One Day Trip from Lugano to Milan By Train

Just go to www.sbb.ch, look up "Lugano Paradise" to "Milano" and you will find times and prices. But enquire if your hotel gives you the Ticino ticket, as that covers all public transport in the canton. In that case you only would need to add a ticket Chiasso - Milano.

I think the answer to your question depends partly on what you want to see and do in Milan vs. what the organized tour includes. Rail service is so convenient that I don't think the intercity-travel component of a bus tour (or even a tour that travels to Milan by train) adds much value, and travel by bus might be slower.

An issue I have with bus tours that make a bunch of sightseeing stops is that they, not you, determine which places you go and how much time you will spend at each place. I've observed tour groups in museums; they spend much less time at those museums than I would, being an all-or-nothing sort of museumgoer. I think bus tours that include indoor sightseeing (not all do so) are usually best for folks who prefer quick visits to a bunch of places, unless they go to places difficult to reach by public transportation. Milan has excellent public transportation.

My time in Milan was focused on art museums and the Duomo. Even the Duomo and its roof were easy to get tickets for last summer (though that should be checked in advance). There may be an extra experience (maybe climbing the dome?) that is a much harder ticket to get. However, the really tough ticket in Milan is The Last Supper, which sells out very quickly (in minutes, I think) when online tickets go on sale. I think it's extremely unlikely a bus tour from Lugano would include a visit to The Last Supper. That's a ticket you'll need to arrange yourself, if you want to see it. (There's info in other threads here about ticket-purchasing procedures.)

In summary, I don't think Milan is a destination for which it's very helpful to take a bus tour from Lugano. Perhaps someone has actually done that and can provide better information.

I understand now, thank you. I wish I could do "The Duomo, and its roof, The Last Supper" on my own

To get tickets for the Last Supper, keep tabs on the official site for when tickets go on sale for the date you want.
https://cenacolovinciano.org/en/

Tickets go fast so you may need to get up very early when ticket sales open for March.

The Paradiso train station is about 1/2 km from the Novotel, up hill. The train goes every hour. At Milano Centrale, take the Metro to either Cadorna (walking distance from the Last Supper) or Piazza Duomo.

Sam, thank you for the additional information.

If The Last Supper is important to you, I urge you to not only get up before the time they go on sale on the appropriate day (which is probably at the crack of dawn), but also to do a test run ahead of time so you know exactly what the procedure is.

If there's a way to set up an account ahead of time (I don't know whether there is), do so. You want to be as ready as you can be to select and pay for your ticket.

Have every credit card you own at hand, because you never know which one will work when you're sitting in the US and trying to buy a ticket for something in Europe. I'd also have all my debit cards available. It's not usually recommended to use debit cards for purchases, but I think sometimes they get through the security procedures when credit cards fail.

Try to keep your anticipated day for the Last Supper free of other commitments until you have purchased a ticket. You may hope for a morning entry time, but it could be that you'll only have afternoon choices available (or vice versa).

Acraven,

Thank you for the additional information. I have confidence to do those tours on my own.

Again, thank you everyone for all the information.

Hang

Oh, I don't know if there are ticket machines at Paradiso station, certainly no ticket desk, so download the SBB app and buy tickets on the fly.

Sam, thank you so much!

There will be a ticket machine at Paradiso. However with the Ticino ticket you only need to pay from Chiasso, and that ticket you best buy using the Trenitalia app.

Thank you so much, Wengenk.