From Malpensa airport to the centre
3 stopsUpdated July 2026
The Malpensa Express has two branches and that’s the only real dilemma in the transfer: one ends at Cadorna and the other at Milano Centrale, via Porta Garibaldi. People take whichever leaves first without checking, and sometimes that’s right and sometimes it means crossing the city back with your bag.
The rule is simple. Cadorna is right by the Duomo, so if you’re headed for the centre or Brera, that’s yours, and the branch tends to be slightly faster too. Centrale is further from the centre but it’s the station trains to the whole of Italy leave from, so it’s yours if you’re travelling on or sleeping around there. Check where your hotel is before you check the timetable.
The route, stop by stop
3 STOPS- 01
The Cadorna branch
Cadorna leaves the Duomo ten minutes away on foot and the Sforza Castle five, with two metro lines in the station itself. If your hotel is in the centre, in Brera or around the castle, this is your train without argument: you walk out of the station and you’re already where you wanted to be.
It also has a time advantage: the Cadorna branch tends to take slightly less than the Centrale one, because the route is more direct. It’s the default for a weekend break, which is what almost everyone comes to Milan for.
The station is small, you cross it in two minutes and you can’t get lost in it.
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The Centrale branch
The other branch calls at Porta Garibaldi and ends at Milano Centrale, and its point isn’t speed but connection: the high-speed trains to Rome, Florence, Venice, Turin and Naples leave from Centrale. If Milan is your gateway to Italy rather than your destination, this is your train and it saves you crossing the city.
It’s also yours if you’re sleeping around Centrale, in Isola or Porta Nuova, which sit on that axis.
And even if you aren’t catching another train, step off for a moment and look at the station: it’s from 1931, it has a seventy-metre vault and winged stone horses, and it’s one of those buildings that impresses and unsettles at the same time. On platform 21 there’s a plaque explaining why.
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The coach, and when not to take it
Coaches to the airport leave Milano Centrale every few minutes and are considerably cheaper than the train: forty or fifty minutes depending on the terminal, and they have a proper luggage hold, which with big bags isn’t nothing.
The trade-off is obvious and it’s the usual one: they go on the motorway, and Milan’s motorway jams at exactly the hours you’d expect. The train doesn’t.
So the rule is simple: travelling with time to spare and wanting to save, the coach. Having to be at the airport at a specific time, or at rush hour, the train, and don’t think about it further. Missing a flight to save a few euros on a coach is the worst deal of the trip.
Frequently asked
How do you get from Malpensa airport to Milan?
On the Malpensa Express, which has two branches: Cadorna, which leaves you a ten-minute walk from the Duomo and tends to be slightly faster, and Centrale, which calls at Porta Garibaldi and connects with trains to the whole of Italy. There’s also a coach, cheaper, but it uses the motorway.
Cadorna or Centrale from Malpensa?
It depends where you’re sleeping, not which leaves first. Cadorna for the centre, Brera or the castle: it’s a ten-minute walk from the Duomo. Centrale if you’re carrying on by train to another Italian city, or if you’re sleeping around there, in Isola or Porta Nuova.
Train or coach at Malpensa?
The coach is cheaper and leaves every few minutes, but it uses the motorway and Milan’s jams. If you have to be at the airport at a specific time, or it’s rush hour, take the train. If you have time to spare and want to save, the coach.