We are ending a Switzerland land tour in Lugano. We need to get to Milan where we are staying for a couple days before flying back to the US,
It appears that a train is the best way to get from Lugano to Milan. I’m trying to figure out best website to book it or if there is an alternate better way to get to Milan. There are 4 of us traveling together.
Any suggestions appreciated
Mary
PS I did check out the Man in Seat 61 but there wasn’t much info in what trains got to Milan from Lugano.
Just go to www.sbb.ch/en. Since it originates in Lugano, that is the logical website.
Some will be EC trains, but there is also an hourly TiLo train. That should be less expensive, always the same price and I do not believe Trenitalia sells those tickets, but SBB does. TiLo is a joint venture of the Swiss canton of Ticino and the Italian province of Lombardy.
To get to Milano proper the TiLo train is actually faster than the EC, and cheaper, and you can just buy the ticket at the station. This is mass transit. Lugano is almost a suburb of Milan...
Note that if you are going to Milan Airport that there is a direct hourly TiLo train going there as well.
Thank you both for the info. If we do the TiLo where we don’t need to buy tickets ahead of time- I assume there are no reserved seats?
Is there space for luggage. We will probably each have a medium sized suitcase that would need to go at the end of the car in a luggage stand.
Thanks
I would assume luggage will not be a problem, since you can take bikes on the train. The train is designated as the RE80.
https://www.tilo.ch/en/collegamenti/RE80.html
The RE80 is a no nonsense regional train. It has low floor (good) but no dedicated luggage storage. You can try putting your suitcases under your seat or in the overhead racks which take bigger suitcases than many people realise.
For a bit more comfort take the EC. But the EC requires reservations. So if you are wiling to commit you can get that. The RE80 is more flexible.
Both can be booked on the SBB site.
WengenK
Thank you for the additional information. We are in our 70s so any additional comfort or ease on handling luggage is always nice.
We will take the EC and have no problem making a reservation. There is a 10:30 train that gets us into Milan before noon. That way we aren’t rushing in the morning and have plenty of time to get to the train station early and figure out where we are going.
Thank you everyone for all the information. It is exactly what I needed to know. I love this forum since everyone is so helpful.
Mary
