Lugano is situated in the southern part of the Ticino region (or canton), the Italian-speaking part of Switzerland, on the shores of the Lugano Lake.

The 18-ICML will take place at the Lugano Convention Centre, Palazzo dei Congressi, which is located in the city centre and overlooks the beautiful city park (Parco Ciani), on the shores of the Lugano lake. The Convention Centre is a 10-minute walk from the railway station and will host the general Scientific sessions and Satellite symposia.

Several of the sessions, such as, “Meet the Professor”, “Focus on...” and other parallel sessions, will be held in additional large conference rooms within walking distance from the main Convention Centre (Cinema Corso and USI, Università della Svizzera italiana). These rooms will also serve as overflow areas for the main sessions, which will be held at the Palazzo dei Congressi.

The “Marquee Parco Ciani”, a large gazebo overlooking the lake and connected to the Palazzo dei Congressi by a covered walkway, will host lunches, coffee breaks and the commercial Exhibition, as well as the Poster Area and an additional overflow area.

Amiconi Consulting SA is the only official agency appointed to manage hotel bookings for the
18-ICML.

Amiconi Consulting SA
Via al Forte 10 - 6900 Lugano, Switzerland
Phone: +41 91 921 38 12
info@amiconiconsulting.ch

Amiconi Consulting SA, with the approval of the Foundation for the Institute of Oncology Research (IOR), has blocked several hotels of various categories and price ranges for congress participants.

In order to book hotel rooms you are kindly invited to send a request to info@amiconiconsulting.ch.

You will be sent a full list of the hotels still available with rates and further details.  All requests will be processed on a first come, first served basis.
 

Kindly note that:

- registration for the 18-ICML will be guaranteed for hotel room bookings for groups of more than eight people only if the reservation is made through Amiconi Consulting (the only agency authorized to represent ICML);

- in the event of a restriction on the number of participants, those who have booked through Amiconi Consulting will have priority in the registration process. No other agency, company or website has access to the officially-contracted allocation of rooms for the 18-ICML.

A hotel reservation does not constitute confirmation of registration for the 18-ICML.

Reaching Lugano from the airports

Lugano is well connected by land and rail and is served by two main airports: Zurich Airport (Switzerland) and Milan Malpensa Airport (Italy).

These airports are connected to Lugano by train:

• Zurich Airport (Switzerland) → Lugano
  A shuttle train connects the airport to Zurich central station, where Swiss trains leave for Lugano every 30 minutes. The journey, across spectacular landscapes, takes about 2 hours.
• Milan Malpensa Airport (Italy) → Lugano
  The “TILO” train connects Italy and Switzerland (S50 line - direction: Biasca). Trains leave every hour and the journey takes about one and a half hours.

Tickets can be purchased online on www.sbb.ch
 

Starting at 21:00 on Saturday 21 June and until 08:30 on Sunday 22 June 2025, a large-scale construction site has unfortunately been planned on the railway lines connecting Lugano to Zurich and Milan, with trains being cancelled and replacement buses organised. On the instructions of the SBB (Swiss Federal Railways), further information will be available from 6 months in advance on the App https://www.sbb.ch/en/travel-information/apps/sbb-mobile.html, which can be downloaded for updates on these modifications.

Other airport options are: Geneva Airport (Switzerland), connected to Lugano by train (www.sbb.ch); or Milan Linate Airport (Italy) and Bergamo Orio al Serio Airport (Italy), which require a bus transfer to Milano Centrale train station and then a train to Lugano.

For private transfers (individual and groups) from all airports to and from Lugano please contact our appointed agency (Amiconi Consulting SA) via email (info@amiconiconsulting.ch).
 

Local transport
Public transportation in the Canton of Ticino (the region in which Lugano is located) offers an efficient and widespread network.
Lugano can be reached in approx. 30 minutes from the railway stations located near the hotels on the list of the ICML‘s official agency (Amiconi Consulting SA).

Attendees who have booked their accommodation in Ticino can ask for the "Ticino Ticket" upon hotel check-in, a public transport ticket valid for the entire duration of their stay on all public transport in Ticino (buses, trains and postal buses of the “Arcobaleno network”).

The Ticino Ticket cannot be purchased: it is free-of-charge and must be requested upon hotel check-in.

Connections from Lugano train station to Palazzo dei Congressi

The Lugano train stations (FFS/FLP) and the Palazzo dei Congressi are connected by bus line no. 2:

• Lugano, Stazione → Palazzo dei Congressi, direction Castagnola
• Palazzo dei Congressi → Lugano, Stazione, direction Paradiso

Alternatively, the Palazzo dei Congressi is a 15-minute walk from the station.

The Lufthansa Group airlines bring people together - every day, all around the world.

As 18-ICML Preferred Airline Partner, the global route network of Austrian Airlines, Lufthansa, SWISS, Brussels Airlines and Eurowings offers optimal connection and combination options to reach Lugano, from 10 to 28 June 2025.

The reduced fares are automatically displayed on the booking platform (below).

When Lugano is selected as the destination, the system suggests a flight to Zurich airport (ZRH) combined with a train from Zurich to Lugano.

On the other hand, when Milan Malpensa airport (MXP, the nearest international airport) is selected, the system only proposes the flight.

The train ticket from Malpensa airport to Lugano is to be purchased separately at www.sbb.ch (S50 direct line)