Driving in Milan?

[Alutek]

We will be flying to Milan Malpensa, hiring a car, staying one night in the centre of Milan before heading to a ski resort. I thought about booking a hotel further out of Milan and getting the metro in and out, but went for something central so we can stroll around in the evening and next morning (Corsa Magenta, in case that means something to anyone!). My question is: are we mad to contemplate driving into the centre of Milan? If so, where would you leave the car and travel in from? Thinking we could leave the hire car in a car park and retrieve it the next afternoon for our journey to the mountains.
All wisdom very gratefully received!

Don't pick the hire car up until the next day - you can get a train from Malpensa into Milan (Cadorna station not far from corso Magenta) and back out again. I wouldnt drive in - it's quite far and the traffic in Milan can be terrible.

Thanks, sanitygirl - I'll check out the train option. We're flying into T2, which I understand is a bit more faff for the train. What about the idea of leaving the car at an outer metro station? Would that save much time?

It is chaos to drive around and worse to park. The Italians park anywhere and everywhere! Iirc we randomly found an underground carpark and were so grateful even though we had not a clue of our bearings. Fortunately it wasn't a long walk to the duomo. Does your hotel offer secure parking?

Ooh - I see there's a train from T2. The websites I'd been looking at must be out of date. Would we get a taxi from Cadorna? Only other thought is that the train for 4 of us may not be much cheaper than a taxi? Off to research that...

Me again! Reporting back in case helpful to others in the future. There's a brilliant website for the Malpensa Express train (www.malpensaexpress.it), with loads of info and the ability to buy tickets in advance and print out/have on your phone with an app. Trains every 30 mins to and from Cadorna, and return fare for our family of 4 will be 60 euros. Seems like a no-brainer for us. for you, sanitygirl!

Thanks, LIZS. I've been dissuaded from the folly of driving!

Just to report back - the Malpensa Express into and out of Milan was a dream.