Milan airport

There is a bus service to the airport (malpensa, not Linate) from Milan's central train station and there are trains from the central train station and also Cadorna station. Bus link
http://www.malpensashuttle.it/e-default.htm Here's a link to the train service. The better train service to Malpensa is from Cadorna station which is not too far from the Castello. http://www.malpensaexpress.it/en/ There are hotels close to the airport. In fact there is a Sheraton hotel right at the airport where you can walk from the hotel to the terminal. One hotel off of the airport is Hotel Visconti which does offer shuttle service. http://www.hotel-visconti.com/ It's not much fun out at the airport. I would stick with your plan to spend the day in Milan. You can at least check out the Duomo or the fashion quarter or visit the castle.

We stayed at the Best Western Jet Hotel several years ago. They have a large, free breakfast buffet and an airport shuttle for a nominal fee. I would stay close to the airport the night before. You could spend the day in Milan and then take the train to this hotel which is located in the town of Gallarate. Checking the train schedules, there is a train that departs Milan Centrale at 19:25 and gets into Gallarate at 19:57. Normally, this train trip takes anywhere from 1:41 to 2 hours. However, this train is a high speed EC train and has no stops or transfers. Reservations are required for this train. Check the DBahn website at http://bahn.hafas.de/bin/query.exe/en for more train info. Instead of walking from the train station to the hotel in the dark with your luggage in tow, I would take a taxi.

We just came back from Milan 3 weeks ago. We had no problem making our 9:30 am flight from Malpensa leaving central Milan at 6:30 in the morning. Take the Malpensa Express train from Cadorna Station. Every 30 minutes starting at 4:58 am, 30 to 40 minute ride to Malpensa.

It has been a long time, but in the early to mid 1990s i used to fly out of Malpensa quite a bit. I stayed always in the same hotel in Gallarate. It was called: La Vecchia Rotaia (the old rail). As the name suggests, it's across the Gallarate train station (just walk out to the right as you exit the station). I would generally get there in the evening for dinner because they have a great little restaurant and pizzeria. During my trips to Italy then, that was My Last Supper before crossing the Atlantic back to the US. Not the same last supper as Leonardo's in Milan but to this day my wife and I still recall their great pizzas. From there you can take a short taxi ride or a bus shuttle from the station to MXP. If you, like me, prefer a longer sleep in the morning of departure, that's my suggestion. From Milan you'll need to leave a little earlier. Just google the hotel name, something should come up.

I just flew out of MXP on an early AM flight (which was delayed about 2 hours). I stayed at a small hotel MXP rooms in a small town 5k from the airport. It is a great and inexpensive place to stay - I would recommend it except that the ads say they provide transport to and from the airport. BUT we could not reach them by phone and had to take a taxi (20 euros to go 5k !!!) Than in the AM for our departure we arranged for the owners to take us to the airport at 8:00AM. We were waiting in the lobby and the owner was about 30 minutes late. We were a bit panic'd - but he only charge 5 euros to take us to the airport. ---------------- But other than the transportation problems - I would recommend the small hotel.....great prices, very clean, small town was a short walk to a nice restaurant for dinner. Can't get the hyperlink to work in this editor tonight... Here is a link.
http://www.booking.com/hotel/it/mxp-rooms.en.html?aid=311088&#59;label=mxp-rooms-iUR4pYYi*b89KfvAZGodXwS9963115923:pl:ta:p1:p2:ac:ap1t3:neg&#59;ws=&gclid=CNLo1dCZ_bICFQXhQgodGH0ARA

Julie, It shouldn't be a problem to get to Malpensa for a 10:30 flight. You could travel either by rail or Bus. For example, there's a direct train departing Milano Centrale at 07:25, arriving MXP at 08:17 (time 00:52M). There are other trains with one change, either at Cadorna or Busto Arsizio (I try to get direct trains whenever possible). You can check the times and other details on the Trenitalia website. You could also use the Malpensa Shuttle (Bus) which departs from Milano Centrale. Travel time is about an hour (depending on traffic). That will likely be the cheapest option. I travelled on the Shuttle a few weeks ago, and it was a pleasant ride. Happy travels!

Thank you all for the valuable information and suggestions. I appreciate your help. Ciao!

What I enjoyed most in Milan was wandering around the roof of the Duomo. After dark, the Duomo and the adjacent Vittorio Emanual Galleries are lovely. Lots of food options around there too. And La Scala is just the other side of the Galleria. I found the bus more convenient than the train to the airport. The taxi dropped me right next to the bus. I would have had to go through the train station with my luggage. But only if you are travelling before rush hour.