Milan to Siena: travel rookies in need of advice!

Only you can decide whether you would be up for a 3.5 hr train ride after 16 hours on a plane. There's no way on God's green earth that I would be able to do that. As for how to get to/from various train stations and airports, it sounds like you guys need to buy at least the RS Italy 2011 book. It's loaded with exactly these sorts of "what's the best way to ___" type of question. Happy travels.

Bob, As neither of you "have a lot of experience in international travel", I'd highly recommend that you read Europe Through The Back Door prior to your trip! Pay careful attention to the "Rail Skills" chapter. The Italy Guidebook would be a good idea also (I usually pack that along as it's valuable reference during trips). Given your location, you may find it helpful to take a short drive to Edmonds and pick up the books right at ETBD. That would also give you an opportunity to speak with Rick's travel experts. Given the circumstances, I'd probably go straight to Siena as it will be a nicer place than Milan to recover from jet lag and get "acclimatized" to Italy. An alternative would be a few days in Varenna on beautiful Lago di Como (it's only one hour from Milan by train). Actually, the rail trip from Milan / MXP to Siena will be closer to 5-hours, with one or two changes, depending on which train you use. There is a rail station at Malpensa and in most cases you'll have to transfer at least once at Milano Centrale. One point to note is that there are two different trains operating from MXP - the Malpensa Express which runs to Milano Cadorna station and the regular Trenitalia trains. It's important to choose the correct one! Check www.trenitalia.com for times and other details. You can also reach Milano Centrale via the Malpensa Shuttle (Bus) which has frequent departures (pay the driver, fare about €7.50 PP, trip ~50-minutes). Happy travels!

Frankly, I think spending one night somewhere is much more trouble than continuing on with a train trip after a flight. My husband and I (60+) almost always get on the train after our overseas flight. Milan is worth some time at some point, but I would choose going on to Siena in this case.

I think the shuttle bus is the best way to get to Milan. It leaves more often, takes 50 min instead of 40 for the train, so it's kind of a wash. However, it delivers you to the central train station, no questions asked. Here is the link: http://www.malpensashuttle.it/e-default.htm You can buy your tickets ahead of time so you don't have to worry about getting euros, etc. You don't mention what is happening to your trip after you have to be in Siena. If you don't have time in Florence planned...then go to Florence for the weekend, then continue on to Siena. Other options are Parma, Bologna. If you're a real foody or cook ( I am ) then you might be interested in Parma. As far as the stay in Milan question...I think the best rule to follow to get onto Italy time is to try and stay up for the first day and go to bed at a semi-normal time. Then you'll be exhausted and you will sleep and wake up sort of on Italy time. You might consider trying Melatonin. It was very popular with the jet set 10 years ago. Get 1 mg tablets, take them 2 hours before you want to go to bed. Read up on them, of course. It's a naturally occurring hormone. 3 mg is common, and IMHO that is too much.

We had a terrible experience with the Malpensa Shuttle last October. (That was before the new Trenitalia train connection was available.) We arrived on the 0830 flight (originated in Seattle, Bob) and got stuck in traffic. Took 90 minutes to make the " 50 minute" trip! Take the train from MXP to Milano Centrale, by all means! I also recommend going on to Siena and settling there. We moved on from Milan to Venice after our flight, and the train was a great transition. We napped a little, but were able to stay awake when we got to Venice. Showered, unpacked, took a walk, had dinner, went to bed at 2100. By 0600 we were "local." (And we are well past 30!)

@ Laurel: Good point. I did not consider traffic because we're arriving at 10 pm at Malpensa. The Malpensa shuttle does seem to have an earlier and later schedule then the trains. We leave at 7:30 from Milan so will need to catch a VERY early bus to get to MXP by 5:30. Yawn.

Bob, you get to make the choice on how much additional travel you want to undertake once you arrive at Milan-Malpensa. The best way from Malpensa to Milan Centrale is the train. As noted above, the bus does get caught up in traffic as traveler's over the years know well. The train connection to Milan Centrale is fairly new and it works quite well. Just be sure that you are on the train to Milan Centrale and not Milan Cardona. One way to tell is the fare. It's 7E to travel to Milan Centrale and 11E to travel to Milan-Cardona. This first part of your journey will take about 45 minutes. If your decision is to travel to Siena, you can buy your tickets at the train station at Malpensa for the entire trip. Most likely, you will be on a high-speed from Milan-Centrale to Florence. Travel time: 2.0hrs. Fare: 53E. You can take the less frequent IC train that departs at 10:50 from Milan-Centrale. Travel Time: 3hrs27min. Fare: 29.50E. If you want the less expensive train, you need to tell the agent at the train station who most likely does not speak English. However, even though the agent doesn't speak English, he will make your seat reservations for you for this train. At Florence, you will change trains again for a Regionale train to Siena. No choice here. Only the Regionale class of trains run to Siena. No high-speeds. No seat reservations permitted. I've described what will take place on your journey. But, if you simply walk up to the agent and say Malpensa to Siena, its a 5.0hr. journey and the fare is 66.30E. Here's a link to a sample train schedule. http://orario.trenitalia.com/b2c/nppPriceTravelSolutions.do?car=0&stazin=milano+malpensa&stazout=siena&datag=28&datam=04&dataa=2011&timsh=08&stazin_r=Staz_DA&stazout_r=Staz_A&timsm=11&timsm_r=11&lang=en&nreq=5&channel=tcom&npag=1&lang_r=en&nreq_r=5&channel_r=tcom&npag_r=1&x=38&y=11