Lombardy

Introduction

Lombardy is one of the 20 regions in Italy and is located in the central north of the country. It's one of the most populated and wealthiest regions of Italy.

Geography

Lombardy borders Switzerland in the north, Emilia-Romagna in the south, Trentino-Alto Adige and Veneto to the east and Piedmont to the west.

Regions

• Oltrepò Pavese

Cities

• Milan
• Bergamo
• Brescia
• Como
• Pavia

Getting There

By Plane

The three airports in and near Milan are the best way of arriving here by plane.

1. Milan Malpensa Airport (MXP) is the main airport servicing Milan and is 45 kilometres way. The airport has connections to all the major cities in Europe. There are also several flights to the Middle East, North America and North Africa every day. These include destinations like Baku, Marrakech and New York to name a few.

To/from the airport

• Rail: The airport is linked to Milan by a regional rail service that departs from Terminal 1 every half hour and takes about 40 minutes to reach downtown. The train travels to Milan Cadorna Station (connection with Milan's subway's Line M2 (Green) and Line M1 (Red), and the Suburban and the Regional Railway Service) by the Malpensa Express, with intermediate stops at Busto Arsizio FNM, Saronno Centrale (connection with regional trains bound for Varese and Como) and Milano Bovisa (connection with the Passante track of the suburban railways). Additional connections include a shuttle connection between Malpensa Airport railway station and Busto Arsizio FS. and two daily connections between the airport, Gallarate and Bellinzona (Switzerland).
• Bus: Malpensa Shuttle and Malpensa Bus Express connect the airport to Milan Central Station and the metro system. Stops at the Milan Fair are provided on request. Travel time is about an hour under normal circumstances.
• Taxis and rental cars are widely available on the airport as well.
• Car: the airport is connected by a four-lane highway to the A8 motorway (connecting Switzerland to Milan) and by a four-lane highway to the A4 motorway linking Milan to Turin and to the Strada Statale 11.

2. Milan Linate Airport (LIN) is the main commuter and domestic airport in the Milan area. There are limited flights to cities in western and northern Europe. The Malpensa and Linate airports are linked by a bus system and takes 40 minutes to get between them.

3. Orio al Serio Airport (BGY) near Bergamo serves a large number of European cities, mainly with lowcoast airlines and therefore is a convenient way of flying to Milan as well, just 40 kilometres away, with hourly buses and trains going there.
Especially Ryanair has quite a few flights throughout Europe. Cities with connections to and from Bergamo include Alghero, Alicante, Bari, Berlin, Bratislava, Bremen, Brindisi, Bristol, Brussels, Cagliari, Dublin, Eindhoven, Fez, Frankfurt, Girona, Glasgow, Gothenburg, Granada, Ibiza, Krakow, Liverpool, London, Lübeck, Madrid, Malaga, Manchester, Nantes, Oslo, Palermo, Paris, Pescara, Porto, Riga, Rome, Santander, Seville, Stockholm, Tangier, Tampere, Valencia, Valladolid, and Zaragoza. Several more budget airlines serve Bergamo including SkyEurope (Prague, Wizzair (mainly Poland) and a few more mainly to Tunisia, Egypt, Morocco and destinations in eastern Europe, like Tirana, Timisoara and Bratislava.

To/from the airport

• Bus: Terravision and Autostradale run a service between the airport and the central station in Milan city centre. ATM runs a bus service between the airport and the railway station.
• Rail: There is a direct Airport Bus from Bergamo railway station to the airport provided by the local transport company of Bergamo, the trip costs €1.70 and takes 15 minutes. From Bergamo railway station there are trains to Milan, Brescia and Lecco.

Sleep