Getting from MXP to Milano Centrale

When I went through MXP, I took the bus. Just walk out the door and they are pretty much right there. The bus goes to Centrale so you end up in the same place as if you took the train.

I found it really easy and the bus staff put your bags in the hold.

Many on the forum prefer the train. As I recall, time wise, there is very little difference

I am one who prefers the train. We took the bus once and got stuck in morning traffic and it took twice as long as the train.

Buy your ticket when you are ready to board. The trains run every half-hour and take less than an hour to reach Centrale.

Buy the ticket to Milano Centrale and get on the train to Milano Centrale, do not get on the train to Milano Cadorna.

As rightly pointed out, buses can get stuck in traffic. Another flaw is that Airport buses stop out of Centrale station; out and two floors down from the tracks area. As you can imagine, airport trains stop inside Milano Centrale and all the tracks are on the same level.

When/where should tickets be purchased?

When you are at the airport station. Airport trains can't sell out.

Some additional info, in English, on transport options from Malpensa to Milan:

https://www.milanomalpensa-airport.com/en/from-to/getting-to-leaving-from-malpensa

One issue to consider if you are using the train for the reverse route , TO the MXP airport: sometimes trains just get canceled, no reason given. This happened to us in 2019, when we were heading to the airport to return homeward. We were at the train station when the earlier train left, but weren't allowed to board, as our ticket was for the next train, [the soon-to-be canceled train.] Obviously, we were quite stressed, but did make our flight in time, as the Milan airport was quite easy to navigate. So- plan on taking the train BEFORE the train you were going to take.
Safe travels!

I always find I am a bit tired and disoriented after a long flight with minimal sleep and prefer to have my transportation all set before I arrive.

You can buy your ticket online at https://www.trenord.it/. The ticket is good for up to three hours after the time you pick to depart. So if you miss your scheduled time, you may take the next train. Show the conductor your scan code on your phone or print your ticket either works.

Arriving in Milan is quite easy at this point. We cleared all of the passport checks and were at the train in a half hour yesterday. The Italians did one check of our CDC vaccination cards and two passport checks. They were not at all interested in the PLF locator document, although it was listed as a requirement for entry still.

At JFK there was a quick glance at our CDC cards and our passports and we had our temperature checked before we could board our flight to Milan. The process was quite chaotic at the gate for Delta, as it seems a bit ad hoc still with changing requirements.