Malpensa airport to Venice via train
 

My daughter is flying into Milan,
but needs to get to Venice to meet
me on a Sunday in May. Any suggestions I can give her for the best way to get from the airport to
the train station? Should she take the express to the Cadorna station? Can she get on a train to Venice from there or should she take
a bus to the central station? She gets in around 8AM and would like to get to Venice asap. Thanks.

Hello 3bugs. Your daughter should take the Malepensa Shuttle which will deliver her to the Centrale (main train station) in Milan where she can take the train to Venice.

http://www.malpensashuttle.it/e-default.htm

Per LoveItaly response, your daughter wants to take the shuttle bus from MXP to Milano Centrale -- it's the easiest most direct transport choice and the shuttle will deposit her directly in front of the main train station.

As you're already aware there is the secondary option to get into the city center of Milan by going on the train from MXP to Cadorna station .... from that point she'd then either have to take taxi to OR the metro to get to Centrale. That adds more unnecessary changes/transfers.

ALSO, when she takes the train from Milan to Venice, be aware there are two stops -- the first is Venice Mestre, which is on the mainland and second/lastly, is Venice Santa Lucia (island of Venice itself). Most (but not all) trains go to Vnc SL .... if the island if Venice is her final destination, then make sure she's aware and doesn't get off at Mestre.

Could she add on a flight from MXP to Venice? We've done both and flying is definitely easier.

My opinion..just my opinion of course..is that it is easier to take the Malpensa Shuttle to the Centrale train station and than the train to Venice. Thanks JBX for pointing out 3bugs daughter wants to get off at the Santa Lucia Train Station. And 3bugs if the train your daughter takes stops at the Mestre train station there will be another train in a matter of minutes she can catch that will get her to the Santa Lucia Train Station within oh 12 minutes or so.
Anyway, again my opinion, it is so much easier to arrive in Venice via the train than to arrive at the Marco Polo Venice airport as one than has to get into Venice. IMO that is more of a workout. Best regards and have a wonderful time with your daughter! And here is the English language version of the Trenitalia website in case you do not have. You can check the schedule regarding the trains http://www.trenitalia.com/en/index.html.

I forgot how the Venice airport has changed! When we flew in it was still kind of small and managable.

Thanks, everyone. This will make
it so much easier than starting from
scratch when she gets there!

If there is a convenient, inexpensive flight from Milan to Venice I might try that rather than doing all the transfers into Milan and the train.

Its no big deal to take the bus into venice from the airport to Piazzale Roma - takes less than 30 min and its a cheap frequent service. Venice is a small airport city vs. dealing unnecessarily with a large city, Milan.

Its 45 min to get into Milan from Malpensa and then waiting for the train, the train trip itself, dealing with luggage, etc. But I am sure the Milan transfer links work smoothly enough if that turns out to be the best option.