Cinque Terre to Milan Airport (MXP)

I honestly don't think I would try to travel from Manarola to Malpensa on your departure day. It is about 5 hours on the train. It should be about 3 and half hours in a car if everything went perfectly, which it rarely does. There is a train that leaves Manarola at 04:42 and gets to Malpensa at 09:38. I'm not sure I would trust it though, you have to change trains twice You might want to think about leaving the CT a day earlier.

I'm sorry. There's no way to stay in Manarola and make it to Malpensa for an 11:30 am flight. There are no car hires from Manarola - there are barely roads. You'll need to be at Malpensa three hours early - the lines are crazy in the morning. I hate to be a buzz kill about this, but this is impossible.

I agree with the other responses to your question. You should probably look into a late train out of La Spezia. That would allow you to spend a full day and have dinner in the Cinque Terre. If you took a train leaving around 8:00 the night of the 31st, you'd get to Milan by 11:00ish. There are plenty of hotels near the Milan Centrale station. Good luck.

I don't think La Spezia is a good choice. Genoa offers better connections IMHO. And like all the other posters, I recommend you go to Milan a day early and get a hotel near the train station, then catch the bus to MXP in the morning. The Malpensa Shuttle is the cheapest way to get there, but you need to allow extra time, up to 1.5 hours, during rush hour.

Thanks so much for all the suggestions. I should have started here first! One more question. How do I nook the train to Milan? I get to the payment screens and i get an error.

I wouldn't want to try to get a train to Malpensa in the morning of the flight. (www.trenitalia.it) THere is a train leaving Maranola at 4:42 am that gets into Milan Centrale at 8:20. The train to Malpensa leaves at 8:25 and then at 8:58 arriving at 9:13 and 9:38. Everything would have to work perfectly. I would be a wreck.
I'm coming back into Milan the night before our flight and staying right next to the airport at the Holiday Inn Express.

Leaving from Manarola on the day of your flight is a TERRIBLE idea because there are too many things that can go wrong. I would spend the last night in Milano at the Hotel Berna, located about 400 meters from Stazione Centrale and take the Malpensa Shuttle (bus) to the airport. Buon viaggio,

Re: Booking trains You don't need to worry about the trains selling out. Use http://www.trenitalia.com/. the british flag in the upper right corner for english. Train prices for the regional trains are only published 7 days in advance. You'll take a regional train to Manarola to Genoa. It looks like you can get a train at 9:45, change in Rio Maggiore, and arrive at Genova-Brig (there are two train stations in Genova, Brig and PP) at 11:49. Fare is 6.6 euros ea. You CAN book the train from Genova to Milan now, and get the mini fare. If you use the above train, then book the 12:19 Train from Genova PP, stopping in Genova BRig (where you board) and going to Milan. The mini fare is 7 euros. You arrive at 13:55. Total cost, 13.60 euros.