Picking up a rental car in Lugano (for Lake Como)
 

Hi

I am trying to sort out whether to pick-up/drop-off the Lake Como rental car from either Como or Lugano. Given that we are heading to Wengen after Lake Como, it seems to make sense that we'd pick up and drop off from Lugano and then keep going - we'd be that much closer to Wengen the day we left.

According to Auto Europe I have two choices in Lugano for both. Airport, or downtown. No train station car rental choices.

Oddly enough the airport seems to show a better choice of cars for less money. Assuming I do choose Lugano, may I assume the train goes directly to the airport and if so, what is the stop called? There are several choices according to the DB site, but none of them appear to be an airport (Flughafen).

If anyone has done the above (train to Lugano, rental car pick up and drop off) I'd be grateful to hear which stop/what you did.

Thank you.

Hi flygirl,

Here's what the Lugano airport says about trains:

"From the rails to the sky. Lugano Airport can be reached by train via the railway Lugano-Ponte Tresa (FLP). You can get on the train in front of the Federal Railways Station in Lugano. From the train stop at Agno it’s only a 10 minutes walk to the airport. FLP schedules offer connections Lugano Centro - Agno Centro 7 days a week:
Mon - Fri: every 15 minutes from 06.25 to 20.10
Sat / Sun: every 30 minutes

It takes about 15 minutes to get from Lugano train station to Agno."

And here's what it says about a shuttle connection between the city and the airport:

"Shuttle Bus
Always connected. Lugano Airport offers a much appreciated and efficient shuttle service. It is operated by a partner company: the Shuttle Bus Sagl. You can contact it at the following address:

Shuttle Bus Sagl
Via Sass Curona 1
CH - 6932 Breganzona

Tel. +41 79 221 42 43
Fax +41 91 967 60 30
e-mail: [email protected]
Sito web: www.shuttle-bus.com

The shuttle bus service guarantees regular connections between the center of Lugano and the airport from 08.00 to 18.30 (from 10.00 to 18.30 Saturday and Sunday), scheduled to match the arrival and departure of air traffic. The buses also transport the passengers’ baggage.
Stops: Down Town – Federal Railways Station - Airport"

Here's the site:

http://www.lugano-airport.ch/EN/Accesso/ShuttleBus.cfm

Have fun!

s

Good idea--I have picked up cars 3 times in Lugano but never at the airport. The in-town location used to be a VW dealership---the taxi ride from the train station was about 15E. Reates in CH are much better than Italy. Good luck !

Thanks swanda and Bob!

After all that, I did some more research (and what a pain it was, because it requires making sure the train timing works out, and if I go to Como instead they are closed for two hours for lunch which affects the train schedule to select, yada yada...) and ultimately decided that I'm just going to pick up the rental in Verona and drop in Como.

What made the decision was that rental from Verona/Como was the same price as Como/Como (at least to reserve - whether AE will have a surcharge when I pick up due to the different locations I don't know).

Driving is also about an hour less time from Verona to Lenno than the train ride from Verona to Como... and I'd still have to pick up the car then and drive to Lenno. Less time involved if I get the car earlier, and, instead of three train tickets, I am swapping that cost for what petrol would cost for the drive.

Thanks again - I hope this info helps someone else.