi. There are 1 or 2 trains each hour. These trains stop at Milano Bovisa, Milano Porta Garibaldi and Milano Centrale. Some trains also stop at Busto Arsizio, Saronno, and some trains also stop at some intermediate stations.
From Malpensa Airport Terminal 2 directly to Milan, there are a number of stands for various bus companies. One tried-and-tested service is called Malpensa Shuttle. Buy your ticket at the stand in arrivals (card accepted) before boarding the gaudily coloured bus in the car park. There are 2-3 buses per hour, and the bus terminates next to the taxi rank by the east entrance of Milano Centrale. A single costs €10, or you can ask for a return ticket for €16. For the journey from Centrale to Malpensa, there is a ticket stand near the east exit of Centrale, and the bus is boarded at the adjacent bus stops.
Easy Private Taxi transfers to Milan City Centre – sedan at €80, minibus at €95
123TransfersPrivate transfers to Milan City Centre 3 persons from €93.50, minibus at €108.75
Avis and other car hire firms are available at Milan airport Terminal 1.
You can reach Milan by Trenitalia trains departing from Gallarate train station. A bus service is available from Terminal 1 and Terminal 2 to Gallarate.
You can also connect to Trenitalia trains in Busto Arsizio FS (also called Busto Arsizio RFI) station. A train (currently replace by bus, see note below) runs every hour, during daytime only, from Malpensa airport to Busto Arsizio FS (also calling at Fermo and Busto Arsizio FNM). and vice versa. First train from Malpensa airport to Busto Arsizio FS at 07:10. Last train from Malpensa airport to Busto Arsizio FS at 20:10.. First train from Busto Arsizio FS to Malpensa airport at 07:39. Last train from Busto Arsizio FS to Malpensa airport at 20:39. The journey takes 14 minutes. For full timetable of this service look at column in blue colour in the full timetable of service by Le Nord between Milano, Malpensa and Novara (this connection is not shown in some shorter timetable). In Busto Arsizio FS station trains from Malpensa Airport arrive at platform “1 tronco” and train to malpensa airport depart from platform “1 tronco” (platform “1 tronco” is not the same as platform 1). If you want to connect to a train service by Trenitalia (or other operator on the railway line managed by RFI) you will need to change platform. Trains from Milan arrive at platform 4. Trains to Varese (and other Northbound trains) depart from platform 4. Train from Varese (and other Southbound trains) arrive at platform 5. Trains to Milan depart from platform 5.
From 1 July 2010 until unknown date the rail service between Malpensa airport and Busto Arsizio FS is suspended. It is replaced by a bus service which take 38 minutes for the journey. Until the railway service is suspended the total time of the journey is greatly increased and so this route is not advisable.
From late September 2010 a new train service is being started connecting Milano Centrale to Malpensa terminal 1 directly by train with trains coming from other city in Italy (e.g Naples, Rome, Florence, Bologna). These trains after calling at Milano centrale will go to Malpensa airport terminal 1. Standard fares from Milano Centrale to Malpensa airport T1 (or vice versa) are €13 in 2nd class, €16 in 1st class. As middle September 2010, there are just two service per direction per day. Departure times from Malpensa airport terminal 1: 12.21, 18.10 journey time 42 min; from Milano centrale: 08.57, 15.57 journey time: 54 min. (Note: these services are in addiction to the Malpensa Express train service to Milano Centrale, see above. Note that ticket are not interchangeable between the two type of trains).
Taking connecting flights in Linate might take much longer than elsewhere because there is no through passage: you get off the airplane, get out of the security area, go through security again together with those passengers who have just arrived from Milan and not with a connecting flight, and only then can you board the new plane. If you’re taking a connection from abroad it doesn’t make much difference, because in these cases you have to go through security again (say, London to Palermo via Rome Fiumicino), but if both flights are domestic then you don’t have to go through security again if the airport has a through passage (e.g. Palermo to Genova via Rome Fiumicino). This is common in most countries: the rationale is that apparently no one seems to trust security checks performed by other countries.
Airport Transfer
A new express service Bus no. X73, by ATM, connect the Linate airport and San Babila Square, in the city centre and vice versa, via a route similar to the bus 73, but with just one intermediate stop (at Dateo, where interchange with the Passante Ferroviario is possible). As it is a direct service it takes less time than the normal 73 bus and it is usually less crowded. The advertised journey time is 25 (but take into account more time than this, especially if you are travelling in peak time). This express service operates only weekdays 7AM-8PM and there is an express bus every 20 minutes. The ordinary ticket of €1.5 is accepted on this route, no supplement is needed, and you can transfer to the metro (subway) system and other bus (for more details about tickets see above and the Get around section).
A dedicated bus service, called “Starfly”, operated daily 06:00 to 23:30 by Autostradale, connects Linate airport to Milan central station running approximately every 30 minutes and tickets cost €5 per adult (ticket sold at local newsagent and on board). This bus also stops on route at Lambrate railway station. The journey takes approximately 27 min.
A bus service, operated by Malpensa Shuttle connects Malpensa airport to Linate airport as well as Malpensa to Milan’s Central train station (timetables, fares and ticket booking available online). The journey takes 30-60 min, depending on traffic conditions.
Airport Transfer
Autostradale run a direct bus from Orio Airport to Milano Centrale station, which is probably the best choice. Departure times may vary, but buses generally run every half hour during the day, less often at night, and take about 1 hour or more. However, beware of cutting things too fine, because the highway to Milan is very crowded during weekdays. Adult one-way fare: €5.00. Tickets are sold in Orio Al Serio Airport in Bergamo and at the Central Train Station in Milan. Be at the Milan Bus stop at least 15 minutes before nominal departure time, or you may get left behind. Tickets can be purchased online, but sellers at the airport and train station will offer 3 tickets for price of 2.
Zani Viaggi also run a bus service from Bergamo Airport to Milano Centrale station with a stop at the Cascina Gobba MM2 station on the North Eastern outskirts of Milan. Adult fare: €9ish one way. Tickets sold at an office in the airport or online.
There are several other bus shuttle companies, e.g. Orio shuttle that offer direct bus services from Bergamo airport to Milan central, Malpensa and Linate airport. It is advisable to not buy the bus tickets online beforehand, because then the passenger has no choice but to wait for the bus the he/she has booked. Once you get out of the customs area, there are a lot of kiosks and agents, who will offer bus tickets to city center at €9 return, or €5 one-way. This gives flexibility to choose the first departing bus, instead of waiting at the airport.