Milan to Lake Como by train

The train is the best way from Milan to Lake Como: cheap, frequent and faster than the motorway. But there are three stations, two railway companies and one choice that decides your whole day. Here is which train to take, what it costs in 2026 and the small rules that trip visitors up.

The three routes

From Milano Centrale, regional trains to Como San Giovanni run roughly every hour from 6:43 AM to 9:43 PM and take about 40 minutes; the RE80 continues into Switzerland, so make sure you get off at Como and not Chiasso. Trenord trains from Milano Cadorna run hourly to Como Lago in about an hour, a slower ride that drops you right by the water. The S11 from Porta Garibaldi also reaches Como San Giovanni in about an hour. For the mid-lake towns, trains from Milano Centrale reach Varenna-Esino in about 64 minutes, roughly hourly from 6:20 AM to 9:20 PM, running along the eastern shore for the last stretch.

Is there a high-speed train?

No. Frecciarossa and Italo trains do not stop at Como; the lake is only about 47 km from Milan. The fastest trains are the EuroCity services to Switzerland, which stop at Como San Giovanni in about 36 minutes, but they cost more and a few minutes rarely matter. The regional train at €5.20 is the sensible choice. Nothing runs to Bellagio at all: it has no station, so every Bellagio trip ends with a ferry, from Varenna (15 to 20 minutes) or from Como (about 2 hours on the slow boat, 45 to 60 minutes on the hydrofoil).

Tickets: the rules that matter

You do not need to book ahead. Regional fares are fixed, there are no seat reservations, and tickets are sold on the Trenord app, on trenord.it and at station machines. Validate paper tickets in the green or yellow machines before boarding; an unvalidated ticket earns a fine. First-class regional tickets exist, but they do not guarantee a seat: on busy summer evenings, the train back from Varenna fills up, and recent reviewers spent the hour standing. Italian rail strikes are announced in advance and usually keep guaranteed services running at the start and end of the day; check the news the evening before. If all of that sounds like work, the small-group day trips include first-class train tickets and a guide who deals with the connections.