๐ฎ๐น Milan ยท Getting around
Transport and the shape of the city in Milan
A compact city with five metro lines, contactless or app tickets only since paper went in January 2026, and two overlapping driving-restriction zones.
The thing people get wrongArea C and Area B are not the same thing and people conflate them. Area C is a paid congestion charge over the historic centre; Area B is a much larger low-emission zone covering almost the whole city and banning older vehicles outright. A car that clears one may still be barred from the other.
Indicative figures
- Monthly passโฌ39Urban zones Mi1โMi3. Annual โฌ330.
- Single urban ticketโฌ2.2090 minutes, all urban modes. Contactless or app only since January 2026.
- Area C chargeโฌ7.50/dayWeekdays 07:30 โ 19:30.
- Linate to San Babila~12 minMetro M4.
- Malpensa Expressโฌ15, 35 โ 50 minFrom Cadorna or Centrale, every 30 minutes.
Checked . Ranges, not quotes โ your Insider confirms the current numbers in Milan before you commit to anything.
Tickets and the ATM network
ATM runs the metro, trams, buses and trolleybuses on a single integrated fare, with the urban zones Mi1 to Mi3 covering the city itself and further zones extending into the metropolitan area. The single-use paper ticket was withdrawn on 1 January 2026, so you either tap a contactless bank card or phone at the gates and on board, or buy digital tickets and passes in the ATM Milano app or on the rechargeable RicaricaMi card. An urban single is โฌ2.20 for 90 minutes, a day ticket โฌ7.60, a carnet of ten โฌ19.50, and the urban pass โฌ39 a month or โฌ330 a year. Milan's trams are not a tourist relic โ several lines are genuine commuter routes.
- Tap in and out on the metro with the same card or phone; on trams and buses, tap once on boarding.
- The monthly pass pays for itself after about eighteen journeys; the annual one costs roughly eight and a half months.
- Under-27s and over-65s have reduced-rate passes, and your employer may contribute to an annual pass through welfare schemes.
- Inspectors are frequent and fines are real, so tap every time, including on the tram.
Metro, tram and regional rail
Five metro lines cover the city well, with M1, M2 and M3 interchanging at the centre. M4, fully open since October 2024, crosses the city from Linate airport to San Cristoforo in about thirty minutes, through San Babila and Sant'Ambrogio, and M5 serves San Siro and the north. Trenord operates the regional trains and the Passante links them through the city underground, which is what makes living in the surrounding comuni workable. Milano Centrale handles high-speed services, putting Rome within about three hours and Turin within one.
- The Passante line connects the regional rail network across the city centre.
- Trenord fares are separate from ATM unless you hold an integrated pass.
- Metro closes around midnight; night buses follow the metro routes afterwards.
Driving, Area C and Area B
Area C covers the historic centre inside the Cerchia dei Bastioni and charges โฌ7.50 a day to enter on weekdays from 07:30 to 19:30; residents get free entries and then pay a reduced rate. Area B is a far larger low-emission zone across nearly the entire municipality, enforced by cameras on the same weekday hours, and its list of banned vehicles grows every October: from 1 October 2026 diesel Euro 5 cars came under weekday restrictions, while the ban on older motorbikes and scooters was put back to October 2027. Parking in the centre is metered by colour-coded lines, and resident permits are tied to residenza โ another reason the Comune registration matters.
- Blue lines are paid parking, yellow are residents only, white are free where they still exist.
- Residents' permits for Area C and for street parking both require registered residenza.
- Check a vehicle's Euro emissions class against the current Area B rules before buying or importing it.
Bikes, scooters and airports
Milan is flat, which makes cycling easy, and BikeMi plus several private scooter and car-share operators cover the centre densely. Three airports serve the city: Linate is close and on M4, Malpensa is further out and connected by the Malpensa Express from Cadorna and from Centrale, and Bergamo Orio al Serio is a coach ride away and used mainly by low-cost carriers. Check which one a fare is actually flying from before booking.
- Linate: metro M4, about twelve minutes from San Babila, on an ordinary urban fare.
- Malpensa: Malpensa Express, โฌ15 single since August 2025, every 30 minutes from Cadorna (about 35 minutes) and from Centrale via Garibaldi (about 50). Since January 2026 the Centrale trains continue past the terminals to Gallarate.
- Bergamo: coach from Centrale, around an hour depending on traffic.