Milan to Lake Region -options

From Malpensa to Milan the taxi is I believe 90€ so it's certainly more to Bellagio. I think the train to Varenna and the a ferry is still just as fast than the bus option, if not faster. If Bellagio is also busy and pricey, check Menaggio. Same distance from Verenna more or less.

I have never been to Varenna and certainly know nothing about hotels there, but you might check a website like booking.com to see whether there may be something available during your timeframe that would work for you. Read the reviews to see what you think.

When will the trip be - really high season or maybe too far in the future? Rick doesn't list all the Varenna options, but the town is not much bigger than that. Many hotels close for the winter and could be not responding for that reason.

The bike & barge trip is July 7 - 16 so we'd be adding days at the beginning. High season I'm sure at the Lakes which may be why the hotels in Varenna appeared to be booked. Will keep checking other lake towns. Sounds like train from airport into Milan Centrale and then another train to either Como or Varenna would be the most affordable choice..

sq,

The easiest, simplest and cheapest transport option will be to take the Malpensa Express from MXP to Milano Centrale, and then the TreNord Regionale to Varenna-Esino. If using a locally purchased ticket, DON'T forget to validate the ticket prior to boarding the train, or you'll risk hefty fines which are collected on the spot!

Regarding the hotels being all booked up in Varenna, it would help to know which hotels you've contacted so far. The group here may be able to suggest other choices.

Whether to stay in Milan on the final night prior to your flight home or stay by the airport, will depend on what time the flight departs. If you'd rather just "chill" in the hotel that night, the Malpensa Sheraton is a good choice as it's connected right to the terminal (although a bit on the pricey side).

Are you checking with hotels directly, or through a third-party site like booking.com?

We did a bike & barge out of Venice September 2017... our travel schedule was this...
Florence & Bologna no car
Rented a car in Bologna our last morning there downtown location and drove to Bellagio - literally parked the car there for 3 nights at 15 euro per night. Drove from Bellagio to VCE dropped the car off there and caught the boat to Giudecca. The one way rental with no deductible was $575. Worth every penny for the convenience

Regarding Ken's suggestion: the easiest, simplest and cheapest transport option will be to take the Malpensa Express from MXP to Milano Centrale, and then the TreNord Regionale to Varenna-Esino.

I am using the Trenitalia website but search engine is not bringing up any timetable for Milano Centrale to Varenna-Esino. Do I need to put in a different (larger) destination city?

Try doing Milano Centrale to Varenna-Esino for 28 Feb and you will see that the train goes every hour at 20 minutes past the hour. It appears that the schedules are loaded up to 9 June as of right now.

The trains are all regionale, take about an hour and tickets cost about 6,70€ for 2nd class no matter when you buy them.

It's not at the airport, but the Hotel Berna is about 3 blocks from Milano Centrale. I highly recommend it if you don't have an excruciatingly early flight. I've also stayed at the Moxy at the airport. I don't recommend it.

Thanks Lo from Tuscan for your reply and hotel recommendation in Milan. The date I used explained why no trains appeared when I searched on the trenitalia webpage!

sq,

As your trip is in July, the schedules are not posted that far ahead yet. The twice yearly schedule change will take place on about 10 June. As suggested previously, you can get a close idea by checking a date (for example) in May, on the same day-of-the-week that you'll be travelling.

The trains you'll be using from MXP to Milan, and Milan to Varenna are Regionale trains so there's no price benefit in buying advance tickets. It's just as easy to buy them locally from a Kiosk or the staffed ticket office. However, don't forget to validate locally purchased tickets prior to boarding the train, or you'll face hefty fines if you forget.