My Ultimate Guide to Local Transport in Milan, Italy

Every solo traveller has a blurry vision of riding a Vespa in Milan, Italy. But, other super economical and beneficial local transportation are present in Milan. This article is a complete guide to local transportation in Milan with details I gathered from my solo travel.

1. How to travel by bus to Milan

Buses are one of the cheapest modes of local transport in Milan. I found the bus services in Milan quite interesting. There are only two bus routes in Milan. One bus covers the entire city of Milan clockwise, and the other moves in an anti-clockwise direction. Thus, you can get off anywhere in Milan on a bus.

How long do buses work in Milan?

However, a disadvantage of buses is they run till 10 PM only. So, they are unreliable at night. Even then, Milan has radio buses to carry out the duty of buses at night. I have already discussed the benefits of radio buses in my blog post, “How to travel solo Milan on a budget.” Radio buses run till 2 AM. Hence, you can travel by bus from 6 AM to 2 AM in Milan.

2. How to travel by metro in Milan

Let’s see about the metro services in Milan now. Milan has four subway lines which you can easily locate. The metro area is marked by the letter “M.” If you find a sign displaying M1, M2, M3, and M4, you are near metro lanes. For more clarity to the public, the four lanes of the metro are coloured differently. Lane 1(M1) in red, lane 2(M2) in green, lane 3(M3)in yellow, and lane 4(M4) in purple. The lanes are perfectly connected to all of Milan’s tourist locations. Hence, the metro’s a satisfying mode of transport for solo travel in Milan.

What are the metro stops near tourist destinations?

To make your work even simpler, let me tell you about the metro stops that take you to tourist places. The metro stops that will take you to the tourist destinations are the Cairoli stop, Porta Venezia station, Cadorna station, Duomo stop, Porta Genova, or Piazza. 

3. Bicycles and ecological transportation in Milan

Worried about transporting from a metro station to a nearby tourist destination? Bicycles to avoid long walks and go for an eco-friendly driveway, not as Milan’s metro stations have rented space to rent bicycles. BikeMI organises this eco-friendly system. One cannot deny this service’s usefulness for travelling between closer locations. This service is open from 7 AM to 1 AM. The price depends on the hours. For the first four hours, each hour bills to 50 cents. If you were to rent the bicycle for more than 4 hours, each hour adds 2 euros to it.

4. How to travel by train in Milan

Trains, as we speak, are very beneficial if you take a day trip from Milan or to nearby European cities. Trains of Milan connect you directly to Zurich, Geneva, France, Switzerland, and Monaco. Of course, you have frequent trains to other Italian cities such as Florence, Venice, Rome, etc. On the whole, Milan’s train network is extensive. 

Thello’s train from Paris to Venice

Thello trains(pronounced tell-OH) is a joint venture between Trenitalia and a private French rail firm that runs overnight with six stops between Paris and Venice. On this train, you must travel with the proper international travel papers.

Thello train leaves Paris at 7:59 PM and reaches Venice at 9:35 AM. The six stops in between are Milan, Brescia, Verona, Vicenza, and Padova. Thello train also runs in the opposite direction, departing Venice at 7:20 PM and arriving in Paris the following morning at 9:30 AM.

Eurocity trains

EuroCity (EC) trains go across international borders. These are comparable to the InterCity trains in Italy, except they connect cities on a global scale. The special feature of Eurocity trains is that they provide a specific level of service, including air conditioning, and each train has dining. There are first and second-class seaters as well. 

The first class is the only one with certain facilities, such as power outlets at each seat. Except in exceptional cases where the terrain necessitates slower speeds for safety, EC trains must run at least 56 MPH (90 km/h). Those travelling solo in Milan will be happy to discover only two Italian cities connected by the Eurocity train. Milan is one of them. The other is Venice. 

5. Vespa – the best mode of transportation in Milan

It would only be fair if I included the Vespa in Milan’s local mode of transport. Vespa is the best mode of local transport to explore Italy—Milan is no exception. Riding a Vespa is a dream for many visitors to Italy. That reason aside, renting a Vespa is truly an ultimate decision to explore Milan.

Because instead of waiting for metros, buses, and trams, if you can rent a Vespa of your own, you can shift locations without hesitation and consideration for time. If you agree, you will be happy to find several good Vespa rentals in Milan for solo travellers. You can visit them and utilise their facility.

6. How to easily get local transport in Milan

As of now, we had a look through the various modes of transport in Milan. Hope you gained a lot of information on how transports work in Milan. On that note, to make transport accessible to people easier, Milan has an ATM application. ATM(Azienda Trasporti Milanese) is nothing but the head sector of Milan public transport services. They have developed an application that simplifies the user experience for finding the best route and checking/comparing fares and timings. You can book your ticket and ride with one click. This application is available on both android and ios mobile. With the ATM app, taking local transport on your solo travel to Milan is made easy.

7. How to validate your tickets

To begin with, is it compulsory to validate your tickets before using local transport in Milan? Yes, it is. Be it any mode of public transportation—you must validate your ticket. In the case of taking the metro, you can only get past the entrance if you validate the ticket. So, you will never forget this process when taking the metro. In other cases, when riding a bus or a tram, you must be careful to validate your ticket upon entering. Or else you will end up paying a fine.

8. Is there a travel pass in Milan?

There are many travels passes for tourists and the public in Milan. Travel passes to cut down on cost largely. On that note, three significant travel pass in Milan are

• Milano travel card
• Euro travel pass
• One-day to three-day pass

The euro travel pass is limited to European nationals. But the Milano travel card is for everyone, and you can enjoy discounts, tours, coupons, tickets, etc. So the Milano travel card is worth buying. Then there is a one-day pass which costs around 7 euros. The one-day pass is extendable. Depending on the days, the cost is determined. If it is 7 euros a day(24), it will be 21 euros for three days (72 hrs).

9. Where to validate a ticket on a bus/tram

On entering, you will find a rectangular box coloured in red attached to a pole. You have to validate your ticket here. The rectangular box has specific places for various types of tickets. If it is a ticket, you have to insert it to validate. If it is a travel e-card, you have to keep the card in the marked area to validate. Once you have validated your ticket, the next thing to worry about is getting off at the stop. You must press the stop button near your seat to intimate the driver.

Hope the information was clear and useful. Hit the comments if you need more details or have other concerns regarding transportation in Milan. Happy travelling.