Alice et al.: I know that the German parts of Switzerland are very beautiful, but I'm just not THAT enthused about visiting Switzerland. I wouldn't rule it out, and this might be a good trip to fit in a few days in Switzrland, but I think I'd rather just stick to Italy. I don't know ANY German at all, so I'm more comfortable traveling by myself in Italian- or French-speaking areas.

It's me again, cmt. Have you done any train research for Milan/Maggiore/Como, etc.? I admit to being really confused by the Italian rail sites. I get the feeling that there is not a single 'page' to plug in place of departure and destination, but instead, you need to know which company runs the transportation for the area you intend to ride through? If you figure out anything, I'd be very grateful for the education. Thanks, J.

JMW: apart from some very small companies running local transoprtation (such as Ferrovie Nord Milano, FNM) there is only ONE big railway company in Italy, Trenitalia, formerly FFSS. FNM runs trains from Milano to Como that are the best way to travel from Milano to COmo due to a spectacular arrival station on the lake front, but the railway stops in Como. Any other train in the area is Trenitalia (www.trenitalia.it).

Thanks, Alice. I'll get a handle on this yet. Do the FNM and Trenitalia use the same station in Milano? Oh dear, cmt, please excuse my intrusion. I promise this is my last Italian transportation question (at least at your Milan thread.) J.

Whoa, here I am again, but only to say that I've got the answers. After three tries, I was able to find relevant threads via the search box, and one included info from you, Alice. Thanks all. Now I know that to get to lake Como, one can bus from Malpensa! Well, darn, if the Italian websites were as cool as the SBB, they would have said so! I don't mean to sound so critical; I live in a very disorganized state myself, but the SBB should offer workshops for those in charge of transportation systems of all other countries. (teachers out there will know that workshops are like in-service.) J.

I'm just not quite up to this stage of planning, since I'm still deciding whether I want to go to the Italian lakes on this trip. But I'll be interested in the same transportation issues, so your questions are helpful to me, too. I planned to check Trenitalia when ready. If you want to you could continue this on my other thread about the Italian lakes. I'll be reading both threads, so it won't matter to me, but others might be more likely to open th "lakes" thread for info on getting to the lakes from Milan.

Buses from malpensa to Como are not run by Trenitalia, so why should their site give this information, also considering that Trenitalia does not run any connection to Malpensa? It is given, though, by the Malpensa airport site (www.sea-aeroportimilano.it/eng/Malpensa).

As a public service maybe? As good PR? The SBB schedules include companies not owned by the government. Oh well, silly me. Thank you for your patience, Alice.

There was so much good information posted on this thread, much of it helpful for future trips when I will not be focusing just on the lakes and possibly a town or two near Milan. (For example, on some future trip, I'll head to the Emilia-Romagna region, and I will definitely include a stay or at least a visit to Parma). I put aside the planning for about a month or two and now I'm back and trying to hurry to plan for a trip next month.

What I'm really looking for is a two or two to visit that is in Lombardy VERY close to Milan, where I might stay overnight as an alternative to going straight to the lakes region after arrival in Malpensa, or as a place to stay the night before flying back home, instead of trying to get to Malpensa from Stresa. I know Bergamo is a good option. However, I visited there a year and a half ago and it might be nice to see something new. The other places I've considered are:
Pavia
Cremona
Mantova

I think it is not that easy to get to Mantova. (Someone told me that on this thread and I checked and agree.) It is very easy to get to Pavia, but maybe not too easy to visit the Certosa by public transportation (or am I wrong about that?). So that leaves Cremona. From what I read I think it's a good place to visit and stay one night. Does anyone have any comments about it?

A friend from the area also mentioned Vigevano as an alternative to staying in Milan and as a place to wander for a few hours. Has anyone been there? Has anyone STAYED there?

Really focusing on Cremona now as a one-night (first night after arriving in Italy from US) plus next day place to visit.

Paart of first sentence of second paragraph in my preceding post should read "town or two."