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Frankfurt to Milano / Milan / Mailand by train
How to take the wonderful rail journey from central Germany to northern Italy
This fascinating journey on the only direct train from central Germany to Italy includes rushing down a German high-speed line, a passage across Switzerland with views over five lakes and a travelling through the world's longest railway tunnel.
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Routes
From Frankfurt Main Hbf to Milano
Journey Summary
7hr 51min
Daily
Travel Information
Final Destination: Milano Cle
Within an hour of arrival high-speed Frecce trains will be departing for Bologna, Firenze, Napoli, Roma, Verona and Venezia.
This train also calls at: Lugano and Chiasso and Como and Monza
1 x train per day
Tickets
Book early and save: Yes
Online bookings open: 4 months ahead of the travel date (usually)
Note that bookings do NOT open 6 months ahead.
This train is usually scheduled to depart from Frankfurt Main daily at 08:06, so target that departure time when looking at this journey.
On the DB Bahn booking site look for the journey which:
- has 0 in the Chg. column
- has EC in the Products column.
Seat Reservations:
Because this train travels into Italy, seats will be assigned when booking tickets, irrespective of whether you want to travel 1st or 2nd class.
But if you will be travelling with a rail pass, you will need to have reserved seats prior to boarding.
Where to book
| Ticket Provider | Approximate Cost | |
|---|---|---|
| DB Bahn | from €39.90 | |
| Omio | from €39.90 |
On this journey
Journey Features
Good to Know
On German railway timetables this is classified as an 'ECE' service.
The ETR 600 trans are most often used on this service, but the Astoro can be used on certain departures.
Note that the return direct train FROM Milano TO Frankfurt (Main) takes a different route in Italy and Switzerland via Stresa and Brig.
Journey description:
This is a fascinating journey with multiple highlights to look out for:
- On route to Switzerland comes the fastest part of the trip when the train travels at up to 250 km/h on the high speed line between Karlsruhe and Offenburg.
- The train will reverse direction on departure from Basel SBB station and the highlight on the journey on to Luzern is the passing of the Sempachersee over on the left
- The train will also reverse direction on departure from Luzern station and for most of the journey between there and Arth-Goldau, the Zugersee is on the left
...and then further south, also on the right there are glimpses of Lake Luzern.
5. The train will then travel through the world's longest railway tunnel, the Gotthard Base Tunnel, and after Bellinzona it dives into the new Ceneri Base Tunnel.
6. South of Lugano station the best views switch back to the left as the railway runs by the Lago di Lugano.
7,The final wow moment comes after departure from Lugano station when 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.
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