brent elliott

Hi
Apologies if this is the wrong thread but this is my first post on this site.

My wife and I are thinking about a move to Italy (Milan) but as I am a doctor I imagine I will be unable to find work in Italy so may need to commute to London.

My employer seems willing to be flexible allowing me to work three days (one extended) in London and two from home for near full salary but I wondered if anyone thought a late Monday evening/early Tuesday morning flight out of Milan with return to London on Thursday evening was a realistic option for both a commute, family and a lifestyle?

We have a young family and I have a place to stay in London for the two nights per week.

Many thanks for any advice or thoughts.
Brent

SanDiegogirl

Milan to Heathrow ...... It's only a two hour flight (taking into account time changes) so is not onerous.

My husband flew San Diego to St. Louis every other week for 6 years (4 hour flight) - left Monday morning, arrived back Friday afternoon; so your three day stint sounds doable.

However, having said all that, after a few years the travelling to and from the airport twice a week (I would take him and pick him up to make life easier) and living in an hotel (albeit a nice one) for 4 nights he was very glad to give it up; especially when his direct flight back on Friday was curtailed. (we don't have young children either)

Give it a go and see how it works out .......

DaveLovesDee

Ryanair has flights for 40 Euros return Malpensa-Stansted-Malpensa, or about 100 Euros return including one 20kg checked baggage.

brent elliott

Thanks for this, 3day week and 2hr flight sounds like a breeze in comparison 👍

dfjordan

I would suggest you also take into account the travelling time to and from the airports, which with the check in/ security times added in, will no doubt double the overall travelling time. Could you perhaps do a one week on, one week off basis? It would probably be more convenienf for both parties .

SanDiegogirl

Agree.... it's not the flight that takes the time it's everything else around it !!

BEVS

Hi there and a warm welcome to BE.


S'okay. Everyone has to start somewhere somehow. I did.

I'll move this to the Italy forum for you as those living there may be better placed to advise.

If not, I can always move it again. No worries.

regards
BEVS
SiteLead

HADENOUGHPIZZA

Malpensa is not Milans favorite airport and Linate would probably be a better bet but far more expensive , a lot will depend on where you live both sides of the trip . You also need to condsider the impact of fog / snow / strikes . I think it can be done as long as you are prepared for all that time travelling and haning about in airports .

homeandgardens

Have you ever thought of living in Bergamo? It's quite a small city 40 min from Milan but has a fabulous airport, which is a Ryanair hub (London - Stansted). It takes me 10 min. to reach it from the city center + has one of the best hospitals in Italy and third in Europe (Maybe someone is exaggerating on ratings...) Cheers.

GeorgeYoung

Personally I wouldn't rely on Ryanair for regular flights for work purposes but that may just be personal prejudice.

That said, Bergamo airport is really easy to get to, right off the motorway and traffic might be lighter there than around Milan.

Last year my wife was commuting every few weeks between Verona & Gatwick, which wasn't too bad apart from the fact that the flight times were mid-morning which meant the travelling seemed to absorb a full day rather than just a morning or evening.

arjacey

Having moved to Italy permanently nearly 10 months ago, I can understand your sentiments.

Although I can't comment directly on your plans, I did travel between Greece and the UK for a few years although the trip was roughly monthly, rather than weekly. At first, it was OK. I adopted a mind-set that this was just dead time that had to be endured, either to return to family and friends in the UK, or back to the 'better life' that was Greece. However, eventually it became tedious, not the flight time, but the time travelling to the airport, arriving in time for check-in, the occasional flight delays and getting from the airport to home at the other end. This is apart from the discomfort of the airport check-in and security processes. I used to plan on a 10 hour trip although my trip to the airport was Bristol-Gatwick, about 3 hours and the flight time was 3 hours. Even so, I guess you might be looking at 6 hours minimum each way. I'm not sure getting out of London to any of the airports is going to be much quicker

Calculate the realistic travel time (and cost) as travelling from home to the airport, comfortable arrival time to check-in (some airlines now recommending this a 3 hours before the flight time) allowing for delays travelling to the airport, flight time, travel time and cost at the other end. If you are using public transport, bear in mind that it may not synchronise as you wish. Although I travelled from Bristol to Gatwick, it was impossible to get a train there unless the flight was after 4pm. It rarely was. On the one occasion that it was, the train to Reading was delayed and I had to hire a taxi from Reading to Gatwick (£70) to get me there on time.

We've flown to Bergamo with RyanAir. It's not so bad to do it once. I'm not so sure about doing it every week! We weren't delayed and there was cheap bus transfer to central Milan (add an hour or so to your journey time) and reasonably priced taxi to our accommodation at the other end.

If you were to commit to the move and then find the travel too much, I would imagine it could become a bit of a nightmare.

How about booking a place to stay in Milan for, say, six weekends and then travel there each weekend to get a feel for the reality and difficulties of doing this? That might sound a bit extreme but this is potentially a life-changing decision. If this strategy seems a bit extreme, then maybe a move should remain a dream for later rather than a reality now.

We really liked Milan and could understand why someone looking for city life would consider moving there. We were a 20 minute from the centre in a very leafy and quiet residential area. Not sure how it would be if you were living in some of the outskirts that the bus from Bergamo went through. I assume you are fully aware of the living costs there!

HTH

Bob

brent elliott

Thank you all so much for your input it's really helpful.

We would probably live near De Angeli (Milan) as it's where my wife's family are from which is about 20 mins in the taxi from Linate airport. I could then fly directly into london city (more expensive and sometimes fog bound) and be at work 20 mins later. So best case scenario is 3-4 hrs door to door. More realistic would be to Heathrow which would be 4-5 hours. So maybe 8-10hours per week commuting. If I lived outside London I would probably still do much the same commuting from Bath or Salisbury.

As you say the big risk is trying it and finding out it is too burdensome as we would probably not want to come back to UK once we had finally left ..

brent elliott

Thanks Homeandgardens

I would love to find a job in an Italian Hospital but I am told the recruitment system there is not a meritocracy and I don't know anyone with Political clout !😂 So it's London for me (plus expat private practice)

37100

Are you fluent in Italian? There are a couple of International centres, but you would still need Italian.

.Ariel.

Hi,
I don't have too much advice - just thinking if the trip doesn't go to plan and there are delays ...
I know a few people who drive London to Milan which you may wish to do on occasion.
It would be good if this was a temporary measure with a view to being able to permenantly work in Italy one day.
That said, it sounds like a super exciting adventure and I hope it all works out for you