Last day in N. Italy - anything to do near Malpensa?

Arona (closer), Baveno, Stresa (more distant). But of course it depends on the time you have to be at the airport and your transportation options.

Do you have a car?

Options without car are:
- Stresa or Arona on Lake Maggiore.
Both have buses to Malpensa. But you can also take the train to Gallarate (35 or 25 min respectively) then from Gallarate there is a bus to the airport (or also plenty of taxi cabs). Gallarate is 5 min to the airport.
- Gallarate. From there it's a short taxi ride. In the old days, when there was no train connection to Malpensa, I used to stay in Gallarate the night before the flight, at the Nuova Rotaia hotel, next to the train station, then in the AM I would take the short bus ride to the airport. There are several restaurants in town. The hotel used to have a great restaurant and pizzeria in their premises, but I don't think they do now after they renovated the hotel years ago.

If you have a car, I would stay on the lake Maggiore. That's what I do nowadays. From Stresa you can get to the airport in 35 min by car.

No, no car.
Flight is mid-late morning - 10 i think.
What about Sesto Calende?
Or what tips can you give for Stresa?

Jtraveler,
You can always take the train to Varenna (Lake Como) ( 1 hour, 3 minutes) & spend the day cruising the lake and visiting the lakeside villages ( Bellagio & Menaggio).

You can also take a train or bus to the town of Como.

I'm presuming that you will return to Milan for the night before your flight, correct?

Are you in Italy now? If the answer is yes... then it may not be the best time (due to weather) to visit the Lake.

Have you visited Milan in the past?

There are some interesting sites there that you might like to see, such as the Duomo, Castello
Sforzesco & it's garden, etc...

Others will chime in with more info for you.

Hi -
Thanks. No, I'm not in Italy now, rather I'm planning a summer trip. I was hoping to not return to Milan, but to stay somewhere near-ish the airport for our last night before the flight, so we are close enough to the flight to feel sure about making it on time in the AM. Milan is too far and we're seeing Milan during another part of the trip. I'd prefer to be as close as possible - since we should leave for airport by 8am - like Arona, or perhaps Sesto Calende - do you know it?

About what time does your flight depart?

As I said, I think around 10am... My original post maybe wasn't clear, I meant a place to stay the night, and then go to the airport the next AM! :)

So you need to be checking baggage in at the airline counter by about 8am?
And you will need to take public transportation to the airport?

I suppose, yes.

Jtraveler,

My mom & I were in Italy in October & we actually stayed in a hotel near the Milano Nord Cadorna train station in Milan
(as advised by Roberto) which is near the historic center.

The Malpensa Express (ME) train only takes 29 minutes to get to Malpensa Airport from this station.

So we took the ME train at 7:28am & got to Malpensa at 7:57am. Our fight was at 10:15am or so.

Here is the website for Malpensa Express schedules: http://www.trenord.it/EN/

Thanks, good to know, though we aren't coming from Milan - as I said, we are arriving at Milan, and spending several days there, but then doing a lot of traveling all over. We're coming back just for the airport, so we may prefer to get out somewhere even closer to the airport, and see something different the day before the flight home.

Where will you be traveling?

Have you booked your flights already?

If not, depending on where you will be traveling, you may consider getting open-jaw (multi-city)
flight tickets so you don't have to back-track. Just a thought...

{Edit}: I have not read your other posts so my questions/ suggestions may be irrelevant.

I don't know much about Sesto Calende, I've never been there. However in your place I would choose either Arona or Stresa. Arona is only one train stop from Sesto C. (Just a few extra minutes compared to Sesto). From Arona you can take the train to Gallarate and 22 min later be there. Then in 5-10 min a taxi can take you to the terminal. Arona is on the lake and it has boat service to the beautiful Borromee islands. That's something you could do the day before your flight: visit the Isola Bella and the Isola dei Pescatori. Arona is also very quaint with plenty of lakeside hotels.
For train schedules check www.trenitalia.com. From Arona to Gallarate.
I'm sure there are also direct buses from Arona to Malpensa as well.

Edit:
this is the bus schedules from the lake locations directly to Malpensa airport (only 35 min ride from Arona)
http://www.safduemila.com/alibus-2014-malpensa.lagomaggiore.html

Roberto, Thank you - this is almost exactly what I had in mind, except I was hoping to find something closer to the airport - this could be tricky with such little bus service, and with an hour long ride if taking the train.

We don't have high expectations for our last day, just looking for a nice town that is near-ish to Malpensa and that would make for an easy and stress-free morning when we go to airport.

PS i suppose I could consider just taking a cab to the airport from Arona, it can't be more than 40 euros right? Anyway, thanks for pointing me toward Arona.

35 min by bus or 35-45 by train+taxi is not that far. Not sure about the cost of taxi