Quickest way to get from Milan Malpensa Airport to Monterosso

The fastest you can get there is by car is 4 hours, you arrive at 3 pm, and it will take about an hour to get luggage and organized to leave, so that is 4 pm and with travel time brings you to 8 pm. Why pay a fortune for a private transfer to save an hour?

What time of year will this be? By June, sunset will be after 9 pm and civil twilight until 9:45 pm.

PS The cost for 2 people from Malpensa to Monterosso using the Malpensa Express train and the direct IC train from Milano Centrale is 83 EUR bought on arrival.

If you land at 3pm and plan to drive you will almost certainly be driving through the Milan Tangenziale (beltway) A50 right at about rush hour, therefore plan on arriving not earlier than 8 or 8:30pm in the best of circumstances. If that justifies the many hundreds of euro of a private driver vs 40€ per person on the train is entirely up to you.

Thank you for your input, Roberto and Sam. We will be traveling in September. I'll look for a hotel in Monterosso (or anywhere in CT) that will allow us to check in after 9 pm. Any suggestions for a place for two couples in CT?

I would not expect any problem with checking in at that time. Just let them know the plan in advance. Even when the reception desk is not covered all night, cut-off time is likely to be closer to 11:00. Most restaurants also serve dinner until 10:00 or 11:00.

Is it too late to consider flying to Genoa?

Unfortunately, we already have our plane tickets to Milan. Thanks for the suggestion.

As you're coming from the U.K., are you arriving at T1 or T2? That might affect the timing a bit.

There are numerous trains departing from both Malpensa Terminals after 15:00. As mentioned earlier, check the Trenitalia website for all the solutions.