Hi jgg; I don't remember how long it took to get to Milan on the train, but what I do remember, is I found a guide on line that we meet at 10am. We hired her for four hours and she was wonderful. Wish i had her e-mail. My guess is, it took almost an hour and a half.

The train from Varenna Esino to Milano Centrale takes just over one hour.

Here's a sample search for late March. It probably won't be much different in July.

http://tinyurl.com/yg5z6kf

http://www.ferroviedellostato.it/homepage_en.html