Arriving at Franklin

New undergraduate and graduate students should arrive between 9:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. on Tuesday, August 19. Check-in will take place in the McNeely Center of Ideas and Imagination Student Center at Via Ponte Tresa 18. If you are delayed or need assistance, please call our helplines:

+41 91 986 5329 - during regular weekday opening hours (8:30 a.m.–5:00 p.m. )

+41 79 211 4689 - after regular weekday opening hours and on weekends (5:00 p.m.–8:30 a.m.)

Students who do not arrive on campus by 5:00 p.m. on Tuesday, August 19, should call Franklin’s emergency number at +41 79 211 4689 the day they arrive to coordinate a meeting with the Resident Assistant on Duty so they can get into their residence hall. Please note that if a student arrives after 5:00 p.m., it is their responsibility to ensure they review the information in their orientation packet and understand its contents.

You can get to Franklin several different ways – most people fly into Milan or Zurich and then take a bus, train, or taxi to the Franklin campus. 

The Lugano Centrale Train Station is about a 20-minute walk or five-minute taxi ride to the Franklin campus. The Alba residence is across the street from the station, and you can walk there in a few minutes. For directions to campus by car and more information about Lugano, read our page on visiting Franklin. Visit our interactive campus map to see exactly where campus buildings and residence halls are.

The Milan Malpensa airport and Zurich airport are large, but they are certainly navigable if you are prepared. Check out our introduction video to the Milan and Zurich airports!

From July 28 to August 24, due to infrastructure upgrades on the cross-border railway network—specifically between Stabio-Malpensa and Chiasso-Milan—the S40 and S50 lines will be suspended. Replacement buses will be available, but with longer travel times.

All train traffic to Malpensa will stop at Stabio during this period because of work on the Italian rail network. Buses will run between Stabio, Varese, and Malpensa. The timing of the work was chosen to minimize disruption, as summer sees fewer commuters and no school traffic.

From July 27 to August 31, the TILO RE80 service between Lugano and Chiasso (starting or ending in Chiasso) will be suspended, as will the S90 between Lugano and Mendrisio. These routes will be covered by other lines. The S10 will continue to run every 30 minutes between Lugano and Chiasso, stopping at all stations. Eurocity trains will also transport commuters from Lugano to Chiasso without intermediate stops.

Our community is encouraged to refer to the TILO website for detailed information and plan for longer train journeys when travelling between Ticino and Italy.

LEARN MORE

We recommend visiting the website of the Swiss Federal Railways, which you’ll often see referred to as SBB CFF FFS (these are the acronyms in three Swiss languages). Many people at Franklin refer to it as SBB, the acronym in German. SBB Mobile is a smartphone app that many people in Switzerland use to check transportation timetables and even buy tickets for trains, buses, small commuter rails, and trams. It’s a very handy app, and we strongly recommend you download it.

We strongly recommend that you check out the SBB Mobile smartphone app to view timetables and even purchase tickets for Swiss trains and public transportation.

When traveling by train in Italy, using the website of the Italian railway system, Trenitalia is a good place to find timetables. Sometimes, tickets for Italian rail travel are cheaper when purchased within Italy, though you can buy international tickets at Swiss train stations.

Two other airports service the Milan area, but they are smaller and have a different set of connections: Linate and Bergamo (Orio al Serio). Buses from each of those airports connect passengers with the Milano Centrale train station.