Fallon Milan — Practical ground-level Milan: the ATM | fallonmilan.com
Zones 1–3, the 90-minute rule and the current fare table — plus the validation routine that keeps a paper ticket legal.
Milan's public transport is sold as a zone system. Zone 1 is the city centre, zone 2 covers the inner ring suburbs and zone 3 the outer area. In practice the ordinary ticket flattens the system: once stamped, it is valid for 90 minutes anywhere on the network, so a visitor bound for the Duomo — zone 1 — needs nothing beyond the cheapest ticket.
The fare ladder has three rungs. The ordinary 90-minute ticket costs roughly €1.50–2.50 depending on the year and the ticket type. The 24-hour unlimited pass is about €7–8, and the 7-day pass about €20–23. Because a single stamp buys 90 minutes across every line, a contained day of sightseeing is usually cheaper on singles than on a day pass — particularly if you stay underground and let each ticket run its full window.
On narrow screens, swipe or scroll the plate sideways.
Validity starts with validation. A paper ticket counts only once it has been stamped on the yellow-orange machines at the top and bottom of metro escalators and at tram and bus stops. The stamp prints the time; your 90 minutes run from that moment, not from when you board.
The failures that cost visitors money are repetitive: carrying an unstamped ticket, which is treated as travelling without one; stamping twice in the hope of more time, which adds nothing; throwing the ticket away mid-journey; and assuming the ATM ticket covers the airport trains — Trenord sells those separately.
One quirk works in your favour: a bus ticket is used for a metro journey in Milan, because it is the same ordinary ticket. Buy whichever format the kiosk or machine offers; the 90-minute rule applies identically on street and underground. For airport pricing, see the airport routes page; for when to skip the metro entirely, the getting around page.
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