Access MilanMilano · Lombardia

Getting Around

BIGLIETTO · the ticket

One ATM ticket, valid ninety minutes, covering metro, tram and bus — and why you tap the same bank card again on the way out.

An orange 1928 Carrelli tram running along a Milan street
Photograph by Daniel Case, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
The square with the equestrian monument and crowds walking past the cathedral steps
Photograph by l0da_ralta, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0

One ticket, ninety minutes

Milan's metro, trams and buses are one system run by ATM, and the ordinary urban ticket is valid for 90 minutes: one metro journey plus as many tram and bus changes as you can fit inside the time. Most visitors never need anything else.

⭐ A contactless bank card works at the gate. Tap in with it, and ⚠️ tap the same card again on the way out of a metro station — the exit gate needs it, and on journeys beyond the city zones the fare is calculated from the tap-out.

The columns from the side, with the buildings of the square behind them
Photograph by Blackcat, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0

The lines, and which ones you will use

  • M1 red and M3 yellow cross at Duomo and cover almost every sight on this site.
  • M2 green runs down to Sant'Ambrogio, Porta Genova and the Navigli.
  • ⭐ M4 blue is the new one, and it connects Linate airport to San Babila in the centre in about a quarter of an hour. That is a genuinely recent change and it alters which airport you should want.
  • M5 lilac takes you to the Monumentale and out to San Siro.
The Naviglio Grande with a cycle path and green banks on the edge of the city
Photograph by FlavMi, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0

⭐ The trams are not a heritage attraction

The orange 1928 Carrelli trams are still in ordinary service on ordinary routes at the ordinary fare — wooden seats, brass fittings, and someone going to work in them. Tram 1 crosses the centre and is the one to take on purpose.

What you will actually walk

The centre is small and flat. The Duomo, the Galleria, La Scala and Brera are one continuous walk of about twenty minutes end to end, and taking the metro between them is slower than walking.

⚠️ Area C is a congestion charge on the historic centre on weekdays. It matters only if you were thinking of driving, and you should not be.

Milan’s 1928 Trams: Ordinary Service, Not a Tourist Ride

by Access Milan Editorial Team

The trams built in 1928 are not a heritage attraction. They are ordinary ATM vehicles, mixed into the same rotation as modern trams, running on the same fare, the same stops and the same timetable gaps as everything else in Milan’s network. There is no separate ticket, no set schedule, and no guarantee one turns … Read more

Why You Tap Out of the Milan Metro, and What It Costs Not To

by Access Milan Editorial Team

Why You Tap Out of the Milan Metro You tap out because the gate needs to know how far you actually traveled. If you paid with a contactless bank card, the system only charges you properly once it sees the exit tap. Skip it, and Milan’s transport operator, ATM (Azienda Trasporti Milanesi), bills you at … Read more

The 90-Minute ATM Ticket in Milan: What It Covers

by Access Milan Editorial Team

The 90-minute ticket is Milan’s standard fare unit for ATM, the city’s transport operator. It covers one metro ride plus any number of bus or tram changes, all within 90 minutes of validation. What it does not cover is a second metro ride — even inside that same 90 minutes, once you’ve exited through a … Read more