I will be in Italy in September and at the end of my trip, I will spend 2 nights in Lake Como and then head to Milan via train to catch my flight home. I will leave Como in the early morning around 8 or 9 & hope to be into Milan by mid-morning to drop my luggage at the hotel and then I'd like to sightsee for the remainder of the day. I will spend the night in Milan and then depart the next morning from Milan's Malpensa airport. I would like to visit the Duomo in Milan and go up to the roof and just explore a little of Milan during my last day in Italy. My questions are as follows. I know that the "main" tourist area in Milan is approx 30 min from the aiport. Should I stay near the airport or in the main tourist area? If I stay near the airport, is it fairly easy to get to the main area? I'd like to stay in the main area so that we can walk around at night & find a nice restaurant, etc, but our flight leaves the next morning (Saturday) at 10:35 am so I probably need to be at the airport at around 8:30 & I'm not sure how feasable it is to be 1/2 hr from the aiport. Please advise!! I also need hotel suggestions...something clean & reasonably priced. All suggestions are greatly appreciated.
Malpensa airport is more than 30 minutes from the main part of Milan - more like 45 minutes by train. You could get out there by 8:30 in the morning by train (Cardona station) or bus (from the Central station). You can stay out by the airport but there's very little around there. So my advice would be to look for a place in Milan close to a subway stop that can get you to one of the train stations.
Doug is correct. It is solid hour from the Central station to the airport via bus. And a train is available from the other train station. I don't know how early the bus/train run but I am sure you can goggle the Milan airport for that information. There are a number of reasonable priced and convenient hotels around the Central train station and that location is two subway stops from the Duomo. We were there as recent as last summer. The bus to the airport leaves from the SE corner of the Central train station. The train from Lake Como will come to the Central station.
Here's a link to the bus and train connections.
If you decide you want to stay near Malpensa, here's a link to a discussion thread we had last year.
We arrived in Milan by train and stayed at a hotel just a short walking distance away from the station(Hotel Florida)and there seemed to be quite a few hotels in that area. It was an easy metro ride from there to the Duomo and from there we walked to the Santa Marie delle Grazie to see Leonardi da Vinci's Last Supper (tickets have to be booked ahead). There is a shuttle bus to the airport that leaves from the train station so it is a very convenient area to stay in - you can walk your bags to the hotel and then back to the station to get on the shuttle. It may not be the most scenic area but with very little time there, we were looking for efficiency.