italy

Europe has always been pretty good at rail, but why not go for great? Apparently, that’s happening, both with already launched service, and exciting new plans. How fun would it be to city hope from Paris to Milan to Venice with a special overnight train? And that’s far from the only one.

A new “high speed” service just launched between Rome and Milan, making city hopping between two traveler favorites easier than ever. And yes, this is the perfect time to learn how to “open jaw” your next trip.

Italy-Milan-Duomo
Duomo at sunrise, Milan, Europe.

New Milan – Rome High Speed Train

Trenitalia is now operating a high speed service between Milan and Rome, with a journey time of just 2 hours and 45 minutes. The Frecciarossa trains have already launched between Rome’s Tiburtina and Milan’s Rogoredo stations.

These new, faster rains now leave Rome as early as 5:30 AM, arriving in Milan at 8:15, with plenty of time to have a standing coffee before work, or pleasure. And for anyone wishing to enjoy a full day in Milan before heading down to Rome, high speed service now runs as late 8:44PM departing Milan, arriving in Rome around 11:30PM.

These new high speed services complement an already stunning array of easy train connections through Italy, including a GSTP favorite, the Venice-Florence-Rome-Naples train service, offering the perfect taste of Italy.

More European Services On The Way

The European Union is focusing on improved rail links between countries and a short list has now appeared.

New services will include a Lisbon – Madrid service, a Barcelona – Amsterdam overnight service, a Rome-Munich-Milan and a Paris-Milan-Venice train, among many others. The EU Commission will be responsible for the expeditious launch of service.

Open Jaw Your Flights For European Delights

An open jaw can be really simple. It’s the concept of flying into one city, and out of another. All you need to do is find an alternative method of transport, or separate flight to connect the dots.

Given the exciting new higher speed service launch between Rome and Milan, that’s a perfect example. Wherever you’re based, you could search for multi-city flights rather than a round trip.

Let’s say you’re starting in New York, you’d look at New York to Rome and the return leg of the “multi-city” trip would be from Milan. You’d fly from New York to Rome, enjoy the city and the train it up to Milan. And rather than have to backtrack to Rome, you’d just depart from Milan. Easy enough, right?

Gilbert Ott is an ever curious traveler and one of the world's leading travel experts. His adventures take him all over the globe, often spanning over 200,000 miles a year and his travel exploits are regularly...

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1 Comment

  1. Game changer. For Italy having some of the oldest architecture and infrastructure, this is a huge for them (wake up USA). Can’t wait to visit again and city hop.

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