How much time will we need to change trains in Milan Central between the ES from Naples and connecting to Varenna. Scheduled arrival of the Naples train is at 1600 and I notice there is a departure of the Varenna train 15 minutes later. Is this worth even considering or is it impossible? I know it depends on the proximity of the platforms which I understand do change.
I have booked the ES tickets but not sure what to aim for with the Varenna part - common sense tells me that a 15 minute connection in an unfamiliar station is not doable even if the trains run on time.
Thanks in advance for any advice.

I'm sure you can make the connection, unless your train arrives late. If you miss the 1615 connection there will be another train to Varenna. I don't think you need to worry.

15 minutes connect time at Milano Centrale is plenty long, but 5 minutes would be cutting it real short, unless the two trains are very close to each other. So ... it depends whether the incoming ES train arrives on time, or very nearly so.

Here is a link for the Milano Centrale web site. It has maps of the station which may give you a sense of the size, or at least allow you to orient yourself.

The final destination of the Milano-Varenna train is Tirano, so watch for that on the departure board. In any case, it can't be reserved, so you can just catch it if you can. The next train for the day I checked is at 17.02.

Thanks everyone for your input.
Ellen, I had seen the Milano Centrale website which as you say is useful for orientation. Andrew, thanks for the info on the end destination (Tirano)- I knew that Varenna wouldn't be listed on the departure boards but hadn't got around to finding out what to look for.
Can someone clarify that the tickets I purchase for the Milan-Varenna travel can be used for a non-specified departure? I would purchase those before we get to Milan and then use them for whichever train we manage to catch (I know to validate them before entering the train) Am I right?
Thanks again
Fran

That's right, a Milan-Varenna ticket would be for the route, to be used within a designated time of validating the ticket, rather than for a specific train. I see that you've booked the ES Naples-Milan; you can also have the Milan-Varenna tickets issued from a self-service machine at Naples station. This saves you from buying the tickets during your 15 minutes in Milan, although you can get them from a newsstand there. There's no point in buying tickets for a non-reservable train on the Trenitalia site, since that would slow down the process with no benefits.

Thanks again Andrew