Lake Como to Malpensa by train

That's a real easy route. Via train the station in Como is Como S. Giovanni. You can get hourly trains (www.trenitalia.com) to Milano Centrale. They are regionale trains about 4,80 euro cost. Validate your ticket in the time clock looking punch stamp machines around the station so you don't get fined.

Once at Milano Centrale you'll switch to the Malpense Express train to the airport. Add the cost for this around 12 euro last I took it. Same thing don't forget to validate your ticket. You can check departure times here http://www.malpensaexpress.it/en/. Since it's not part of TrenItalia you'll have to figure out what time train to take from Como as to what time departure you can take on the airport express.

There is a quicker route also. Using Como Lago Nord train station (opposite side of town as the station above and close to the water) take the train to Saronno. Change trains in Saronno to the Malpensa Expressa for the airport. Trenitalia is showing about an hour to hour 15 min.

Example 9:35 Como Lago Nord - 10:09 Saronno
10:16 Saronno - 10:34 MXP

There is a private rail line from Milan to Malpensa run by Lenord, called the Malpensa Express. One of it's stop on the way to Malpensa is at Saronno. To there you can catch a train from the harbor area at Como Lago. Here is the map of the rail lines in the area.

The public rail lines from Milan north to Switzerland stop at Como St. Giovanni station, a few km west of the town of Como.

Rather than "a few km west of the town," I'd say that Como S. Giovanni (Ferrovie dello Stato) and Como Lago (Ferrovie Nord) stations are both pretty central to the town of Como; see on Google Maps. Walking distance between them is 1.3 km. So you can choose based on train schedule rather than station location.

Thanks to everyone who responded to my topic this season
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Linda

Just a clarification: the town of Como is not near the center of Lake Como, but at the tip of one of its three "legs." If you are not staying in the town of Como, let us know where you are staying so we can give accurate directions. The center lake area towns of Bellagio, Menaggio, and Varenna are some distance from the town of Como.