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How to take a rail journey from Brussels to Miilan
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Bruxelles / Brussels to Milano / Milan by train
Belgium and Italy are now linked on three nights per week by an epic overnight rail journey across northern Europe!
With the daytime route being a connection in Paris between two high speed trains
Routes you can take to go from Bruxelles / Brussels to Milano / Milan / Mailand
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.
Choose one of the following options:
Looking for connections?
Route Information
Option 1: taking the direct night train
Station Guides
Travel Time (approx)
18hrs 30min (approx)
Frequency
Three nights per week
Travel Info
The train departs on Monday, Thursday and Saturday
Purchase Tickets
Travel Information
European Sleeper is a relatively new train operating company with a mission to provide links between cities which previously had no direct train connection.
It's trains aren't brand new, though they have been refreshed, but if you want to travel direct by train between Belgium and Italy, this train is now an option
Final Destination: Milano / Milan
The train will typically be scheduled to arrive at the city's secondary station, Milano Porta Garibaldi at around 11:40.
It doesn't use the city's main station Milano Centrale - and when worls are impacting on the usual route, it can be diverted to arrive at Milano Certosa.
Line M2 of the Milano Metro connects Porta Garibalidi to the western end of the city centre at Cadorna and the Porta Genoa station on the same line is convenient for the popular canal side neighborhood of Navigli.
Comparatively frequent local commuter trains link both Porta Garibaldi and Certosa stations to the interchange at Republicca station with Metro line M3 which goes to the heart of the city at Duomo.
Onward connections:
When the usual timetable is available, the onward connections by high-speed Frecce trains will be:
- at 12:45 and 13:45 Verona, Vicenza, Padova and Venezia / Venice frm Millano Centrale
- at 12:56 and 13:15 to Torino / Turin from Milano Porta Garibalidi
- at 13:00 to Bologna and and Roma and Napoli from Milano Centrale
- at 13:00 to Genoa, La Spezia, Pisa and Livormo from Milano Centrale
- at 13:20 to Bologna, Firenze, Roma and Napoli from Milano Centrale
- at 13:35 to Rimini, Ancona, Pescara, Bari and Lecce from Milano Centrale
Milano Porta Garibaldi station is usually linked to Milano Centrale every 30 mins by trains on the Aeroporto Express service from Malapensa Airport.
Plus there is a direct connection available by taking Metro line M2.
Though be wary of booking tickets which can't be refunded / exchanged in the event of the European Sleeper train being delayed leading to a missed connections.
Train journeys of this length are inevitably more likely to be delayed than the norm.
The train also calls at:
- Aarau - connect for Basel, Zurich, Chur and Olten
- Arth-Goldau - connect for Luzern and St Gallen
- Goschenen - connect for Andermatt
- Bellinzona - connect for Locarno
- Lugano - connect for Chiasso
- Como - San Giovanni, connect for Monza
Departing from Bruxelles / Brussels
The train is typically scheduled to depart from Midi / Zuid station in Bruxelles/Brussel shortly after 17:15 on Monday, Thursday and Saturday
Trains with conveniently timed connections at Midi/Zuid station typically depart from:
- London St Pancras at 13:01 daily
- Paris Gare Du Nord at 14:22 daily
- Amsterdam Centraal at 14:10 on Sat / Sun
- Amsterdam Zuid at 14:06 daily
Note that this train does not also depart from Bruxelles-Central or Bruxelles-Nord stations.
This train also departs from: Verviers-Central
This is a direct journey
You will be travelling on one of these trains...
Journey Features
Journey description:
South of the station call in Aarau, the train will use the wonderfully scenic Gotthard Railway to travel on to the Swiss / Italian border - the part of this route south of Arth-Goldau is so fabulous that it's ranked at No.5 on the list of Swizterland's most scenic journeys that I have taken.
Though between Aarau and Arth-Goldau the train will take a route on the opposite side of Lake Zug - pictured above.
The train will typically be scheduled to depart Aarau at 05:40, so between May and August, early risers will be able to take in the views all the way to Lugano and beyond.
The next beautiful vista to look out for comes after departure from Arth-Goldau station, when on the right, the train will pass by the Lauerzersee.
The train then travels through a dramatic landscape to the north of Schwyz.
Just to the south of here, also look out on the right for glimpses of the Luzernsee.
Between Erstfeld and Goschenen the best of the views are on the left; this video was filmed from a train heading north
but it doesn't matter which side of the train you are seated on, in order to enjoy the incredible views over the village of Wassen with its white church on a hilltop.
That's because the railway loops in order to climb the mountain, and as it does so, the village can be seen from both sides of the train.
On the usual timetable the train will depart from Goschenen at 07:58. so the scenic highlights to the south of here can be enjoyed close to all year round.
After leaving Goschenen station the train will immediately enter the older Gotthard Tunnel, so the trade off with the avoidance of the route through the epic Gotthard Base Tunnel is scenery over speed.
The railway will loop around in order to descend the mountains to the south of Airolo station, but this is a prelude to the final highlight of the trip, which occurs as the train descends the mountain on another set of looping curves between Faido and Biasca.
The views looking down the valley with the railway tracks below are breathtaking!
Though as the video below shows, filmed from a train travelling in the opposite direction, the train travels through a spectacular valley north of Bellinzona.
The final wow moments come after departure from Lugano station, the train will travel along the shore of the Lago di Lugano
and then the train will cross the lake.
The Italian section of the journey south of Chiasso is more mundane, despite the trains passing through Como, its namesake lake can't be seen from these trains.
Tickets
Book early and save: Yes
Online Bookings Usually Open: up to 6 months ahead of the travel date
The ticketing options depend on the type of accommodation you wish to travel by on the train.
The seats are straightforward, the ticket(s) will include a reservation.
In the couchettes you can either book a place; or solo travellers can pay more and book the entire compartment in order to have sole occupancy.
If you will be travelling in groups of 4 or 6 people, you will be the only occupants of the compartment.
But if you will be travelling in a group of 5, the only method to ensure you won't be sharing the compartment with somebody else, is to book six tickets.
Similarly if you will be travelling in a group of 3 and don't want to share a four person compartment with anybody else, you will need to book four tickets.
Female only couchette compartments are available.
The sleeping cabins are priced according to how many people will be occupying them during the journey.
Solo travellers can either:
- Book a bed in a triple cabin and accept that you may share it with up to two other people (cheapest).
- Book a bed in a double cabin, accepting that you may be sharing it with another person.
- Book a single cabin, to ensure privacy (most expensive).
Pairs of travellers, who are happy to share a cabin, can either:
- Book two beds in a triple cabin, accepting that you may be sharing it with another person.
- Book a double cabin.
Groups of 3 travellers will have sole occupancy of a triple cabin, but groups of four or more will need to split the accommodation to whichever suits them; 2 x double cabins, or 1 x triple + 1 x single etc
Route Information
Via stations: Paris Gare du Nord / Paris Nord and Paris Gare de Lyon / Paris Lyon
Option 2: travel by day and arrive at Milano Centrale
Station Guides
Travel Time (approx)
9hr 20 min (approx)
Frequency
Daily
Purchase Tickets
Omio Guide
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
- it offers prices in multiple currencies
- it usually offers price comparison with other modes of travel including flights and buses
- when visiting Europe, you can book journeys in multiple countries in one transaction.
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.
ShowMeTheJourney earns a small commission on Rail Europe ticket sales. It can be a particularly good option when booking international journeys with connections and for travellers who don't reside in western Europe. Use the easy options on its home page if you will be booking tickets with a railcard: Or purchasing rail pass reservations.
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.
Trainline Guide
Travel Information
Take the train which usually departs at Bruxelles shortly before 12:45 and a comfortably timed 1hr 20mins will be available in which to make the transfer from the Gare Du Nord to the Gare De Lyon in Paris.
The onward Frecce train will usually scheduled to depart Paris at 15:25, with an arrival into Milano Centrale shortly after 22:00 / 10pm.
This journey is made up of 1 change.
Train 1
Between Bruxelles-Midi / Brussel Zuid and Paris Gare du Nord / Paris NordYou will be travelling on one of these trains...
Journey Features
Aside from travelling for most of the trip at more than 280 km/h, it isn't a particularly thrilling train journey from Bruxelles/Brussels to Paris.
For virtually the entire journey, the train will be travelling across a flat landscape dominated by farm land.
Train 2
Between Paris Gare de Lyon / Paris Lyon and Milano CentraleYou will be travelling on one of these trains...
Journey Features
These Frecce trains take the same route as the TGV trains, except for;
- they leave the Paris to Lyon high speed line slightly earlier so that they can travel through Lyon
- they travel on the high speed line between Torino and Milano.
Tickets
Book early and save: Yes
Online bookings open: up to 6 months ahead of the travel date
Frecciarossa 1000 trains on the domestic routes within Italy convey 4 classes of accommodation, but the Standard Premier service is not available on this international route.
Also 'Allegro' has been introduced as the branding for the Standard and Business Class, SMTJ isn't certain as to the reason for this, other than to make a distinction with the tickets on the domestic routes.
Route Information
Via stations: Paris Gare du Nord / Paris Nord and Paris Gare de Lyon / Paris Lyon
Option 3: travel by day and arrive at Milano Porta Garibladi
Station Guides
Travel Time (approx)
9hr 40min (approx)
Frequency
Daily
Travel Info
1 to 3 x trains per day
Purchase Tickets
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.
Trainline Guide
Omio Guide
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
- it offers prices in multiple currencies
- it usually offers price comparison with other modes of travel including flights and buses
- when visiting Europe, you can book journeys in multiple countries in one transaction.
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.
ShowMeTheJourney earns a small commission on Rail Europe ticket sales. It can be a particularly good option when booking international journeys with connections and for travellers who don't reside in western Europe. Use the easy options on its home page if you will be booking tickets with a railcard: Or purchasing rail pass reservations.
Travel Information
ShowMeTheJourney has focused on the end-to-end journeys which allow around 1hr 15 mins to
make the transfer from the Gare Du Nord to the Gare De Lyon in Paris.
Though this compromises the availability of the connects as the timetable on the Bruxelles to Paris route isn't particularly compatible with that on the Paris to Milan route.
Hence the typical optimum end-to-end journeys are those which usually depart from Midi/Zuid station at:
- shortly after 09:45 on Saturday
- shortly before 10:15 daily
- shortly before 12:45 on Sat / Sunday
This journey is made up of 1 change.
Train 1
Between Bruxelles-Midi / Brussel Zuid and Paris Gare du Nord / Paris NordYou will be travelling on one of these trains...
Journey Features
Aside from travelling for most of the trip at more than 280 km/h, it isn't a particularly thrilling train journey from Bruxelles/Brussels to Paris.
For virtually the entire journey, the train will be travelling across a flat landscape dominated by farm land.
Train 2
Between Paris Gare de Lyon / Paris Lyon and Milano Porta GaribaldiYou will be travelling on one of these trains...
Journey Features
Journey Description
This is, in our humble opinion, one of the most exciting journeys you can take on European express trains.
We love the mix of high speed travel and stunning Alpine scenery
Aside from the wow factor of the speed, most high speed train journeys aren't scenically interesting, when high speed lines pass through hills and mountains, they tend to dive into tunnels.
The journey becomes a lot more scenic once the train leaves the high speed line behind - and that's what makes this journey so exceptional the alpine views from a TGV train don't get better than this!
The Paris to Milan train journey has three distinct parts.
(1) First is the high speed line out of Paris.
(2) Then comes a passage through the western Alps with great views, particularly from the left of the train (when facing the direction of travel).
(3) Finally there comes the journey between Torino and Milano, on which these trains do not take the high speed line between the two cities.
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Tickets
Book early and save: Yes
Online bookings open: up to 6months ahead of the travel date.
When looking up this journey on the ticket agents you may see other journey options which involve travelling via Switzerland and making two connections; (1) in either Koln or Frankfurt, and (2) a connection in either Basel or Zurich.
Though such options are only worth considering if they are considerably cheaper than this routing via Torino.
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.
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