My husband and I will be travelling to Milan in May. We are on a tour that will meet in Florence, so I'm thinking that the Bus to the Milan Central Station is best. There will will travel by train to Florence. At the end of the tour we will be back in Milan for 2 days. I originally thought that we would stay in a hotel near the Central Station so that we can easily get back on the bus to go to Malpensa airport. We have a flight at 10:30am. However, the reviews I've read about hotels near the train station are not too good -- i.e. 'seedy people', 'hang on to your belongings', etc. Does anyone have some advice on where to stay and still be able to get to the bus for the airport efficiently? Many Thanks.

JT, we have a 6:30 am flight out of Milan in June, and not wanting to risk transportation snafus, I thought it best to stay near the airport and just daytrip into Milan. We're booked at Hotel Cervo, (www.hotelcervo.it) which offers a shuttle to airport and got a room for 4 people w/breakfast included priced at 121.00 € -- very reasonable I thought. A pricier option near airport is Hotel Villa Malpensa & Casa Nuove. See http://www.airport-hotels-worldwide....a-hotels-1.htm for more selections.

We stayed at the Jet Hotel near airport and they provided shuttle to Malpensa. They were very friendly and there were a few restaurants within walking distance.

With 2 days in Milan, I wuld stay in Milan and not at the airport. The train station area is not really bad. However, you could also stay in the Last Supper area and then take the Malpensa Express train from Cadorna station to the airport. This is very easy and fast. The area around Cadorna station is nicer than the main train station area, and has a lot of restaurants and of course is near the Last Supper. A hotel I can recco is:

Antica Locando Leonardo
78 Corso Magenta,20123
Tel: 39-02-463317
Fax: .39-02-48019012
http://www.leoloc.com/indexen.htm

For info on the Malpensa Express train go to www.ferrovienord.it/webmxp

Also, if you are flying Alitalia, you can check in for your flight at the Cadorna Station, including checking your luggage, a nice option. You can then go luggagless on the Malpensa Express to the airport.