Lake Como Funiculars and Cable Cars: Hours, Fares and Closures 2026

In October 2026 the three cable systems of Lake Como are in three different situations. The Como-Brunate funicular has new fares from 1 September (3.70 euro for a single) and a strike announced for Friday 9 October. The Argegno-Pigra cable car follows the autumn timetable from 14 September, with a fare list we cannot confirm is up to date. The Piani d’Erna cable car is closed for works until 31 October.

This guide says, for each system, when it runs, what it costs, what you can bring on board and what we could not verify. The data come from the operators’ sites (ATM and ITB), the municipalities, Regione Lombardia, ASF Autolinee and dated local press, read on 6 October 2026. Where two sources contradict each other we say so.

Lake Como funicular: the three systems in one table

There is one funicular, the one in Como; the other two are cable cars. All three are local public transport: they serve residents, and also take visitors up to see the lake from above without a walk.

System	Ride	Autumn 2026 hours	Single, full fare
Como-Brunate funicular	7 minutes	Every day from 6am to midnight	3.70
Argegno-Pigra cable car	6 minutes	Monday-Friday 9-16, Saturday, Sunday and holidays 9-19	4.10 (undated list)
Malnago-Piani d’Erna cable car (Lecco)	Not stated	Closed until 31 October; from 25 October 8.30-12.30 and 13.30-17	8.00

Source: ATM (funicular and Pigra cable car), Como-Brunate funicular site, ITB (Piani d’Erna); read on 6 October 2026. Amounts in euro, full fare.

The cable systems of the Como, Lecco and Varese basin are run by two companies: ATM for the Como funicular and the Pigra cable car, ITB (Imprese Turistiche Barziesi) for the Piani d’Erna. The fares are set by the local public transport agency of the basin, which adjusted them from 1 September with resolution no. 17 of 11 August 2026.

Como-Brunate funicular

Hours and frequency

According to ATM the funicular runs every day from 6am to midnight, with simultaneous departures from both stations. From 6 to 7 departures are every 15 minutes, from 7 to 9 every 12 minutes and from 9 to midnight every 15 minutes; the last leaves at midnight. The ride takes 7 minutes, there is an on-request stop at the intermediate station of Carescione and the system is accessible to wheelchair users. The timetable PDF does not say which year it refers to, and we did not find a separate winter timetable.

The Como station is in piazza Alcide De Gasperi, a step from the lake. The page on the Como-Brunate funicular tells its history and the walks that start from Brunate; for the village there is the page on Brunate.

Fares from 1 September 2026

The fares valid from September are in the PDF published on the funicular’s own site, dated 28 August 2026. The PDF that the ATM page still links, created on 27 March 2026, shows the previous ones, 3.60 euro for a single and 7.20 for a return: anyone who finds that file has an out-of-date list.

Ticket	Euro
Single	3.70
Return	7.40
Children up to 12, single and return	2.50 and 5.00
10-trip multi-ride (not usable by several people together)	33.00
7-day pass	11.50
Ordinary monthly pass	39.50
Groups of at least 10 people, single and return	3.20 and 6.40
Single with the residents’ card	1.90

Source: PDF of the fares in force from 1 September 2026, Como-Brunate funicular site; read on 6 October 2026. Amounts in euro. Children up to 4 travel free.

The multi-ride brings a trip down to 3.30 euro, forty cents less than a single. The PDF also lists annual passes (334.00 euro the ordinary, 317.00 the reduced for under-26s), urban-area passes, group and school fares and the 5.00 euro cost of the electronic card. ASF Autolinee also sells a combined season ticket for the funicular and all its vehicles in the Como urban area; the price is not on the page.

Bicycles, dogs and wheelchairs

Bicycles, animals, prams and other parcels (at most 50 × 30 × 25 centimetres) cost 3.60 euro, and a single ticket with a bicycle 7.30. Guide dogs for blind people travel free and other dogs must wear a muzzle. The companion of a person with a disability travels free only on showing a document certifying the need for assistance. The «Io viaggio» tickets and passes are valid too, that is IVOP, IVOL and Io viaggio in famiglia.

The strike of 9 October

The ATM page, read on 6 October 2026, announces a strike called by the unions AL Cobas and Confial Trasporti for Friday 9 October: funicular service may not be guaranteed from 8.30am to 4.30pm and after 7.30pm, until the end of service. After 9 October the notice should disappear from the page; we will check.

Argegno-Pigra cable car

Hours

The Argegno-Pigra cable car climbs in 6 minutes, with simultaneous departures from both stations every 15 minutes and 12 places on board. In the ATM PDF valid from 14 September 2026 the runs go from 9 to 16 Monday to Friday and from 9 to 19 on Saturday, Sunday and holidays, with no end date.

The sources disagree on two points. The ATM web page says the weekend timetable is valid «until 30 September», while the most recent PDF gives no end: we cannot therefore say whether from 1 October Saturday and Sunday finish earlier. The Comune di Pigra, in a notice of 3 July 2026, gives a longer weekday timetable, from 9 to 17, and then some special summer days (5 July from 6 to 20, 10 to 16 August from 9 to 19). For the weekday timetable we go by the ATM PDF, which is the more recent and carries a date; anyone with little margin should call the stations or check the updated PDF.

Fares

The fare list ATM publishes for the cable car carries no date, and the file was created in June 2025. It shows a single at 4.10 euro, a return at 8.20, children aged 4 to 12 at 2.50 and 5.00, the 10-trip multi-ride at 37.00, the weekly pass at 20 euro, the monthly at 50 and the annual at 478. For a family of two adults and two children the return costs 26.40 euro, and for a group of 10 to 19 people a single is 3.60 and a return 7.20. Children up to 4 travel free.

The doubt is whether these amounts are the ones in force. The local public transport fare adjustment took effect on 1 September 2026 by resolution of the agency of the Como, Lecco and Varese basin, and both the Como funicular and the Piani d’Erna cable car have a new list. For Pigra we did not find a list dated after the 2025 one: the 4.10 euro is the last price ATM publishes, not a confirmation for October 2026.

Bicycles, dogs, wheelchairs and arrival

Bicycles, animals, prams and other luggage (50 × 30 × 25 centimetres) cost 3.30 euro; guide dogs travel free, other dogs must wear a muzzle and the companion of a person with a disability does not pay. The «Io viaggio» tickets are valid. The cable car is accessible to wheelchair users and the Comune di Pigra offers a free shuttle bus between the two stations. To book, the ATM page points to the Croce Rossa di Centro Valle (031 831555), 24 hours ahead if you travel on a Friday or Saturday and 48 hours ahead if you travel on a Sunday; the text does not say whether the booking is for the shuttle or for the cable car ride.

You reach Argegno by bus C110 (stop Argegno Stazione Funivia), C120 and C125 (stop piazza Testi, at the landing stage), or by boat: the cable car is about 100 metres on foot from the pier. A boat from Como to Argegno is band 4, 8.00 euro for a single, as explained in the guide to boat tickets and fares. For Argegno and Pigra there are pages on the two villages.

The works

On 11 May 2026 the regional government approved a resolution on periodic inspections and technical upgrades of cable systems which, for the Argegno-Pigra cable car, provides almost 350,000 euro: 244,244 in 2026, 69,784 in 2027 and 34,892 in 2028. It is for the rescue rope, civil works, rescue vehicles, fuse heads and a new electrical panel. The regional councillor said that the system, stopped for the five-year inspection, «ha da poco ripreso a funzionare sette giorni su sette» (has recently resumed running seven days a week). Extraordinary maintenance and upgrades are planned for 2026-2028; the article reporting the news does not mention closures.

Piani d’Erna cable car

The October closure

The Malnago-Piani d’Erna cable car, in Lecco, is closed from Monday 5 to Saturday 31 October 2026. The Comune di Lecco announced it on 24 September: the most complex work on redeveloping the upper and lower stations is done with the system stopped, and service should resume on Sunday 1 November, «salvo diversa valutazione» (unless assessed otherwise) of how the works are going. Il Giorno adds, on 5 October, that the works began in autumn 2025, are worth 1.8 million euro, and that the deadline, set for 30 September, was moved so as not to interfere with the long summer season. During the stop there is no other connection: the Piani d’Erna are reached on foot.

Hours and fares

The operator ITB publishes hours for three periods. The ones that matter now are the last two; the first, from 9 June to 6 September, is past.

Period	Days	Hours
7 September-24 October	Monday-Friday	8.30-12.30 and 13.30-17.30
7 September-24 October	Saturday, Sunday and holidays	8-12.30 and 13.30-18
25 October-31 December	Every day	8.30-12.30 and 13.30-17

Source: ITB, Piani d’Erna, prices and hours; read on 6 October 2026. With the closure, the first period applies only until 4 October and the second starts in practice on 1 November.

Hours may change for service or weather reasons. In the timetable the operator writes «25 Dicembre 2025: Funivia CHIUSA»: the year is very probably a typo and it is 25 December 2026, but the page does not say so.

The fares are in force from 1 September 2026, under the same agency resolution. A single trip, up or down, costs 8 euro, the 10-trip book 73 (7.30 euro a trip), the weekly pass 77, the monthly 102 and the annual 513. Children under 4 travel free. Bicycles, other parcels and animals pay 3 euro; dogs of any size pay 3 euro and must have a lead and a muzzle, which the ticket office sells for 6 euro. The IVOL, IVOP and Io viaggio in famiglia tickets are valid on the cable car.

The lower station is at via Prealpi 34 in Lecco, and the operator’s page points to the timetable of bus line 5 for the stop «Funivia Erna». The operator says nothing on wheelchair access or on the length of the ride. At the top there is also a Nature Trail; the page on the Piani d’Erna describes the place.

Il Giorno gives 1964 as the year the cable car was built and a drop of about 700 metres, between the 600 metres of Versario and the 1,300 of the Piani d’Erna; the Piani d’Erna page gives 1965, from Wikipedia. The two dates have not been reconciled.

The Faro Voltiano, at the top of Brunate

Anyone going up to Brunate thinks of the Faro Voltiano, but in 2026 you cannot climb it. The tower is closed to the public after the dispute between Como and Brunate over its management; on 14 April 2026 the regional administrative court sided with Como with an interim order. The hearing on the merits is set for 13 October 2026. On 10 July the Como council approved the guidelines for extraordinary maintenance works, for 400,000 euro, which should run from October 2026 to February 2027, with reopening in March 2027, the month of the bicentenary of Volta’s death (5 March 1827). These are planned dates, not a promise.

The Comune di Brunate’s page on the lighthouse shows hours and tickets from 2023-2024, last updated on 22 April 2024: it is an out-of-date page and does not apply to 2026.

Combined tickets and «Io viaggio» tickets

All three systems accept the «io viaggio ovunque in Lombardia» (IVOL) tickets, according to the ATM pages for the funicular and the Pigra cable car and the ITB page for the Piani d’Erna. Regione Lombardia lists among the cable cars and funiculars of local public transport the Como-Brunate, the Argegno-Pigra and the Malnago-Piani d’Erna, and recommends checking validity on the individual service. The tickets for 1, 2, 3 and 7 days cost 18.00, 30.00, 35.50 and 47.50 euro (page updated on 7 September 2026). The regional list also includes the Margno-Pian delle Betulle and Moggio-Piani di Artavaggio systems, in Valsassina, which we do not cover here.

The same IVOL is not valid on the Navigazione Laghi boats on Lake Como, as the guide to boat tickets explains.

What we did not find

• A winter timetable for the Como-Brunate funicular different from the current one, and the year the timetable PDF refers to.
• The Argegno-Pigra cable car fare list in force from 1 September 2026, and the weekend timetable after 30 September.
• The length of the ride and wheelchair access of the Piani d’Erna cable car.
• The timetable of the link between Brunate and the CAO hut that ASF Autolinee declares (the page points to a winter and a summer timetable that we did not read).
• Refreshment services at the top, with name and hours, on official sources for the three systems.
• A dated news item on the Como-Brunate funicular in the last twelve months, apart from the strike announced and the fare adjustment.

How we checked

Hours and prices come from the operators’ pages and PDFs, read on 6 October 2026. For every PDF we also looked at the file’s creation date, because the ATM funicular page links an out-of-date fare list. The news on closures and works comes from the Comune di Lecco and Il Giorno, EspansioneTv and the Region. We do not use online ticket sites, travel blogs or aggregators.

The search for sources was done with the help of artificial intelligence tools, and every figure was re-read on the original document. The check changed three things. The draft of the summary said that the funicular «runs every 15 minutes from 9 to midnight», which seemed to start service at 9: it starts at 6. The «ATM list of 1 July 2025» given as the previous one was a file created on 27 March 2026 with no date in its text, so we write only the date of the file. And the funicular page we had published on 2 October still showed the previous fares: we have corrected it.

Frequently asked questions

How much is the Como-Brunate funicular in 2026?

From 1 September 2026 a single costs 3.70 euro and a return 7.40; children up to 12 pay 2.50 and 5.00 and children up to 4 travel free. Before September they were 3.60 and 7.20.

What time does the last funicular to Brunate leave?

According to ATM the last departure is at midnight. The city’s tourist site, cited in the funicular page, instead gives 10.30pm, extended to midnight in summer: we did not find a separate winter timetable, and it is best to check for the evening you travel.

When does the Piani d’Erna cable car reopen?

The cable car is closed from 5 to 31 October 2026 and service is expected to resume on Sunday 1 November, unless the progress of the works is assessed differently, according to the Comune di Lecco. From November the timetable is 8.30-12.30 and 13.30-17.

Can I bring a bicycle or a dog?

Yes, for a fee: 3.60 euro on the Como funicular, 3.30 at Pigra and 3.00 at the Piani d’Erna. On the Como funicular and at Pigra dogs must wear a muzzle; at the Piani d’Erna dogs of any size pay 3.00 euro and need a lead and a muzzle.

Are the cable cars wheelchair accessible?

The Como funicular and the Pigra cable car are, according to ATM, and the Comune di Pigra offers a free shuttle between the two stations. For the Piani d’Erna we did not find a statement from the operator.

What is at the top?

At Brunate the paths start towards the Faro Voltiano, closed in 2026, and towards the Triangolo Lariano, described in the funicular page. At Pigra and the Piani d’Erna there are the starting points of hikes, but we did not find on official sources a list of refreshment services with hours.

Before you go

For transport on the lake the guide to getting to Lake Como has trains, boats and ferries, and for the cold months there is the picture of what is open from November to March. If the weather is bad, the guide to museums has indoor alternatives. In Como two walking itineraries pass through the city and along the lake: Volta’s Como and Rationalist Como.