🇮🇹 Milan · Getting around
Transport and the shape of the city in Milan
A compact city with a good metro, one ATM travel card for everything, and two overlapping driving-restriction zones in the centre.
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.
Tickets and the ATM network
ATM runs the metro, trams, buses and trolleybuses on a single integrated fare, with the urban zones Mi1 and Mi3 covering the city itself and further zones extending into the metropolitan area. You can use a contactless bank card directly at the gates, tapping in and out on the metro, or load a monthly or annual abbonamento onto an ATM card or the app. Milan's trams are not a tourist relic — several lines are genuine commuter routes.
- Contactless bank cards work at metro gates and on board; tap in and out on the metro.
- Monthly abbonamenti are cheaper than daily fares for anyone commuting.
- Under-27s and over-65s have reduced-rate annual passes.
- Validate paper tickets on trams and buses — inspectors are frequent and fines are real.
Metro, tram and regional rail
Five metro lines cover the city well, with M1, M2 and M3 interchanging at the centre and M4 running out towards Linate. 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, charging entry on weekdays and requiring a permit for residents. Area B is a far larger low-emission zone across nearly the entire municipality, permanently excluding the most polluting vehicle classes. Parking in the centre is metered by colour-coded lines, and resident permits are tied to residenza — 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 reachable on M4, Malpensa is further out and connected by the Malpensa Express from Cadorna and 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, direct from the centre.
- Malpensa: Malpensa Express train from Cadorna or Centrale, around 50 minutes.
- Bergamo: coach from Centrale, around an hour depending on traffic.
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