Leaving Your Trip in COMO

This page offers help (concrete or informational) on leaving your trip. Topics include...

1. Where do you leave your trip? See immediately below.
2. What are the closest airports?
3. Our “Access Packages,” designed to help you travel onwards from your cycle trip.
4. Suggestions on how to time your ongoing travel, whether you are having us arrange it, or doing it yourself.
5. Service information regarding train travel from your trip end location.
6. Suggested post-trip visits, especially when these are not geographically obvious, but are rendered economical and convenient by direct rail connections.
7. Hopefully helpful hints for those setting up their own travel from the trip.

If you wish to arrange some or all of your travel through us, please tell us what by means of this response questionnaire, designed to collect all the information we need to be able to book your travel.


1. WHERE and WHEN Do You Leave Your Trip?

Your trip disbands at noon on its end date (generally a Saturday), at a suburban Como railway station in the Swiss town of Chiasso.

Many travellers on this trip depart directly by train to Venice, Florence, Rome, Zurich or Salzburg for a city visit.  Indeed, we offer a Salzburg package after the August trip (included in your trip price if you are on Biking Transcontinental or Mozart & the Matterhorn), and can help set up ongoing travel to other points.

You may deliver your cycle (and claim shipped luggage, if necessary) at any time between 10a and noon, allowing for the use of the bike for a morning explore of Como, or for a ride along the lake, if this appeals.

If you wish to arrange your own ongoing travel (in other words, you do not want to set up any ongoing travel arrangements through us), a couple of hints regarding ongoing travel are offered at the bottom of this page.  Otherwise...


2. What are the CLOSEST AIRPORTS?

Milan Malpensa and Lugano are the closest airports, each less than 90 minutes away (see “Service Information,” below, for details). Malpensa is an intercontinental hub, while Lugano offers only limited European service. The next closest intercontinental airport is Zurich, about 3.5 hours by train from Como / Chiasso (including the rail shuttle from downtown Zurich to the airport).

Milan Linate and Bergamo (Bergamo is the airport Ryanair calls “Milan”) are on the far side of the city of Milan, and take substantially longer to reach than Malpensa.  Both are accessible via bus from the downtown Milan station, but you should allow 2.5 hours to reach Linate, at least 3 to get to Bergamo, not including check-in times.

Verona’s two airports are also within striking distance, but even farther away (Ryanair’s “Verona” airport is actually in Brescia, almost as close to Milan as it is to Verona).  Reaching these requires a further hour-plus train trip from downtown Milan, followed by a city bus or taxi....


3. Our ACCESS PACKAGES
as of January 20, 2010

Our “Access Package” is actually just a hotel night in Como, with breakfast.  An airport shuttle train runs hourly from Como to Malpensa airport, and tickets must be purchased locally.
A London “Access Package” includes a train from Como to London, via Paris (stopovers available at no extra charge).
Our consulting services for your trip on from Como are offered for free :-)

Base (Starting) Access Package Price:  56€.
To see what this means in your currency, look here: http://www.bluemarble.org/CurrencyConv.html

Subject to availability.  Our usual Como hotel is almost always full:   extra nights there should be booked as far in advance as possible.   Some extra-cost options also have higher prices if ordered w/in 35 days.

Included:

• A hotel night in Como, based on shared occupancy.  This rate is available to singles willing to share if someone else requests same.
  This price corresponds to our usual hotel.  If not available, we will try to place you in an alternate of similar standing.  Price may be slightly different:  if the hotel change adds more than 5€, we will consult you before making the booking.
• Continental breakfast.
• Taxes and booking charges.
  

The airport shuttle train to Malpensa is not included.   For one thing, not everyone goes to Malpensa after the trip.   For another, tickets can only be purchased on date of travel.  But here is the information you need to make your travel plans:  the station is just two blocks from our usual hotels, cost for the train from Como to Malpensa is circa 15€, travel time is 75 minutes, and hourly service is available from 5:15a.


Extra Cost Options

• Single room in Como:   +22 - 36€.
  Our usual hotel has only 2 single rooms, which can be had for 22€ additional if they are available.   If neither is, using a double as a single adds 36€, instead.   Unless you tell us otherwise, we request a single, but accept a double used as a single if no single is available.
  
  

Alternate Arrangements, in lieu of, or in addition to, a night in Como
Prices are complete (in other words, they are not in addition to the “Base” Access Package Price).
All tickets are subject to availability.  These (often substantially discounted) fares are capacity-restricted.  They are rarely available at the last minute, and regular fares may be double these, or even more.  If your selected train does not offer this fare, we will propose the closest alternate that does, and also the lowest fare available on your chosen train.

• Tickets to London, via morning train.  139€ if you also requested tickets from London to your trip, 169€ if not.  Via overnight train:  159€ if you also requested tickets from London to your trip, 189€ if not.
  Add 50€ to upgrade to 1st class for the trip as far as Paris.  If you wish to travel in 1st class on the Eurostar from Paris to London (meal service included aboard), add a further 48€.
• Other train tickets.  Tickets are available to all points, for travel on either the date that the trip disbands, or the next day, after a night in Como.
  Prices include required seat reservation, express train supplement, baggage charges, and taxes.
  Tickets for points outside of Switzerland are not refundable or exchangeable once ordered.  More expensive flexible tickets are available at additional cost, typically +25 - 50%.
  Sample prices:
  - Venice, Florence or Nice:  39€ 2nd class, 58€ 1st class.
  - Zurich or Zurich Airport:  49€ 2nd class, 79€ 1st class
  A discount 1st class rate of 65€ is sometimes available, not refundable or exchangeable.
  - Rome:  75€ 2nd class, 109€ 1st class.
  - Paris:  95€ 2nd class, 145€ 1st class.
• Overnight trains are available to Rome (or Naples), Paris, Brussels, Amsterdam, Palermo (Sicily), Vienna, Berlin, Barcelona.... Price of 99€ (109€ to Barcelona) includes reservation and couchette (T-4 sleeper berth to Barcelona).
  This solution saves a night's accommodation, and a travel day if you are going a long distance.
  Sleeping car upgrades are available.  Sample upgrade prices from 2nd cl. couchette on overnight train:  45€ to “Comfort Couchette” 59€ to double sleeping car cabin. 119€ to private cabin (39 / 89€ for double / single sleeper to Rome or Naples). For general information on upgrades, follow this link.
• Hotels available in Milan, Venice, Paris... follow this link for general information.
  

4. TIMING Your Trip

Como is pretty, but you will have spent two nights there by the time the trip ends.  If there is something else you want to do with your weekend, we suggest planning on a morning walk or pedal around town, and then travelling onwards at midday.  We offer a package to Salzburg on certain dates.  But Venice, Rome, Florence, Nice, Milan, Luzern, the Swiss Alps... are all within easy reach.

If you are flying from Malpensa on the day after the trip ends, spending the night in Como is your best option (plenty of lake fun to be had).  But you can go into Milan for the afternoon if you prefer....


5. Service Information
Schedules are approximate – exact timetables can be consulted at
http://www.raileurope.com/us/rail/point_to_point/triprequest.htm.
Best trains are mentioned.  Others are slower or have multiple connections.

• To Milan.  Travel time is 1 hour, service is hourly.  Express trains require reservations, but walk-up space is always available on this line on weekends.  Conversely, it can easily take 30 minutes to get to the ticket window....  Locals can be ridden without seat reservations.
• To Milan Malpensa Airport.  Travel time is 1'15", service is hourly from 5a.
• To Lugano.  Trains every half hour, 30-minute trip time.  Lugano airport is a short taxi ride from the station, or 15” away by a connecting shuttle train.
• To Zurich.  Travel time is 3.5 hours, service is hourly.
  Add an additional 30 minutes to reach the airport.
• To Paris.  Fast daylight trains (circa 8 hours) run at 10a, noon, and 2p.
  Overnight service via Milan, arriving in Paris at 8:30a: of use if you would enjoy a day in Milan at the end of the trip, without the hassle of a hotel, and without losing a lot of time to travel.
• To Nice.  Fast services at 10a and 2p, with a connection in Milan.  Trip time is 6 hours.
  
• To Venice, Florence or Rome.  Travel time 3 hours to Florence, 4 to Venice, 4.5 to Rome).  Trains every two hours, via Milan (reservations required).
  The schedule which most organically fits the trip's end is the train at noon, but the 10a is perfectly catchable if you don't mind a rushed breakfast.
• To London.  Daylight:  via Basel and Paris.  Departs 10a or noon, arrive London 8:30p or 10:30p.
  Overnight:  via Milan and Paris.
  The overnight service via Milan lets you spend the afternoon in Milan, if desired, before overnighting to Paris for a morning connection to London (arrive 11:30a). 

6. Suggested POST-TRIP VISITS

We suggest travelling to Venice.  Venice is incomparable.  We offer a “usual” hotel (stays of 2 nights or longer only), and can set up the train for you, if desired.

After our August trip, we offer an inclusive package to Salzburg (included in the trip price if you are travelling on trip A, Biking Transcontinental, or trip E, Mozart & the Matterhorn):

• Saturday afternoon train to Salzburg, across the St.-Anton pass and through the Alps, including seat reservation.
  A discount 1st class upgrade is available for 39€, and recommended for this 12-hour trip.
• 3 hotel nights (Saturday, Sunday and Monday).
  Use the days in between to explore the beautiful town, listen to Mozart in one of the many venues given over to the great composer, explore the nearly Austrian Alps, Munich, or Berchtesgarden....
• 3 breakfasts.
• One dinner.
• The services of a Blue Marble Coordinator, present to help you get oriented.
  
• All taxes, booking charges, baggage charges.
  In other words, no irritating surprises.
  
  Prices:  359€ single, 259€ twin or double.
  “Twin / double” prices available to singles willing to share until 35 days prior to trip start.   Within that time, you may request a roommate, and we will assign one if someone else does the same.   But you must be willing to pay the single rate if none can be found.

7. Hints on TRAVELLING INDEPENDENTLY After the Trip
Guests subscribing to an “Access Package” need not read this section.

See also “Timing Your Trip” and “Service Information,” above, as either of these may additionally help.

We gladly provide travel consulting (schedule or routing information) concerning post-trip individual travel.  In particular, we have invested a great deal to become railway experts.  Our service fees are reasonable:  a 20€ charge for all but the most complex projects – or the most simple (for instance, only a 10€ charge applies if the service is limited to the preparation of a routine rail ticket).  You will generally find them justified by the time they will save you in research, standing on line, overpaying for your tickets, or all three.

But, for some, this type of research is fun.  In that case, two hours surfing random web sites to save 10€ is time well-spent.  So, here are some hints, intended to start off hardened “do-it-yourselfers.”

Trains.  Schedules for all routes can be consulted on this web site:
http://www.raileurope.com/us/rail/point_to_point/triprequest.htm

Chiasso (the suburban Como station where we end our ride) is on the Gottard Pass north-south rail route, from Zurich and Germany to Milan.  Frequent service is offered in both directions.  The Alpine crossing (to the north) is beautiful, if you are headed in that direction.



If you wish to arrange some or all of your travel through us, please tell us what by means of this response questionnaire, designed to collect all the information we need to be able to book your travel.