Travel from Parma to Malpensa...help!
 

This is the last leg of planning a month long trip and, wouldn't you know, it has me stumped!
We will arrive in Parma (after a week in CT) on October 16 and then fly from Malpensa to Heathrow in London at 11:30 am on October 20. Flight plans are already made but our stay in Parma has not been secured because I can not figure the best way to get from Parma to Malpensa.

Should we rent a car in La Spezia, use it while in Parma, and then drive very early on the 20th to catch a flight out of Malpensa at 11:30am? Is morning commuter traffic in the Milan area a problem? How much time would we need to drive from Parma to Malpensa, find the airport, return our car and check in for the flight to London?

Or should we rent a car, drive to Malpensa on the 19th and stay the night in a hotel near the airport? This seems doable but we lose a day in Parma.

Or we could forget about having a car in Parma, take the train to Milanon the 19th, catch the bus to Malpensa, call a shuttle to get to and from an airport hotel. Hmmm, seems kind of complicated...or is it really easier than it looks?

Unfortunately, I did not find the discount Ryanair flight from Parma to Stansted before booking our flight to London out of Milan. I just assumed that there would be a decent flight from Parma to Milan.....but I can't find one.

Am I missing something??? Can anyone suggest the easiest, most time and cost effective scenario for getting from Parma to Malpensa? We want as much time in Parma as possible and the least amount of hauling our luggage. Thanks in advance!

I think you really should be in Milan or near Malpensa the night before your flight. Even to London, security regulations make it advisable for you to be at the airport by 9:30. You'd have to be on the road before dawn to come even close to making that, and you cannot rely on the trains.

What makes it hard to advise about a car is I don't know how much luggage you are carrying and what kind of stay you were planning in Parma. Were it me, I wouldn't have heavy luggage and I'd take the train to Parma, use the train for day trips to Modena, etc., and take the train to Milan at around 4pm, spending my last night near Cadorna station so I could have a great dinner and take the Malpensa Xpress to the airport the next morning (35 minutes).

If you have a lot of luggage (and I hope you don't if you are spending a week in le Cinque Terre with a chance to wash clothes) or if you hate Milan, or if you want to use a car to track down castles or truffules in the Parmesan hills, then rent a car in La Spezia and consider spending your last night on Lago Maggiore (Arona, Stresa, Baveno) or even Lago d'Orta and get up early enough to make the hour trip to Malpensa to drop off the car at the airport.

I can't imagine flying from Parma to Milan. It's within spitting distance.

Hope that helps.

Thanks for the input, zeppole. It sounds like getting closer to Milan on the 19th, the day before we fly to London, is the more sensible thing to do. Since we will be traveling for a month, we both have one bag but I am not able to manage mine so DH must haul both of them. Exploring Modena is something we may do without luggage while in Parma so, as you suggest, it may be best to spend the night on Lago Maggiore or at least closer to the airport. The last time we tried to visit Lago Maggiore in October we found ourselves in a thick fog. We never did manage to actually see the lake. In fact, we barely saw our hands in front of our faces!
Do you have a favorite place to stay near Cadorna station? And a favorite place to dine nearby?

Thanks again... you have helped me to narrow my choices. We will spend only 2 nights in Parma. It will be enough to make us want to return for a longer visit another time! Now all I have to do is decide whether to rent a car to use while in Parma or to use the train to day-trip and to reach the Milan area.

I like the UNA Cusani, but it's pricey unless you can get a deal. Locanda Antico Leonardo is always booked when I try. I've also been comfortable at the Delle Stelline, which is a business hotel. Check Tripadvisor and one of my favorite websites for Milano is Holiday City. Remember that you can't go down too low in price in Milano without risking a place that isn't clean.

Also, you can stay near the Central train station and take the bus to the airport. It's cheaper and just a bit longer than the Malpensa Xpress. Hotels around there are a bit cheaper, although you will probably want to cab out of the immediate neighborhood for a great dinner somewhere.

If you are staying near Cadorna, I like Hostaria Borromei for a restaurant. But I've generally been happy with concierge recommendations (and truth be told, I eat a lot of sushi in Milan!)

Whether you stay near Malpensa or in Milan proper, you really cant be in Parma the morning of your flight and have any hope of making it in time.

Have a great time in Parma, one of my favorite italian destinations. Are you going to read the Charterhouse of Parma before you go?

Ahhh, I have been looking for books centered in Umbria and Emilia-Romagna so I'll take your advice and pick up Charterhouse of Parma. Just finished The Lady in the Palazzo which I enjoyed. I thought I bookmarked a hotel that was close to a wonderful restaurant near the Malpensa airport but it seems to have been lost in the shuffle. Do you recall reading anything here at Fodor's or on Tripadvisor about such a place? The poster raved about the food at the restaurant and said that the dining was the primary reason he chose this location whenever taking a flight out of Milan.

Thanks for the dining and lodging suggestions....looks like I have plenty to keep me busy researching. I hope to get the final details buttoned up within the next week. Thanks again for your time and expertise!

Just reporting back on our adventures for this leg of our trip in Oct. 2010.

We stayed in Parma, having taken a train from 5 Terra/La Spezia to Parma. We found plenty to do and see in a couple of days in Parma without a car so we are pleased that we did not hire a car for this last leg of the month-long trip. Instead we took a train to Milan and then a bus to a hotel (Airport Hotel) near the airport on the day before our flight to Heathrow. (We ended up flying out of Linate, not Malpensa) The accommodations were OK.... fine for us as a single night, Just-need-a-bed stop over.

Thanks for all your help and advice. We had a fabulous trip overall, largely due to the wise advice of our fellow travelers!