Como San Giovanni Station: Trains, Info Point and the Way Down to Town

The Four Services to Plan Around

Trenord's Milano Centrale-Como S. Giovanni line is the backbone. It covers 47 km in about 40 minutes with no changes, about 17 departures a day with departures almost every hour. The first train from Milano Centrale leaves at 06:43 and the last at 21:43.

The fare is $6.23 (€5.40) in 2nd class, $9.46 (€8.20) in 1st class, $3.11 (€2.70) for children 4 to 14, and $4.96 (€4.30) for over-65s. A 10-ride carnet in this band is $57.70 (€50). Trenord's own route page for this line still prints "from €5.20", one revision behind the tariff sheet, so budget $6.23 (€5.40).

Children under 4 ride free, and under-14s travel free with an accompanying adult family member. Cross-border traffic is run under the TILO brand. The S10 from Biasca and Bellinzona through Lugano and Chiasso reaches Como S. Giovanni every 30 minutes through the Ceneri Base Tunnel from 06:00 to 24:00, which is why Lugano is the easiest Swiss day trip from this station.

The RE80 between Locarno, Lugano, Chiasso and Milano Centrale runs every 30 minutes as far as Chiasso and hourly through to Milan, calling at Mendrisio, Chiasso, Como S. Giovanni, Camerlata, Seregno and Monza, which makes Como Camerlata a stop on the same line. The S40 from Como through Mendrisio to Varese runs every 60 minutes, Monday to Saturday only.

Tickets for the Swiss Trains

Cross-border Lombardy-Ticino tickets follow their own rules. A cross-border digital ticket is valid for 4 hours, shorter than the 6 hours on an ordinary single, and like all Trenord digital tickets it needs no validation, activating automatically at the chosen time. The 'Activate early' option lets you take an earlier train that day.

If you carry a bike, note the difference: within Lombardy a non-folding bike is free on marked trains, but cross-border routes require a bike supplement set by the operating companies. If your plan is a long-haul Swiss trip by EuroCity, Trenitalia's Italy-Switzerland EuroCity page lists destinations such as Zurich, Lugano and Bellinzona but prints no Como fare, and EuroCity prices are dynamic, quoted only in the booking engine. For most trips to Lugano the S10 is the practical choice, and you can compare the guided options in our onward section.

A Trenord ticket with Milano as its destination also covers the Milano urban rail network and the Passante lines, which helps if your Milan hotel is not near Centrale.

Info Point Stazione FS San Giovanni

The Info Point Stazione FS San Giovanni sits in the atrium of the station at Piazzale San Gottardo, 22100 Como. It is open Monday to Sunday, 09:00 to 16:00, and the Comune lists it as accessible to all. Staff give information in English, French, German and Spanish, and they hand out city maps and an event calendar along with transport information.

The phone number is +39 342 0076403 and the email is [email protected]. If you arrive by train and want to confirm a bus connection, a boat time or a walking route into town, this desk is the place to ask before you start downhill. The city's second tourist info point, Info Point Broletto, sits inside Palazzo del Broletto on Via Pretorio beside the cathedral, so you will pass it naturally once you reach the old town.

It is open Monday to Sunday 09:00-13:00 and 14:00-18:00, phone +39 031 304137. Between the two desks you are covered from the moment you step off the train until you are standing in front of the cathedral.

What the Official Pages Do Not Publish

Several station basics are not published on any official page read for this guide, so none of them is described here as fact. Luggage storage at Como San Giovanni: not found. Toilets: not found.

Lifts and step-free routes to the platforms: not found, beyond the Comune's note that the info point itself is accessible to all. Ticket office hours: not found on a Trenord or Comune page. Parking at the station: no official rate list confirmed.

If you drive, remember that Como's ZTL covers the whole walled city all year with camera-controlled gates, so the car stops outside the walls, and any parking price you read on an aggregator site is unconfirmed. The practical move is to ask the info point, in person in the atrium or on +39 342 0076403, since the desk answers transport questions. If a facility matters to your trip, such as a lift with heavy bags, build in a fallback, and read getting around Como for the bus lines that start at the station.

Walking, Buses and Taxis Down the Hill

On foot the route runs downhill from Piazzale San Gottardo towards the walls and the cathedral, and the map of Como shows the station, Piazza Duomo and the Piazza Cavour pier so you can judge it yourself. No official source states a walking time. By bus, several ASF urban lines start at the station: N2 runs from Stazione S. Giovanni to Ospedale S. Anna, while lines N4 to Camnago Volta, N5 to Civiglio and N8 to Casnate all list 'Como staz.

FS' as their starting point. An urban single for the Rete Urbana costs $1.73 (€1.50) and lasts 75 minutes, the Area Urbana single is $2.31 (€2) for 90 minutes, and a ticket bought on board costs $2.88 (€2.50). A contactless bank card tapped on the green validator charges the Area Urbana fare, and three taps at least 91 minutes apart in one day are capped at $5.77 (€5), the Area Urbana day ticket.

Taxis are the one option with no published price: no official Comune di Como taxi tariff or rank list was found, so ask the driver for the price before you set off. The ferry piers are on Piazza Cavour at the lakefront, and the Brunate funicular leaves from the lakefront at Piazza Alcide De Gasperi 4, so both require the trip down from the station first.

Which Way Should You Go

If boats are the point of your day, walk or ride to Piazza Cavour, because the landing stage for Navigazione Laghi sits right there on the lakefront. Ferry fares are set by travel band, not zones: the short urban hop to Tavernola is band U at $1.73 (€1.50), Cernobbio is band 1 at $3.46 (€3), and Bellagio is band 6 at $13.84 (€12) one way on the ordinary boat. If you are heading up to Brunate instead, the funicular lower station is at the lakefront, runs daily from 06:00 to 24:00, and a return costs $8.54 (€7.40).

Our full getting around Como page compares every option in town, and the ferry page has the timetables. Arriving with luggage, no official page confirms storage at the station, so plan to carry your bags down or ask the info point in the atrium, open daily 09:00-16:00.

Flibco Coach to and From the Airport

The Flibco coach runs Malpensa Airport - Como Grandate - Como San Giovanni train station, so this station is its final stop in town. The online price starts at $11.53 (€9.99) per person one way, and the journey takes about 50 minutes depending on traffic. At Malpensa the stop is at Terminal 1, Level 1 in front of the Sheraton Hotel, marked Stop 8, and at Terminal 2 it is in the Arrivals Area at Bay 8.

No frequency and no return fare are stated on the operator's page, so check the booking engine for your date rather than assuming an hourly pattern. The rail alternative means two tickets, because no single Malpensa-Como rail product exists and Como does not appear among the Malpensa Express destinations: either the Malpensa Express to Saronno and then the Saronno-Como Lago line into Como Nord Lago, or into Milano Centrale and the Chiasso line to Como San Giovanni. Note that Malpensa Express singles from or to a Milano station cost $17.31 (€15) for adults, so the rail route through Milano costs more than the coach before you add the $6.23 (€5.40) second leg, while the Saronno route starts at $10.38 (€9) for the Malpensa Express leg.

For the full comparison including Linate and Bergamo, see our Milan to Como airports section. If you land late, remember the last direct Trenord train from Milano Centrale to Como San Giovanni leaves at 21:43.

Switzerland by Rail and Bus, Bellagio by Bus

Lugano is the standout. The TILO S10 runs every 30 minutes from Como S. Giovanni through Chiasso and Lugano as far as Bellinzona and Biasca, from 06:00 to 24:00 through the Ceneri Base Tunnel, and cross-border tickets are valid 4 hours. A cross-border bike supplement applies if you take a bicycle.

Chiasso, just over the border, is also on ASF urban line N1 (Chiasso, Ponte Chiasso, Como, San Fermo), and a single on the Como to Chiasso stretch is an integrated international fare of $2.31 (€2). If the lake rather than the border is your goal, ASF extra-urban line C130 runs from Como to Bellagio, and a contactless tap on board charges a flat $5.08 (€4.40). Compare that with the boat: Como-Bellagio is band 6 on the ferry at $13.84 (€12) one way, so the bus is the budget choice if you do not care about the views from the water.

For a structured day combining both countries, three tours leave from Como and are listed below: a Lugano and Bellagio day with a cruise, and two Bernina Express trips into the Alps. Our day trips from Como page compares all of them with the do-it-yourself options.

Tours That Replace the Planning

If you would rather not juggle cross-border tickets, the tour option leaves the paperwork to someone else. A full-day Lugano and Bellagio trip with a boat cruise departs from Como at Piazza Cavour 1 and costs $111.78, with an original passport required for Swiss customs. For the Alps, two Bernina day trips run from Como: the panoramic Bernina Express and St. Moritz at $214.38, and the Bernina train with a glacier lunch at Diavolezza at $226.99, both about 12.5 hours with a coach connection from the city.

All three, plus the walking and golf-cart city tours that meet near the centre, are listed at the end of this page with cards you can open.

The Short List

• Returning to the wrong station on your way back to Milan. Trains to Milano Centrale leave from here, but trains to Milano Cadorna leave from Como Nord Lago on the lakefront. The two are not interchangeable, and the Cadorna line takes about 60 minutes against 40 from here.
• Printing or screenshotting a stale fare. Trenord's route pages still display from €5.20 for Milano Centrale-Como S. Giovanni and €4.80 for the Cadorna line, while the tariff sheet in force from 1 September puts both in the same band at $6.23 (€5.40). Budget the tariff sheet figure and ignore the route page numbers.
• Planning a late return after 21:43. That is the last Trenord departure from Milano Centrale to Como S. Giovanni, and the equivalent last train back towards Milan is not stated on the route page we checked, so open the Trenord app for your actual date before committing to a late dinner in Lugano or a long lake evening.

One More Habit Worth Building

Confirm facilities ahead rather than on arrival. Luggage storage, toilets, lifts and the ticket office hours at this station are not stated on official pages, so if any of them is essential to your plan, call the info point on +39 342 0076403 before you set out. The desk answers in English, French, German and Spanish, is open daily 09:00-16:00, and sits in the atrium at Piazzale San Gottardo if you would rather ask in person.

A short call beats dragging a suitcase down a hill to discover your assumption was wrong, and it costs nothing. The same habit applies to the coach: Flibco's page states a from-price and a journey time but publishes no frequency, so always confirm departure times in the booking engine for your travel date.