The insider's guide, from travelers who've actually been through.
Milan Linate Airport (LIN) is the city’s convenient close-in airport, located just a short distance east of the centre. It handles mostly short and medium-haul flights and is popular with business travellers precisely because it is so near town. Linate runs from a single, compact three-storey terminal, with arrivals and baggage on the ground floor, check-in, security, and the main shops and dining on the first floor, and further gates and lounges above, which makes it easy to find your way around.
The standout option now is the M4 metro, the blue line, which connects directly to the airport. It whisks you to San Babila in the city centre in around 12 to 15 minutes, running from about 6am to past midnight with a standard ATM city fare. At San Babila you can transfer to the M1 red line to reach the rest of Milan. The M4 also stops at useful points like Dateo and Forlanini along the way. If you prefer, airport buses and taxis are available too, but with the metro this fast and cheap, it is usually the easiest way in.
Linate is small and manageable, so you will not spend long trekking between areas. The first floor holds the bulk of the shops, cafes, and restaurants, with a few more options and airline lounges upstairs. It is a tidy, efficient terminal rather than a sprawling retail destination, so set your expectations for a decent coffee and a light meal rather than an enormous mall. Free wifi is available, and because the airport is compact, getting from security to your gate is quick.
Linate is more of a point-to-point airport than a major connecting hub, so long transfers here are less common. The upside is that its closeness to the centre, combined with the quick M4 metro, makes leaving during a layover very realistic if you have a few hours. Keep an eye on the time for your return trip, re-clearing security, and your gate, and remember that if you are connecting onward you may need to collect and re-check bags depending on your tickets.
Use the tools above to check whether your layover is long enough to leave, and how the transit, immigration, and security timings add up for LIN.
