We are going to spend our last night (July 15th) before flying out from Malpensa at the Hotel La Portetta in Oleggio.

I see several encouraging discussions about Oleggio.

My specific question is about making a choice between dropping the car off before we take a shuttle to the hotel, or keeping it for local transportation, and turning it in very early (6:30AM) in the morning before our flight.

Is Oleggio a good walking town for window shopping and dinner? Or will we want the car? I see that there is a car park at the hotel which leads me to believe they are used to having guests with cars.

Deborah, the centro is very compact, with a main piazza with restaurants and shops. The town spirals outward, and I noticed hotels on the outskirts. Do you know the exact location of your hotel?

Amy, the website says they are in town. And the photos look like they are on a hill, so I'm guessing they are in the main part of town. Maybe you will recognize it from the website.
http://www.portetta.it

Ah, Oleggio. I love that place.

Eat: (Slow Food) Il Gatto e Le Volpe, The Cat and the Fox, a small fantastic place.

Or, there is a great pizza place right on the main square juts across from the war memorial tower (you can't miss it). Careful, there also is another pizza/restuarant that is more formal on that same square. It is good, but the other place wqs even better for inexpensive, cruncy crusty pizza.

Oleggio is small but the Centro is a nice little walking place.

Keep the car, make it easy in the morning and you get to stay away from the airport one more day.

Yes, where is your hotel. I stay at teh Hotel Roma, which I like, but I can't get in touch with them by email. Mayeb I need another choice.

Oleggio map (main square)

Check out the link. See the main, triangular-shaped main square (yes, a triangular square!) You can see the tower in the upper part of the square. The pizza place I like is on teh right side of the square near teh tower. The other one is to the left, upper left of the tower. Gatto/Volpe is a couple of small blocks east. It looks like you can walk here from your hotel.

.......so odd you should bring Oleggio up - I
was just thinking about it today - for the first
time since we stayed there two years ago.

Same scenerio, same hotel. In fact, I believe I
chose it b/c of a recco on this site.

Very funky place - we were the only ones there
and the staff went home and left us with the key
to the front door w/instructions on how to lock
it. We couldn't manage that simple task so put the
key through the slot and left the hotel unlocked! Good to hear it survived our neglect!

The town is very sweet and the main square had
a nice resto that seemed to be the town meeting
place (at least on a Sunday night). Didn't see
any shopping opportunities.

My advice for what it's worth: keep the car and
drive to the airport - longer drive than you
would think. Easy access to Malpensa.

Google the location of the hotel - we got lost
and a nice fella hopped in our car (with dog)
and took us there. We don't normally find ourselves lost and bewildered. The hotel is on
the north east part of the hill. If that helps.

Last advice: DO NOT eat at the hotel. They are
well-intentioned but freezer-prone. Unless they
are under new management.

Thanks Tim & Lynne for the comments. We will keep the car so we can eat at one of those places you mentioned.

The address is on Via Carmine.