Como to Lugano: Trains, Tickets and the Border

Going north, Como to Lugano

The fastest sample run is the RE80 at 34 minutes. The S10 costs you five to ten extra minutes because it stops everywhere, in exchange for a departure every half hour. EuroCity trains need a dynamically priced ticket rather than the flat cross-border fare.

Coming back, Lugano to Como

The last direct trains of the sample evening are close to 22:00, which makes a full dinner in Lugano possible but tight. Two cautions: some S10 runs terminate at Como Camerlata instead of Como San Giovanni, so read the destination board before boarding, and the first S10 out of Como San Giovanni leaves at 05:11 if you want an early start.

The Arcobaleno fare sheet sets the Lugano-Como ticket via Chiasso at CHF 11.80 adult one way in 2nd class, CHF 6.60 for half-fare holders and CHF 6.00 for children 6 to 16, prices in force from 14.12.2025. A one-way ticket is valid 4 hours for the whole route, which is more than enough for a ride of under an hour.

The currency rule trips people up: in Lombardy the ticket is issued only in euros, in Ticino only in Swiss francs. The euro price of the ticket bought on the Italian side is not published on the Arcobaleno pages, so the Trenord app or a Trenord ticket machine is where you will see it. Lugano is a Swiss franc town in any case, and the fare is built by adding the Arcobaleno zones in Ticino to the Italian kilometre tariff in Lombardy.

EuroCity trains on the same line are not covered by the flat fare logic. Trenitalia publishes no Como fare for its Italy-Switzerland EuroCity services, the prices are dynamic and quoted only in the booking engine. For the S10 and RE80 the cross-border ticket is all you need.

If you buy digitally from Trenord, note two points from the operator's own conditions: cross-border digital tickets are valid 4 hours and need no validation, the ticket activates automatically at the chosen departure time, and Activate early lets you take an earlier train the same day. Ride without a valid ticket on Trenord and the penalty is €35 plus procedure costs and the fare if paid within 5 days or on the spot, €50 plus costs between 6 and 60 days.

Switzerland is part of the Schengen area but not the EU or its customs union. The Federal Office for Customs and Border Security (BAZG) requires a valid travel document recognised by Switzerland, a passport or an identity card, and some foreign nationals also need a visa. The State Secretariat for Migration (SEM) adds the detail: EU and EFTA citizens may use either a passport or an identity card. Third-country nationals on a short stay need a document valid at least three months after the intended departure from the Schengen area and issued within the last 10 years.

SEM's entry FAQ says border control authorities carry out entry checks, so a check on the train is possible and you should not count on waving a phone photo at it.

Customs allowances for goods brought into Switzerland are set by BAZG, but the specific allowance figures were not extracted from the pages read for this guide, so we do not print any. If you plan to carry purchases across, check the BAZG allowance pages directly before you travel.

The booked tour on this route has its own, stricter rule. The listing for the Lugano and Bellagio day tour states that non-EU travellers must carry an original passport for Swiss customs and that photographs of documents are refused. That is our advice for everyone on the route: carry the original document, not a photo of it on your phone.

Lake Como and Lake Lugano are two separate lakes. No public boat links them, in either direction, and the public connection is the railway through Chiasso. The Navigazione Lago di Como fleet, whose piers sit on the Piazza Cavour lakefront in Como, serves Lake Como only.

The practical consequences: you cannot arrive in Lugano by water, and you cannot combine a morning in Lugano with an afternoon boat to Bellagio using public services alone, because there is no connection to ride. If the pairing is what you want, book the Lugano and Bellagio day tour, which solves it with a coach into Switzerland plus a cruise on the public Lake Como boat service and free time in Bellagio. If you would rather spend a whole day on Lake Como itself, our Bellagio from Como page covers the boat and bus options, or you can give each town its own day.

Trains to Lugano leave from Como San Giovanni, the uphill station on Piazzale San Gottardo. Como Lago, the lakefront station, is served only by the Trenord line to Milano Cadorna, so a ticket bought there will not take you anywhere near Switzerland.

San Giovanni sits 898 metres in a straight line from Como Cathedral, our estimate is about 15 minutes on foot. If you would rather ask a person, the tourist info point in the station atrium is open daily 09:00-16:00. Our Como San Giovanni station page has the full layout, and if you are arriving from Milan first, compare the two arrival routes on Milan to Como.

If you are following our two days in Como plan, Lugano slots in as the third day: day one is the walled city and day two is Bellagio by boat, and the cross-border trip needs no advance booking. It is also a good Monday. The Pinacoteca and the Tempio Voltiano close on Mondays, while the S10 runs its daily service.

If you have only one day, our one day in Como plan is a better use of it than a day abroad. Check the weather before you go: the ERA5 average high in Como is 17 °C in October, and May, August, October and November are the wettest months on the Como weather page.