Location

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From the airport...

Milan has three major airports:

• Milano Malpensa (MXP) is the airport with overseas flights. If you're coming to Italy from afar, the first thing you need to do after landing is getting a good coffee. Then follow the signs to the train station. There's a train service called "Malpensa Express" that will take you to the city center. The ticket is 13 EUR and you can buy it either there from the automatic machines or on the "Trenitalia" phone app. You can also tap your credit/debit card on the terminals next to the escalators if you don't want to queue. There are services to both Milano Centrale and Milano Cadorna train stations. Either of them will work, as then you need a metro to the conference venue (if you're on a train going to Centrale, you might want to hop down at Porta Garibaldi, see below). The last train is around midnight, if you arrive later there are additional buses until about 2 AM. The metro is substituted after midnight by night buses covering the same lines.

• Milano Linate (LIN) is a smaller regional airport, with connections to some European hubs. The airport is served by the blue line of the subway (M4). Buy a regular 2 EUR ticket (valid for 90 minutes) and take the subway to San Babila, which is right in the city center (can have a look at the Duomo while you're there, which is our outstanding cathedral). From San Babila, you can take the red line to Precotto and walk to campus from there. Or if you walked to Duomo, then take the yellow line and change at Zara for the purple line till Bicocca.

• Milano Bergamo (BGY) is used by low-cost carriers (the entire airport is basically a Ryanair warehouse...). When you exit the airport, there is an endless stream of buses that will take you to the Centrale train station for ~5 EUR. Just get on the next one leaving (they are operated by different companies but cost the same). You can buy the ticket upon entering the bus. 

Taxis in Italy are very expensive (and get stuck in traffic!). Not recommended unless you plan to arrive really late or leave really early.

From the train station...

Maybe you're coming from the airport, or maybe you're coming straight by train from Italy/Europe. There are three main train stations in town:

1. Milano Centrale is a majestic building with massive steel arches from the 1930s. Once you're there, follow the "M" signs for the subway, buy a standard 2 EUR ticket, take the yellow line to Zara, change to the purple line, and hop down at Bicocca.

2. Milano Porta Garibaldi is next to the skyscrapers of Gae Aulenti square and the Vertical Forest. So if you're there you might as well have a look. To get to campus, go to the subway, buy a standard 2 EUR ticket, take the purple line, and hop down at Bicocca. In case you're curious, Garibaldi was an Italian general and revolutionary from the 1800s.

3. Milano Cadorna is in the Milan fashion district. To get to campus, exit the train station and go to the subway, buy a standard 2 EUR ticket, take the green line to Porta Garibaldi, change to the purple line, and hop down at Bicocca. Cadorna was another general.

Also:

4. Milano Greco Pirelli is is a little train station that is right next to the Milano-Bicocca campus. Using the subway is usually more convenient, but it might be worth checking the train times to Greco Pirelli as well.

In town...

Public transportation in Milan is efficient and reliable. The subway is open from ~5am to ~midnight. A ticket for the inner zone ticket (Mi1) costs 2 EUR and covers most of the city for up to 90 minutes (and you can use trams, buses, subways, etc, for those 90 minutes). You can buy the ticket at the automatic machines or also just swipe a contactless credit/debit card when entering. Note you won't get a receipt this way. There are also 10-trip cumulative tickets (which are called "carnet") where you pay only 9 of them.

The closest subway station to campus is "Bicocca" on the purple line. Station Precotto on the red line is also close enough (it's on the other side of the railway, you'll need to walk under the Greco Pirelli train station).

Tram line no. 7 also stops right in front of the Physics department (and trams in Milan are kind of an experience, you should try once; the lines date back to the 1880s and some coaches with wooden benches from the 1920s are still in operation).

Electric bikes and scooters are also a thing these days; you'll find them everywhere.

Hotels

We did not negotiate special deals with local hotels, as we couldn't get anything better than what you can find on the most common travel websites. So please just book there. Airbnb is also a popular choice.

The University is located north of the city center. The area around campus is nice enough, so anything close by would work. The department is west of the railway, but there's a convenient underpass, so staying on the other side of the railway is OK (the area to the west of the railway is arguably a bit nicer). 

The department is very close to a station on the purple line of the subway, which goes to the city center. So really anything close to another purple-line station would also be fine. The Isola area in the city center is very nice and very popular (hence more expensive than around campus). 

One place we can recommend that is close to campus (and was used by several previous visitors to our group) is Hotel degli Arcimboldi (about 15m walking from the department). 

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