Milan Malpensa Airport (MXP) Guide | Anxious Travelling (2024)

Last updated on January 27th, 2023

The ultimate guide on getting to and from Malpensa airport as stress free as possible, and what to do while you’re there.

Milan Malpensa Airport (MXP) is the largest airport in northern Italy, and the country’s second busiest. The airport is situated around 50km / 30 miles outside of the city. It’s a fairly modern airport and currently only Terminal 1, the largest and newest terminal is operating. Here’s our guide on what to expect from the airport and how to get to and from the airport in as stress-free a way as possible!

Travelling to Milan Malpensa Airport

If not driving by yourself to the airport, then there are three main options to get there; taxi, train or coach / bus.

We highly recommend checking that you’ll easily be able to get to and from the airport by train or bus before booking flights. A taxi trip could easily cost your than the plane ticket and they are stressful to get from the airport.

Train to Milan Malpensa Airport

Milan Centrale is a very large and absolutely beautiful train station. If you can, factor in some time to explore, take in its design and get your bearings. You can buy a ticket online from the Malpensa Express website and e-tickets purchased online do not need to be validated. You can also buy tickets in person from the ticket office named ‘Biglietteria’ on the ground floor which is open from 6:30am to 9pm. Tickets can be purchased from red Trenord labelled machines located around the station and by following signs saying ‘tickets’. Translations are available by selecting your flag and the touch screens are quite easy to use.

As often with train stations globally, Centrale station is popular with pickpockets, be aware of your surroundings and valuables. We did not notice any issues whilst there and it is likely no worse than other busy train stations.

If you stand out a bit as a tourist then expect beggars approaching you to help with purchasing train tickets. They will probably ask for one or two euros afterwards. Having a stranger around you when you are using cash / card in an unfamiliar area can be worrying, so if you want to avoid this, get a ticket in person from the kiosk on the ground floor or buy online.

You must validate your ticket (unless purchased online) before travel by placing it where the arrow is on your ticket on a little yellow machine located on each platform. You can get a fine of €50 if you don’t. I have found that when forgetting, train guards are sympathetic to tourists and let you off – but that is obviously not a guarantee.

The airport express train is spacious, modern and comfortable. They include luggage storage, sockets and a little table. It is about as stress free as it gets apart from the crowds at the Centrale train station. If you are worried about crowds, then have a look at other quieter stations you could board the train from. Once at Malpensa airport, it’s a few minutes walk up some stairs into the terminal and the walk is well signposted.

Bus to Milan Malpensa Airport

There are several services for getting the bus to the airport, the most reliable, frequent and easy to book are from Autostradale, Terravision & FlixBus so I recommend you go with one of these.

Buses to the airport depart from around 4am from Milan Centrale train station and the last one leaving around 11:20pm. If you have an early flight then you will have a lot of waiting around at the airport. The only other option to get to the airport closer to an early flight departure time would be a taxi, trains also stop running around 11pm. This is well worth taking into account before booking your trip. With an airport taxi costing €105, more expensive flights at better times, or looking at nearby airports such as Linate or Bergamo could be a more suitable option.

Buses to Malpensa airport depart roughly every 30 minutes from the side of the train station, opposite a cool indoor market area called Mercato Centrale Milan, here it is on Google Maps. The market is well worth checking out if you have time. You can also use the free toilets inside here.

To view bus timetables, firstly have a look on The Trainline app as it aggregates all the services. Just search for Milan Centrale to Malpensa Airport and select the bus tab on the search results page. You can book online using the Terravision, Autostradale or FlixBus websites or in person before boarding. FlixBus has the easiest online booking and payment experience. FlixBus coaches may not have the company’s distinctive green branding but when booking the site will tell you what these buses will look like.

If walking to the bus stop from the centre of Milan, take note that a couple of the roads go through some underground road tunnels which can be a bit worrying. If that’s not for you, don’t worry too much, just navigate through a neighbouring road, there are many ways to get there. Late at night it can feel a little sketchy outside the train station, so you might want to grab a taxi or a Metro there around these times.

When you arrive you will likely see a few buses parked up. Sometimes a bus will park and you will not be able to board until closer to departure time when the bus moves forward. You can either purchase a ticket from an agent just before boarding the bus, or sometimes you will pay at the end of the journey as you get off. If you are on a tight schedule, sit towards the front of the bus to pay sooner as it can take a bit of time with everyone on board paying one at a time.

You can pay by cash, card or contactless, it is quick and easy. The bus costs around €10 per person for a single trip to the airport. You can pre-book online but it is perfectly fine to pay before boarding the bus. Getting to the airport we did not spot the buses being particularly full, but with boarding commencing about 15 minutes before departure, get there a bit sooner to be sure of securing a spot or to guarantee getting a seat next to your travelling partner. You are able to store luggage underneath the bus for free.

The buses are comfortable and in good condition, they can be a little warm on board with the overhead fans being weak but it is manageable for the one hour trip. There are usually no toilets on the bus. There are a couple of free toilets in the Centrano market right by the bus stop you can visit before departing. Once at the airport the bus will stop right outside the departures terminal.

Taxi to Milan Malpensa Airport

I’d only recommend getting a taxi to Milan Malpensa airport if you are not concerned about budget or if it’s an emergency. This is only because a taxi to the airport is very expensive. A taxi to and from Malpensa airport has a fixed fare of €105 for the journey of around an hour. If you cannot take a bus or train then this is your only option.

If you wish to get a taxi then hail one of the white official taxis driving around – the light at the top will be on if it’s free – just wave to the driver around a space where it’ll be safe for them to stop or pick one up from a rank. Around large stations / metros or city centres there should be plenty of opportunities to pick up a cab. Around late night on the weekend it may take a little longer as people go out or come back home but there is generally good availability. Uber is available in Milan but we found it very unreliable on our trip – and just generally these days.

Car to Milan Malpensa Airport

It’s a fairly simple drive to and from the airport once navigating Milan itself, where driving standards are generally good. The airport is around a 50 minute drive from the city, a straight drive along the E62 once out of Milan, and then the SS336 to get to the airport. There are tolls on this road with a multitude of ways of paying them. If you want to save yourself the stress of downloading apps and completing forms, then pay by cash. When approaching a toll booth stop at the area marked CARTE or the cash symbol. Have a decent amount of euros on you to pay the toll. If you’d like to pay beforehand by app or form check out the various options here.

Arriving at Milan Malpensa Airport

After landing at Malpensa airport there will either be a jet bridge or bus to disembark the aircraft. It’s a very large airport and can be a long walk to passport control. E-gates are in operation if your passport accepts these. Generally there is a decent number of customs officers on duty to check passports so the waiting time, although nowhere near as quick as an e-gate, doesn’t take too long to go through. After security you can find baggage reclaim, and it’s then just a short walk to arrivals to continue your journey into Milan or elsewhere.

Luggage storage

You can store luggage at Milan MXP with lockers available at the arrivals area in Terminal 1. Expect to pay around €4 per day for each bag.

Travelling from Milan Malpensa Airport

There are three main options to get from Malpensa MXP airport into Milan city centre: train, bus and taxi. The train is by far the easiest and least stressful way to travel. If trains aren’t running then the bus will be your next best option but these will be extremely busy with no train service. Taxis are stressful to hail and are very expensive.

Train From Milan Malpensa Airport

Thetrain is the easiest way to get from Milan Malpensa airport into the city. Trains run frequently, up to four times an hour, with the express train taking you into Milan Centrale in 38 minutes and 54 minutes on one of the slower services.

To get to the station once in arrivals, follow the numerous signs for ‘Trains’ in the airport, it’s about a 5 minute walk. Tickets can be bought online here, at the station in person or via machines in the airport station. You can pay using cash, card or contactless. You must validate your ticket if not bought online before boarding at one of the yellow machines on the platform or you could potentially receive a €50 fine.

Trains are modern, comfortable and spacious with room for luggage and plugs for charging. Once in Milan Centrale, you’ll need to scan your ticket on a barrier to leave so keep it on you, the station can be quite busy but is beautiful and worth exploring. There are trains from here to many other destinations in Italy, the Metro is just a couple of minutes walk and buses to Bergamo or elsewhere can be caught outside the front of the station.

Before booking your trip to Milan, check Google or social media online to see if there are any train strikes. Check again right before travelling. These do occasionally happen and if the airport train isn’t running it will be very stressful and take a lot longer to get into Milan from the airport.

Bus from Milan Malpensa Airport to Milan

Buses into Milan from Malpensa can be found outside arrivals on the upper floor of the terminal. Follow bus signs in the airport to get there. If you’re at the taxi rank then walk along the main terminal building until you start seeing coaches. it can be easy to miss.

Buses into Milan depart from stop 1. If trains are cancelled then it’s likely there will large crowds of people waiting to take the bus. It may look like one large queue but there will actually be several queues for buses elsewhere in Italy. Many people in this queue will also be trying to go to Milan but also won’t have noticed this. It isn’t made clear or well signposted. Go to stop 1 and queue from there, it isn’t queue jumping! This can be a bit stressful but needs to be done to get the bus.

If trains are cancelled then it is going to be stressful to take the bus. To remove stress the only option would probably be a private transfer which will be expensive.

Tickets can be pre booked online from one of the main operators such as Autostradale, Terravision or FlixBus. FlixBus buses leave from the left hand road by stop 1 and you should be able to spot the coaches as they are big and green. Terravision and Autostradale bus tickets can be bought just before you board the coach. A staff member will walk around taking cash or card or contactless payments and will print you a ticket. A bus ticket into Milan Centrale station will cost €10.

Buses from Milan Malpensa to Milan leave around every 30 minutes with boarding commencing 15 minutes before departure. The bus goes straight to Milan Centrale station where it is very easy to get elsewhere in Milan via rail, Metro, taxi or tram.

Buses are generally comfortable, but lack toilets, Wi-Fi or charging points onboard. It takes around an hour to get to Milan Centrale where the bus will drop you off at the side of the train station. If you need the bathroom then pop into the Mercato by the bus stop. It’s a lovely indoor market and worth grabbing a bite to eat or drink there.

There are also several buses from Milan airport that go to other Italian destinations such as Bergamo or Turin. If you can, fly directly to an airport closer to that destination rather than Milan even if it’s a bit more expensive as it is a nightmare to get from Milan Malpensa to Milan if trains stop running.

Taxi from Milan Malpensa Airport

You should probably only get a taxi from Milan Malpensa airport as a last resort. If you do need one, then try and get a private transfer rather than a public taxi. Getting a taxi from Milan Malpensa airport is very stressful. If it’s busy there is not really a queue, people just flag down taxis as they approach, no matter how long you may have been waiting, and people get agitated with each other with people skipping the line. There is sometimes a local police officer around who is meant to marshall this a bit, but they are not too bothered.

Taxis are very expensive. It will cost €105 to get to Milan Centrale station. Uber will be even more than this and even after accepting a fare, the journey is often cancelled by the driver.

If you need to get a taxi from Milan Malpensa airport into Milan, get a private transfer instead if you can. These can be found for around the same price as a taxi. Ask your accommodation provider for a recommended private transfer service.

Airport Hotels at Milan Malpensa

If you land at Milan after trains and buses have finished departing, it’s likely an airport hotel for the night and a train into town the next day is cheaper than just a taxi ride into Milan. Book well ahead if you can, prices skyrocket at short notice when the city is busy. On our trip, the hotel room we booked for €110 was €700 for walk-ins!

If you’re going to use an airport hotel, check its location before booking. Some hotels such as MOXY are located at Terminal 2 which is a 15 minute shuttle bus or taxi journey from Terminal 1 where flights depart from.

Shuttle buses between the terminal run every 15 minutes from 5am to 11:30pm. From Terminal 1, get the bus from outside the Sheraton Hotel, and from Terminal 2 get the bus just opposite the arrivals area – here it is on Google Maps as it can be a bit tricky to find.

If you need to get to and from the terminals outside the shuttle bus times then you need a taxi which costs around €15, hailing a taxi can be stressful outside the arrivals terminal so try and get a hotel at Terminal 1 if you can.

Airport Hotel Pod

If hotels are full up or extremely expensive – an option could be booking an airport lounge pod, though this won’t be suitable if you are not comfortable with small spaces. These are little self contained rooms you can rent out to sleep, relax or work in for a limited amount of time and overnight. They can be found in Terminal 1 departures before security on the right side of the airport as you follow signs to the toilets. You can view more details and book these online or outside the capsule itself. Lounge Pods at Malpensa airport cost around €70 – €80 per night.

Inside Milan Malpensa Airport

Milan Malpensa airport is very standard in its design and layout – if you’ve been to a large airport before then you’ll likely know what to expect. It’s a large airport so you’re you shouldn’t feel cramped or crowded.

When to arrive at Milan Malpensa Airport

Once you’ve worked out how you’ll get to Malpensa airport, plan to arrive 2 to 3 hours before your trip. If travelling by bus or car you may want to give yourself a bit of wriggle room incase of traffic. Keep an eye on train timetables during the day on The Trainline app to ensure there’s nothing affecting your journey.

Entrance, Check in & security

Upon arriving at the airport there are suites of check in desks for various airlines – if checking in luggage then there are plenty of signs and screens to locate your desk, it might take a bit of time getting your bearings in such a large space. The big McDonalds sign on the upper floor on the left hand side makes a good reference point.

Check your flight on the screen and see which area you will depart from and head towards there. At quiet times you will be through security in a matter of minutes, obviously at peak times this may take quite a lot longer. For an idea of how busy security and the airport in general may be, check departures online and see how many flights are leaving around the same time as yours. If there’s around 20, especially to long-haul destinations with larger planes and lots of passengers then it could be busy. It’s also worth just giving Twitter a quick search – looking at posts containing ‘Malpensa’ and check if there are any conversations around crowds. When an airport is busy people are usually quick posting photos of crowds.

At security there is a lack of clear plastic wallets to put your liquids. If you don’t have one then you’ll need to ask for one when placing your luggage in the tray to be x-rayed so try and have some before arriving at the airport. There are bins and packing areas just before security to check your luggage and remove anything you can’t take through.

If you’re going to a non-Schengen location (including the UK) you will need to go through another passport check on the way to the boarding gates. Again this could be busy so if you’re worried about timings you may want to get this over and done with. This check is the same as passport checks when you arrive in the country.

After this you then have a mixture of gates, shops and waiting areas before your flight, there is a good amount of comfortable seats with charging points around.

Things to do at Milan Malpensa Airport

There are many information points dotted around the airport which provide useful information in a variety of languages. These are only functional, even the touchscreen ones, between 6am and 11pm. If you arrive at the airport late at night or early in the morning, most places will be closed and there’s not a lot to do.

Food & Drink

Before security there is a McDonalds which if you’re on a budget or hankering after the golden arches is your best shout for a quick meal. There are various sandwich shops and cafes located around which are generally pretty poor. There are a few pizza joints and burger bars located both before and after security.

There are coffee machines dotted around the airport if you need a quick caffeine fix. These take cash or cards but are often broken. If the machine says the card is declined, don’t worry, it’s likely the machine is broken.

Unfortunately there are no water refill stations at Milan Malpensa airport.

Smoking areas

There are several smoking areas at Milan Malpensa airport. These can be found after security and are the indoor smoking room variety. A mixture of glass and glass-less rooms. The smoking room next to gate B59 is probably the easiest to find but others will be signposted.

Wi-Fi

There is unlimited, free and releavitely fast Wi-Fi available throughout the airport. To connect, just search for the MALPENSA FREE WI-FI network and you can connect without needing to register. Amazing!

Lounges

There are several lounges located in Milan Malpensa airport – these are open from around 6am to 10pm and are a good option with the general poor quality and high price of food and drink in the airport. Check before booking the lounge will be open before travelling, as they do sometimes change at short notice. The Priority Pass website has the best information regarding these lounges.

Shopping

After security are standard duty free shops but Malpensa airport has a lot of high end fashion shopping to engage in also. If you have an early flight then when you arrive most shops will be shut.

Boarding

Some gates are grouped together and flights leaving at a similar times may have a queue close to another, so check you’re in the right one. There are often little cafes around gates and it’s generally fairly spacious. If you’re elsewhere in the airport when your flight is announced, information can be limited and flights aren’t announced on a speaker. It could be easy to miss when and where your flight is boarding if your airline’s app doesn’t alert you. Malpensa airport uses a mixture of jet bridges and airport buses to get to and from your plane.

Top Tips & Tricks for Milan Malpensa Airport

• Check travel to and from the airport before booking flights. If you end up needing a taxi it could easily cost more than the plane ticket
  
• If you’re going to use a taxi then prebook a transfer. Don’t use Uber or official airport taxis
  
• If you need an airport Hotel then get one in Terminal 1
  
• Check departure times for an idea on how busy it’ll be
  
• It could be less stressful using other airports in terms of transportation and cost
  
• If you have a long wait, a lounge pod could be an option
  
• Remember to validate train tickets

I hope you’ve enjoyed this guide to Milan Malpensa Airport. If you have, please let me know, it’s a great motivation to keep doing these guides. If you’ve enjoyed it though, most of all share with friends and on social media to help spread the word.

Where would you like to see covered next? Got any questions? Get in touch!

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