Lugano is a town and a municipality in southern Switzerland in the Italian-speaking canton of Ticino bordering Italy. Monte San Salvatore is a mountain, 912m high, popular destination to enjoy the views of Lake Lugano. If you are searching for ideas what to do in Lugano, this is definitely an option to consider.

Parking
You can find a parking space just below the funicular. It is payable, but the costumers have a discount (at the cashier’s desk you can find a coin for the parking payment machine outside – you put it inside before paying the remaining amount).
Funicular price
Info 2020 | Single | Return |
Adults | 23 CHF / 22 EUR | 30 CHF / 28 EUR |
Children (6-16) | 10 CHF / 10 EUR | 13 CHF /12 EUR |
Medium-large dogs | 8 CHF / 7,5 EUR | 10 CHF /10 EUR |
We also saw an offer, if you choose to have a dinner in the restaurant at the top, you get a discount on the funicular ticket (I think it was 6 CHF / 5,5 EUR for the ticket).
The funicular rides every 30min. We also caught a bad moment – just when we wanted to go back, we found a paper that said the funicular is stopped for a lunch/dinner break. They could tell such information in advance. We decided to stop at the restaurant (for 45min, as we only needed 15min to enjoy the view).
The view


Restaurant
As I said, at the top there is also a restaurant called Ristorante Vetta San Salvatore. It offers a really nice view. Also we were surprised the prices weren’t even that high. I decided to try tiramisu (10 CHF) and we also drank 2 beers.



How much time you need?
From the funicular to panorama spots you need 2 minutes walking (stairs). Then it depends on you. There were people that were sitting there and enjoying the view. I would actually recommend stopping at the restaurant. It’s just on the opposite side of the funicular. The menu seemed nice (some pasta, hamburgers, meat …) – if everything is good as the tiramisu was, maybe think about the restaurant + funicular ticket offer.
Is it worth it?
The price is a little bit high I would say. But if you are a fan of lake views/restaurant with a view, I would say yes. Maybe I was a little bit too spoiled with the views in the morning, when we visited Fronalpstock. If you were wondering what to do in Lugano, I hope I answered your question.