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GETTING THERE & AWAY
Air
Milan is served by three airports. Malpensa
(MXP) is the biggest, handling
more than 16 million passengers a
year, and is also the farthest at 50
km from the city center. The fastest
way to cover the distance is via
Malpensa Express train, which
connects Terminal 1 of the airport
with the center of Milan (Cadorna
Station) in 40 minutes. If you land
at Terminal 2, courtesy buses can
ferry you to the airport train
station. From Malpensa, you can also
take a shuttle bus to Milano Central
Railway station.
Another airport which services
Milan is Linate (LIN), 12 km
from downtown Milan. From here,
buses leave for the city center
every half an hour. Most domestic
and some European flights arrive
here.
Some visitors fly via low cost
airlines to Bergamo's Orio Al
Serio airport (BGY). It is about
45 km from downtown Milan. However,
there is no express trains between
the airport and Milan, so visitors
must take an Aerobus which takes
about 1 hour to Milan. Train
Milan's principal railway station is
Stazione Centrale which occupies
a wide area of Milan's northeastern
central corner. The station is a
very busy rail hub, serving all
major cities on the
continent. Eurostar -
combined with high speed European
rail services - offer the quickest
option for surface travel. It
takes 3 hours from Venice to Milan
and 5 hours from Rome. There is a
tourist information office at the
platform level whereas the ticket
hall is on the floor below. The
entrance to the Metro is just
outside the station. From here it's
only 10 minutes away from the heart
of the city near the Duomo. Milan
also has other train stations your
train may arrive at including Stazione
Nord, Porta Genova,
and Porta Garibaldi. Bus
Buses arrive directly from many
European as well as Italian cities.
Since Milan doesn't have a central
bus station, service arrive and
depart from Piazza Castello. Car
Many of Italy's main motorways
converge at Milan's busy ring road,
known as the Tangenziale Est and
Tangenziale Ovest. The busy A4
runs east and west connecting
Milan with other northeastern cities
such as Venice and Verona. A7
connects Milan with Genoa whereas A1
connects Milan with
Bologna.
GETTING
AROUND
Milan's public transportation is
managed by ATM (Azienda
Trasporti Milanesi) and the city
administers extensive railway, tram,
trolley and bus lines. Tickets can
be bought at news kiosks, bars and
at the Tourist Information Centre in
Stazione Centrale. A single ticket
lasts 75 minutes and costs 1 € -
you can use it on as many buses and
trams as you like, but you are only
permitted one metro journey. Most
useful for tourists are the 24-hour
and 48-hour tickets (3 € and 5.50
€ respectively). Stamp your ticket
in the machine provided the first
time you use it (machines are
onboard buses and trams, and at the
entrance gates to the
Metro).
Milan's underground train
network, the Metro (or
Metropolitana) is quite
user-friendly. There are three
lines, distinguished by number and
color. M1 (red) is useful for
tourist attractions and the Fiera.
M3 (yellow) intersects with M1 at
Duomo (the station right in front of
the Duomo) and with M2 (green) at
Stazione Centrale, Milan's main
railway station (sometimes marked as
Centrale FS). You need to know the
final destinations of the train you
want, as the platforms are labelled
according to the end destination
(e.g. Direzione Famagosta). Where a
line separates, check the train's
destination to be sure you're on the
right branch.
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