You are in Milan. Your goal is shopping or sightseeing. Then the public transport system will help you. We will analyze how the metro, trams, buses in Milan work, how much the tickets cost and how to buy them.
Transport in Milan, photo by Mariano Mantel
Milan's public transport is popular with citizens and tourists. He is well developed. It quickly, not expensively and without problems, you can get to the right place.
Milan's public transport is managed by Azienda Trasporti Milanesi (ATM). Under its jurisdiction, metro, trams, buses and electric trains fall. There are taxis in the city, and bike rental is available.
You can plan a route on the atm.it public transport website.
Milan's public transport runs on schedule. Yellow timetables hang at every stop. Look at the map with all public transport stops here or take it for free at ATM ticket sales points (Duomo, Centrale, Cadorna, Garibaldi metro stations). Schedules of buses, trams and metro can be found here.
Types of tickets and their cost
Buy public transport tickets at newsstands and tobacco shops or at vending machines and ticket offices at the entrance to the metro.
Bus and tram drivers do not sell tickets!
Biglietto Urbano € 1,5
Ticket for 1 trip for 90 minutes - € 1.5.
After composting the ticket, you can make any number of transfers using public transport, but you can travel by metro and train only once (!)
BI4 Biglietto integrato per 4 viaggi
4 trips of 90 minutes each - € 6.00.
Attention, if you punch this ticket for the first time on Sunday or a public holiday before 13:00 or after 20:00, the number of trips on this day will be unlimited.
Carnet 10 viaggi
10 trips of 90 minutes each - € 13.8.
This ticket cannot (!) Be used simultaneously for several passengers.
Biglietto giornaliero
24-hour pass - € 4.5.
Biglietto bigiornaliero
48-hour pass - € 8.25.
Biglietto serale
Evening ticket - € 3.
From 20:00 to midnight, the number of trips is unlimited.
Biglietto per bagaglio
a ticket for luggage valid for 90 minutes - € 1.50.
Do children ride for free?
Children under 5 years old travel for free, two or more children from 6 to 10 years old can travel for free only with an adult who bought a ticket for themselves, and there are documents for children confirming their age. If there are no such documents, then an “adult ticket” is bought for children.
Travel
Abbonamento settimanale
For a week - € 11.30.
Valid for unlimited travel Monday through Sunday.
Abbonamento mensile
For a month - € 35.
Valid for an unlimited number of trips one calendar month.
Abbonamento annuale
For a year - € 330.
Valid for 12 consecutive calendar months, the number of trips is not limited.
Before buying a ticket, issue a special registered document at the transport bureau (Uffici abbonamenti ATM). Student travel passes exist only for students of higher educational institutions in Italy with an age not older than 26 years.
See the current prices for Milan public transport tickets here.
The ticket must be composted. Composters in buses and trams are located at the first door and the last, in the subway - at the entrance. The ticket must be kept throughout the trip.
Fines
Remember that a non-validated ticket is not valid! Meeting with the controller faces a fine of € 100 plus payment of the ticket price. Controllers are incorruptible, so it will not work to pity them.
Cons of public transportation in Milan
During peak hours, the transport is full. You need to be attentive to personal belongings and wallets, as pickpockets operate. Italian transport employees quite often hold strikes during which public transport is blocked. And another tip, in the evening it is better to use reliable private carriers or taxis.
Buses
Milan yellow bus
Milan yellow-orange buses and trams run on schedule. Yellow timetables hang at bus stops. The traffic on weekdays (feriale) and on weekends (festivo), summer (estivo) and winter (invernale) is different. If you saw the inscription “Sciopero” - this means a strike, and you will not wait for the bus soon.
They enter Milan's buses and trams through the first and last doors, and exit only through the middle. City buses stop only on demand. So be sure to click on the red button in the cabin if you want to exit.
Download Milan Transport Scheme
Buses run from 05:30 to 00:30 (sometimes until 2:30).
From 00:30 to 01:30 there are special night buses between the metro stations - linee sostitutive.
On May 1 and December 25, buses and trams operate on an abbreviated schedule - from 07:00 to 19:30.
On Fridays and Saturdays, from 02:00 to 06:00 there are night buses (Rete notturna). Tickets for them are bought in special vending machines at stops. For such buses, the letter N is added before the number
Double decker coach buses
Double decker tourist buses in Milan
In Milan, tourist buses and trams run. The Zani Viaggi double-decker bus, which operates on a hop on hop off system, has three routes lasting 90 minutes, including visits to the main attractions of the city. Audio guides are issued, there are also special children's ones in Russian!
A ticket for an adult will cost € 25, for children 5-15 years old - € 10. The ticket is valid for 48 hours from the moment of validation on all three lines. More detailed information can be found on the website milano.city-sightseeing.it, tickets can also be ordered there.
Trams
Tram in Milan, photo by Steffi Helene
Trams are a good alternative to sightseeing in the city. The length of the tram network in Milan is about 120 km.
The movement of trams begins at 04: 30-06: 00, and they return to the park at 01: 00-2: 30. See the schedule at the stops.
Underground
Milan Metro and Suburban Train Scheme
It is convenient to travel around the city by metro, which includes 4 lines, most of the sections are underground, but there are also ground ones. Milan Metro is the longest in Italy. Every day it carries over 1 million passengers.
The M1 line is convenient for tourists, as passes through areas with attractions such as Sforza Castle, La Scala Opera House, Duomo Cathedral. In the subway, the platforms have the name of the terminal station of the line, so it is better to know them in advance in order to go in the right direction.
Metro pointer, photo by michael_hamburg69
The entrance to the subway is indicated by the white letter "M" on a red background.
The metro operates from 6.30 to 0.30. On weekends and holidays, opening hours vary; On May 1 and December 25, the metro runs from 07:00 to 19:30. The interval between trains at rush hour is 2-3 mines, the rest of the time is 5-10 minutes.
A public transport ticket is universal. But we must remember that you can change as much as you like on land transport, but as soon as you leave the metro, the composted ticket will become invalid.
Suburban trains
Suburban S6
The system of commuter trains (Servizio ferroviario suburbano di Milano) includes 12 lines. It is considered urban transport and serves the center of Milan. Passante Ferroviario underground railway runs through the city center and combines its southeastern and northwestern suburbs. The route of some metro lines runs along this road. Trenord commuter lines are indicated on the map as S1, S2, S3, S4, S5, S6, S7, S8, S9, S11, S12, S13. They go daily from 06:00 to 21:00 with an interval of 30 minutes. On weekends and holidays, opening hours vary.
Taxi
Milan taxi
Milan taxi is not an expensive pleasure. It is better to get in a taxi in special parking lots. "Vote" on the streets is not accepted. You can call the car by phone, but then the fare to you will be added to the cost of the trip.
A night taxi (from 21:00 to 06:00) will cost more than a day one. On weekends and holidays there is also an extra charge. Make sure that when calculating the amount, called a taxi driver, coincides with the amount on the counter, they will give you the same check and change. Taxi drivers are usually given tips in the amount of € 0.5 - € 1.
Car
On the streets of Milan there are often many hours of traffic jams, many motorcycles and scooters; there are one-way streets and where entry is prohibited; the city is also a member of the European Ecopass system, i.e. cars entering the city are charged extra for pollution. Therefore, driving around the city in a car is not a pleasant experience.
But the main problem is parking, which is a difficult task to find. Therefore, go to the website of the ATM transport company, select the desired parking and park the car in a specialized parking lot marked with a blue bar.
On the parking signs you will find the rules and cost. Put the paid Sosta Milano ticket under the windshield. You can buy a ticket to pay for parking at tobacco kiosks, bars, or at parking workers, sometimes you can pay for parking via SMS.
An improperly parked car or unpaid parking entitles city services to issue a fine to the owner and evacuate the car.
Parking lots for local residents are marked with yellow lines; visitors are not allowed to park cars there. Fine up to € 100! For speeding, you will have to pay from € 130 to € 600 (the permitted speed on the highway is 120 km / h, in the city - 60 km / h). For driving to the red light - a fine of € 65, but for driving while intoxicated, you will not be anything, most likely. Pedestrians at crossings must be skipped.
Car rental
If you are determined to get to know the surroundings of Milan, then it makes sense to rent a car. Several rental offices are located at Malpensa Airport. Conditions necessary for renting a car: driver's age - over 20 years, driver's experience - at least 1 year, international standard rights and insurance policy. You need to pay by credit card, and if it is not, then you need a cash deposit.
Check out our Milan car rental prices here.
Mopeds and bicycles
Bicycles for rent
Many locals prefer to move around the city on mopeds and bicycles. This is a budget, and there are no parking problems. To control a moped or scooter, you need category A or B rights. Their rent will cost from € 25 to € 80 per day, and a bike from € 10 per day and from € 30 per week.
See onRoad, trenoescooter, BikeMi for more details.
