My husband and I are taking our first

Have a look here at the Rome2Rio site.

That's a very short drive; about 35 km. Train or bus takes you out of the way with connections, and costs each passenger. But a taxi is one rate for several people, will take you right to your door (if possible), and probably less schelping of luggage.Be sure to get a "real" taxi from the queue at Malpensa, or better yet a car or shuttle service; not from a guy grabbing your bags and hussling you to his private car. Agree on a price first. You might Google "car service Malpensa."

Personally I too would look at a taxi if not hiring a car (would be our 1st option unless very expensive). The Rome2Rio link I give you quotes €55-70, Looking at the official airport site here (something I would do anywhere for taxi information) it gives you a link to rates for taxi costs at the bottom of the page. Looking at the rate for Varese I would reckon you are looking at around €65, but as stated do get a quote before you get in the taxi. Write the address down to give him or show it on the phone so they have no excuse. As stated avoid any well-dressed “suit” trying to get you to his/her private taxi. Only use the licenced taxis at the rank, if anything like Rome they may have separate ranks for different areas, try to find out before you go (Tripadvisor may help). The train is the cheapest, but it’s over x3 the time to get there with the hour for transfer. Whichever you go for I would go looking for more advice on exactly how to complete the journey, even buying a train ticket can be a bit of an experience if you’ve never done it before here. In fact don’t expect anything to be as you would expect at home, it’s often not! Whatever your choice I'm sure you will love the trip.

Hi, We have a holiday home on Lake Orta and it is so beautiful. We usually fly to either of the airports in Milan and rent a car so I have never used train or taxi. Will you not have a car while you are there? While Orta San Giulio is great it is very small so you will need a car to get to the other places. Even our Italian neighbours wont use the buses. If you need any info then message me. Sue

I must admit, my first preference would be to have a hire car - very useful for touring the area, buses aren't that great, and may not go where you want to. Driving is very easy/safe in this area, no reason to be worried about how mad drivers can beIf you do want a taxi - use a local [Orta] firm like  http://www.taxilagodorta.it/.Orta itself is beautiful [but packed at weekends - This weekend there was no available parking by midday, and the traffic warden was really enjoying himself]  You can get the ferry to the island, Pella and up the lake to Omegna [early ferry Thursdays for the Omegna Market].However, I would really suggest you hire a car from the airport - Use Hertz or Avis, but there are cheaper alternative companies, but you tend to get what you pay for.EnjoyAlan[just got back from a couple of weeks there]