Keith

Having once arrived at the Milan airport too late to check our backage before boarding the plane, I vote for staying near the airport.

socaltraveler

It would be easiest to not have the hassles of a 1 day car rental. Sandralist's idea of taking the train to Stresa and spending your last night there is a good one. Not sure if a bus runs early enough for your am flight, but if your budget is large enough for a taxi (saw a quote of €75-80 on a Tripadvisor post that is probably a few years old), then the 50 minute car ride in the morning would work and you would have a night on a lake.

We have flipped these ideas around on several trips, and usually stay close to the airport. Personal choice, with pre-flight anxieties and just tired at the end of a trip usually winning out.

Andrew

Milan isn't my favorite Italian city, but I think I'd prefer my last evening to be strolling around the Duomo or something and finding a nice restaurant rather than camped out at an airport hotel. If you have a 6AM flight, at worst get a taxi from Milan at 3:30. I guess you might save a few minutes in the morning if you get a hotel that's truly NEAR Malpensa, but if you still have an airport shuttle in the morning, how much time are you really going to save? Get up at 4:30 instead of 3:00? Yes, getting up early isn't fun, but it's the end of your trip, and you can doze on the trip home.

PalenQ

to get to Stresa by train the fastest way you have to go thru Milan I believe - a bit of a hassle changing in Milan Centrale if not used to large stations and a plethora of tracks.

But I agree taking the train that day, save a day of car rental - if they can get to their plane by bux or taxi in comfy time.

socaltraveler

I guess it depends on just how early the flight is. 6 am vs 8 am can make a difference in traffic from Milan as opposed to 5 minutes from the airport. And while I agree that strolling around the Duomo is preferable to bunking at the airport, if you can't eat dinner before 8 or 9, and have to be up at 3:00, that stroll is not that enjoyable in my book. With really early morning flights, I always think of my last night of vacation as the one before that last night. No one answer.

sandralist

>>to get to Stresa by train the fastest way you have to go thru Milan I believe - a bit of a hassle changing in Milan Centrale if not used to large stations and a plethora of tracks.<<

If there is any easier train station in any European city where to change trains, I would like to know about it.

Every single train that enters Milano Centrale goes to the SAME PLATFORM. All you have to do is walk to the head of the train and then walk left or right to get to your next train. Incredibly, all the tracks are numbered from 1 to 22 in a straight line, so you cannot possibly get lost. You do not need to carry your luggage up or down any stairs. You just need to walk left or right.

You do need to know which track your next train is leaving from. However, there are more than 50 monitors to look at, each one showing the number of the train and the track of departure.

>>I guess it depends on just how early the flight is. 6 am vs 8 am can make a difference in traffic from Milan as opposed to 5 minutes from the airport. <<

One can take an airport TRAIN from the center of Milan and be at Malpensa in 35 minutes. Traffic is irrelevant.

Also, with the exception of the Sheraton at Malpensa, none of the "airport" hotels are actually at the airport. The free shuttle buses make multiple stops at other hotels, so the trip generally is much longer than "5 minutes" unless you call a pricey taxi. Also, many of the hotel shuttle buses don't start running until 6am.

People shouldn't feel obliged to stray outside of their own comfort zone while on vacation. But a lot of what is being posted here about the alleged difficulties of spending the last night on a lake or in Milan would not be a problem for 99 percent of people traveling. Thousands and thousands of people get to Malpensa every tourist season to catch an early morning flight and few if any miss their flights -- or you would hear about it.

The Original Poster is obviously willing to try new and unusual things to up the chances of having an interesting journey from Venice to departing the country. I don't think they are going to find changing trains or taking the Malpensa Xpress in the morning difficult if that is what they end up deciding they want to do.

trevorjoyce

Oh my, there was a lot of activity while I was at work; thank you all for your various opinions! I have been more active on the Mexico/ Central America forum and planned two amazing trips to Costa Rica. We also had a great time traveling through Germany ( by car) with the fodorites guidance, so I do appreciate everyone's thoughts.

Having a well travelled 25 year old on board makes travel interesting as well as relaxing; we live in the NYC area and readily negotiate both city driving as well as public transportation... However, we are familiar with roads here and that makes a huge difference! Moreover, we do hope for vacation to be much more relaxing than our daily commutes!

We already have a reservation at the Sheraton Malpensa. Our first thought had been to go by train, so this may be our choice in the end. Perhaps, we can leave our luggage in the Milan train station, spend time there, have dinner and head out to the airport.

Thanks again for all the responses!