On Sun, 19 Aug 2007, tc wrote:
> I would like to know about transportation from both of the Milan
> airports to the Milano Centrale train station.
As promised, here follow more details (refer to my previous mail about
websites).
From both airports there is a direct COACH connection to Milano
Centrale. This is not the fastest (Malpensa) or cheapest (Linate) way to
get to Milan centre, but is the more convenient IF you need to catch a
train at Centrale.
For Malpensa the alternatives are the Malpensa Express train (which is
faster, 40 min, and reliable - no traffic - but is more expensive and
arrives in Milano Cadorna, which is not a state railways station and
from which you should reach Centrale by underground) and the coach
(there should be two companies, with slightly different fares and ticket
office, see SEA website : coaches are slower, 1 hr at least depending
on traffic, but go straight on the side of Centrale). A taxi is
prohibitive.
For Linate the cheapest alternative is urban bus 73 + 2 metro lines,
costs just 1 euro but is not convenient if you have lot of luggage. The
coaches are more expensive but go direct (some stop at Lambrate).
Alternatively (specially if you are more than one) a taxi from Linate to
Centrale is not terribly expensive ... provided the queue at the taxi
rank is reasonably short.
> I would also welcome suggestions on traveling between the various
> lakes as train connections do not appear to be realistic.
Train connection (via Milan) MIGHT be the more realistic option. You'd
definitely have to go through Milan to go to Cinque Terre (trains to
Genova-La Spezia), and most likely to lake Garda.
I gave you two web sites, one, in Germany, is a pan-european train
planner, in English, the best for any european country. The second is
the site for public transport of the Lombardy Region, unfortunately it
is in italian, and the october timetables will be available in october,
specially for lake navigation. But it gives links to the sites of the
various companies.
Public transport is more or less Milano-centric so you won't find easy
public transport opportunity to move across the different lakes. But you
might consider going straight there from Malpensa.
Easiest will be Lake Como from Como itself. I presume there is an
unfrequent coach connection from Malpensa to Como, while an at least
hourly connection could be achieved taking the Malpensa Express to
Saronno and changing there to Como Lago. These railways is not state
railwawy, so some lines may not be on the german planner. See
http://www.lenord.it/website/lenord/it/home/index.php instead.
Consider that connection from Como to Milan Centrale departs from Como
San Giovanni (state station, not LeNord station).
Consider also that only long distance trains (e.g. those for Cinque
Terre, and those towards Verona which are useful to reach lake Garda)
and international (the fast ones from Como SG) trains use Milano
Centrale. Local trains might use sometimes Centrale, most often some
other station (typically Porta Garibaldi). And, as I said, LeNord are
altogether a separate net, except for the so-called Passante. Bear it
in mind when consulting the planner.
For lake Como and Cinque Terre consult also via google news my recent
posting on rec.travel.europe. The other places you ask are "new" so I
deal with them below.
Concerning lake Maggiore, this is very close to Malpensa, but there is
no request for a good direct connection. I'd suggest catching a local
bus to Gallarate rail station (state). From there it is easy to go to
Sesto Calende, on the southernmost tip of lake Maggiore. But I believe
there are no ships from there, and local buses may not be obvious.
It is quite easy instead to continue with the international Simplon line
to places on the piedmontese (west) shore like Arona, Stresa or Verbania
(north of here the trains does not follow the lake anymore). The
piedmontese shore is known as the "fat" shore. From there you can easily
take a boat and navigate the lake, to the islands, to the lombard (east,
"meager") shore (places like Angera, S.Caterina del Sasso, Laveno), and
eventually to the northern swiss tip of the lake (Locarno).
There is a state railway line on the lombard shore (Sesto Calende-
Angera- Laveno- Luino- Locarno), but it is almost unused.
Laveno is instead reached (station just at the pier) by a LeNord line,
which goes to Varese, then Saronno then Milano.
So you could use this to go to Como via Saronno, avoiding Milan. Or
otherwise use buses, but will be tricky.
Or if you are on the adventurous side, you could go to Locarno (in
Switzerland, need swiss francs), take a swiss train to Lugano (which is
on yet another lake), and then either an international train to Chiasso
and Como (this is actually no adventure), or a boat or local bus to
Porlezza (which is back in Italy) and another local bus to Menaggio
which is in the very centre of lake Como (ferries to Bellagio and
Varenna, and all other sort of boats and hydrofoils).
I almost do not know lake Garda. Rail stations are on the southern
shore, in Desenzano and Peschiera, on the Milan-Verona line. I ignore
how distant the piers and bus stops are. All the rest of the lake is
served only by boats and buses (the Lombardy website will list all
boats, but not most buses since the east shore is in Veneto and the
northern one in Trentino.
To go from any other lakes to lake Garda, you are probably bound to go
via Milan.
Unless you want to try another adventure. From any of the stations on
the eastern shore of lake Como, take a train to Lecco. Change in Lecco
to trains to Bergamo (and visiting Bergamo would be an excellent idea),
from Bergamo train to Brescia, and there you are back on the mainline
Milan-Verona. Also the bus station is just on the side of the train
station in Brescia, and since the west (lombard) shore of lake Garda is
in the province of Brescia, maybe you'd find connections of interest.
Hope all this helps.
Post any further query (and read answers) on rec.travel.europe
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