Now that the first stage of the Venezia to Milano high speed line has opened west of Brescia, the rail service between Venice/Venezia and Milan/Milano is provided by
When travelling between most cities by train there is only one logical option, though on other journeys there is a choice between different trains or alternative routes. If different options are available you can use the info to decide which is best for you.
2hr 25min (Frecce trains); 2hr 37min (EC trains)
Daily
Frecce trains:
Mon-Fri 13 x trains per day
Saturday: 11x trains
Sunday: 12 x trains
EC trains:
2 x trains per day
ShowMeTheJourney earns a small commission on Trainline ticket sales. It can be a particularly good option for: Comparing different train services; Booking international journeys with connections; Travelling between the UK to destinations beyond Amsterdam, Brussels and Paris - and for international travellers who don't reside in western Europe.
Italiarail lives up to its name by selling tickets for rail journeys within Italy and the core feature of its service is that it is primarily designed to be used by international visitors to Italy.
So the English translations of place names are used when looking up journeys and the terms and conditions for using each type of ticket are clearly explained.
It also clearly points out the additional costs of upgrading to other classes and types of tickets while spelling out the additional benefits of doing so.
Though Italiarail will charge a booking fee, typically of around €3.
The Early Bird service
Italiarail has launched an 'early bird' pre-booking service for journeys by Frecce trains.
Tickets can be booked up to a year ahead of travel at a flat-rate price per route, before the tickets have been released for sale by Trenitalia.
If when they are placed on sale, the price is cheaper than what you have already paid to Italiarail, it will automatically refund the price difference.
Conversely, if the price is more expensive, you won't be charged the price difference.
You can also have the peace of mind of securing your seat(s) on the Frecce train(s) when you are first planning a trip.
If before the tickets are placed on sale, you decide to change your plans, you can request a refund; but once the tickets are released for sale, you will then be bound by the terms and conditions of the ticket(s) you have booked.
Trenitlalia is the national rail operator in Italy and in addition to its cheaper types of ticket; it also typically offers other discounts available to non-Italians, which include:
Omio is an online ticket agency which offers tickets for rail journeys in France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy and Spain.
The three key advantages of using Omio are
The disadvantage of booking with Omio is that it often adds a booking fee to the final price; therefore when it does so without offering a price advantage, SMTJ doesn't tend to offer Omio as a booking option.
OBB is the national rail operator and its booking service offers journeys by express trains within Austria, as well as international journeys which don't involve making a connection outside of Austria.
It pays off to book online, as the discounted 'Sparscheine' tickets are only ever made available on the website, and when making international journeys to and from Austria, these Sparscheine tickets tend to be cheaper.
OBB can offer particularly good value for money when travelling with children on international rail journeys, but something to watch out for when travelling between Austria and Germany on daytime trains, is that reservations are an optional extra; but if you book 1st class tickets with the Germany railways website DB, the reservations are complimentary.
OBB often takes a unique approach to its booking path, but a key thing to keep in mind is that the first price you will see for any journey is that of a Second Class seat.
The costs of upgrading to first class, a reservation, or a sleeping cabin etc, is then added to this price.
Final Destination: Milano Centrale or Genova or Geneve or Zurich
All trains also call at: Venezia Mestre and Verona and Brescia
Some trains also call at: Peschiera del Garda and or Desenzano del Garda
The service of high speed (AV) trains between Milano and Venezia/Venice is split between these 'Frecce' trains operated by Trenitalia and other, less frequent departures, by Italo trains.
See the 'Ticket Information' below for details of how you can compare these services, when looking up this journey on the ticket agents.
**To Porta Garibaldi
In addition to these Frecce trains which are heading to Milano Centrale, there are also three Frecce trains per day which call at Milano Porta Garibaldi station on route to Torino/Turin.
These trains typically depart from Venezia S.Lucia at around 06:15, 08:15 and 17:15.
These trains
Virtually all of the Frecce services on this route to Milano Centrale are now provided by the new type of Frecciargento E700 train.
There are also 2 x EC trains per day from Milano Centrale to Venezia. S Lucia that are usually scheduled to depart daily at 15:18 and 16:18.
They're around 10 mins slower than these Frecce trains because they don't use the high-speed line between Milano and Brescia,
In the mornings there is usually daily gap in the departures of the Frecce trains to Milano Centrale between around 07:15 and 10:45 - though during this time there is typically a train to Frecce train Milano Porta Garibaldi at around 08:15; and an Italo train to Milano Centrale at around 08:00.
Also on a Saturday the final Frecce train of the day to Milano typically departs Venezia S. Lucia at around 17:45.
Like all departures from Venice one of the highlights of the journey comes at the very beginning of the trip, as the train heads out over the lagoon to the mainland - with the best of the views on the right.
This video was taken from a train arriving in Venice S. Lucia.
Then after Padova, also on the right of the train, on a clear day, there are distant views of the Alps.
If you're on the right of the train (when facing the direction of travel) keep a look out after Desenzano for a fleeting, but incredible view of Lake Garda (weather permitting).
If you're heading from the historic heart of Venice/Venezia, then take care to select Venezia S. Lucia as the the Departure station.
If you will be using an agent check that they are making a booking from Venezia S. Lucia and NOT from Venezia Mestre station.
Save by booking in advance: Yes, for more details on how to obtain the cheapest prices for Frecce trains see the guide to Italian rail tickets.
Online bookings usually open: up to 6 months ahead of the travel date; though the booking period will be typically be shorter when looking up journeys for travel after the second Sunday in December.
The train service between Venezia/Venice and Milano Centrale is provided by:
(1) these Frecce trains operated by Trenitalia and the EC trains, which have travelled from Switzerland
(2) alternative Italo trains
Trains departing at different times can be cheaper than others leaving on the same day, so you may need to look through the day's departures to find the cheapest fares.
Tickets for the Trenitalia Frecce trains are placed on sale up to 6 months in advance, but the Italo train tickets are typically made available around 3 to 4 months ahead.
Trenitalia does not sell tickets for the Italo trains - and Italo does not sell tickets for the Trenitalia trains.
So, if you're booking no more than 4 months ahead and have no particular preference for the train that you will be taking, the price and departure times of the Frecce and Italo trains can be directly compared on with Trainline or Omio, though look out for the fact that both of these services will charge a booking fee.
Rail Pass Users:
If you will be travelling with a valid Eurail or InterRail pass, you will need to reserve prior to boarding these trains, either at the station (using a Trenitalia ticket machine or ticket desk) OR by booking them online.
How to book the rail pass reservations online is included on our guide to using rail passes in Italy.
Note that rail passes are not valid on the alternative Italo trains.
Rail pass users can avoid the €10 rail pass reservation fees on these Frecce trains, by taking
(1) An RGV train from Venice to Verona, and then (2) a train on from Verona to Milan.
There are now no direct Regionale Veloce trains from Venice to Milan.
2hr 25min
Daily
6 x trains per day
ShowMeTheJourney earns a small commission on Trainline ticket sales. It can be a particularly good option for: Comparing different train services; Booking international journeys with connections; Travelling between the UK to destinations beyond Amsterdam, Brussels and Paris - and for international travellers who don't reside in western Europe.
Italo trains compete with the Frecce services, provided by the national rail operator, Trenitalia, on the high speed routes which link major cities in Italy.
The Italo booking site only sells tickets for journeys by its trains.
Omio is an online ticket agency which offers tickets for rail journeys in France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy and Spain.
The three key advantages of using Omio are
The disadvantage of booking with Omio is that it often adds a booking fee to the final price; therefore when it does so without offering a price advantage, SMTJ doesn't tend to offer Omio as a booking option.
Happy Rail is a Netherlands rail ticket agency which sells tickets for both national and international journeys within a range of countries including Belgium France, Germany, Sweden, Switzerland.
HappyRail doesn't charge booking fees in the conventional sense, but if you're not Dutch you can expect to pay additional transaction fees, which will be added to the total cost.
That's because the most common form of online payment used in The Netherlands is 'iDEAL' and HappyRail doesn't charge a transaction fee for 'iDEAL' payments, but only Dutch residents can sign up to 'iDEAL'.
Other forms of payment include Visa debit cards will incur a fee.
Final Destination: Milano Centrale
All trains also call at: Venezia Mestre and Verona and Peschiera del Garda and Desenzano del Garda and Brescia
The service of high speed (AV) trains between Venezia/Venice and Milano is split between 'Frecce' trains operated by Trenitalia and these Italo trains.
See the 'Ticket Information' below for details of how you can compare these services, when looking up this journey on the ticket agents
These trains take the same route as the Frecce and EC trains.
Book early and save: Yes
Online bookings open:: around 3 months ahead of the travel date
The train service between Venezia/Venice and Milano is provided by:
(1) more frequent Frecce/EC trains
(2) THESE Italo trains
Trains departing at different times can be cheaper than others leaving on the same day, so you may need to look through the day's departures to find the cheapest fares.
Tickets for the Trenitalia Frecce trains are placed on sale around 6 months in advance, but these Italo train tickets are made available around 3 to 4 months ahead.
Trenitalia does not sell tickets for the Italo trains - and Italo does not sell tickets for the Trenitalia trains.
If you're booking no more than 4 months ahead and have no particular preference for the train that you will be taking, the price and departure times of the Frecce and Italo trains can be directly compared on with Trainline or Omio, though look out for the fact that both of these services will charge a booking fee.
Rail passes are not valid on the Italo trains.
This second version of ShowMeTheJourney is exciting and new, so we are genuinely thrilled that you are here and reading this, but we also need your help.
We’re striving not to let anything get in the way of providing the most useful service possible, hence a facility has been set up with DonorBox which can be used to support the running costs and make improvements.
Instead of advertising or paywalls, your financial support will make a positive difference to delivering an enhanced service, as there’s a lot of ideas which we want to make happen.
So if you have found the info provided here to be useful, please consider saying thank you.
This is one of more than 100 train travel guides available on ShowMeTheJourney, which will make it easier to take the train journeys you want or need to make. As always, all images were captured on trips taken by ShowMeTheJourney.
TOP