Como town or another village on the lake for post-tour visit?

Personally I don't like the City of Como particularly and no matter where you decide to go on Lake Como (Como or Varenna) you will need to take at least 3 trains, with change in Milan. So the trip will be over 3 hours no matter what. The station of Orta-Miasino is on the Novara-Domodossola line, so you would need to take a train to Novara, then to Milan, then to your lake Como destination. It might be a bit faster to go to Como than Varenna, due to the fact that most trains to Como will depart from Milano Porta Garibaldi.

I don't know what your tour entails, but if the tour does not cover Lake Maggiore, I would opt for going from Lake Orta to Lake Maggiore, which is right there (I've only driven between the two and the drive is less than 30 min).

For example you could go to Stresa, on Lake Maggiore, right across the hill from Orta San Giulio (if you don't have a car, you can take a train with change at Cuzzago, or there are also buses, which are a bit faster). From Stresa you can visit the Borromean islands by ferry, or also other parts of lake Maggiore, like quaint Cannobio or even Locarno (Switzerland). That choice would also be better for going to Malpensa airport, since from Stresa there is a bus direct to Malpensa, or even a train to Gallarate (then a taxi ride from Gallarate to Malpensa). Going by bus or train from Stresa to Malpensa is about the same time in total (about one hour). The train has more frequent options, but the taxi ride will set you back an extra 30-35 euro, even if it's just 15-20 min taxi ride from Gallarate to MXP. From lake Como to Malpensa is a longer trek.

Grazie molto, Roberto.
This is very helpful information! I've had some difficulty navigating the train sites not knowing where exactly we wanted to go and which station was which. Lake Maggiore appears to be just as beautiful. Appreciate leading us in a different direction for our planning.

Following up on Roberto’s suggestion . We did this tour last May. Our guide arranged for a taxi to take us from Lake Orta to Stresa. It wasn’t a long ride and the time we saved was worth the cost of the taxi. We stayed at La Luna Nel Porto in a room with a balcony overlooking the Lake Maggiore (much more beautiful than Lake Orta, btw). A lovely hotel with a great breakfast and easy walk to the pedestrian shopping area and the ferry terminal. We really enjoyed Stresa, and it is very easy to travel by bus straight from Stresa to the airport in Milan.

of all the Lake Como parts that I have visited, mostly at or south of the mid-lake, including both arms, the one place that didn't do anything for me was the city of Como.

I love the mid-lake area, all available by ferry from Como

Ruth and Nigel,

Thank you for your input. As of today, we will plan on visiting Lake Maggiore instead of Como. We'll try to add it to the list for the next visit. :) Unfortunately, La Luna Nel Porto does not have vacancy for the 3 nights we need, but does look lovely! I'm sure there are several comparable accommodations in Stresa.

See if they have vacancy here:
https://www.milansperanza.it/en/

I stayed at this hotel and liked it. It's right across the ferry embarcadero and the food at their restaurant wasn't bad either.

I think they are affiliated to the Regina Palace hotel (maybe same ownership) because we used the Regina Palace garage to park our car. Try also the Regina Palace, although it looked very posh therefore probably more expensive.