The Best Ski Resorts by Train
Cut your Carbon Footprint by up to 85% when you travel to your next Winter Holiday destination! We have compiled a list of top resorts accessible by train.
Travelling to and from your ski holiday is never the best part. If you drive to your chosen resort, there is a lot of preparation your car needs to go through to make the journey safe and legal.
First, is fitting the winter tyres, which is mandatory in Austria and other snowy areas. For a set, this can cost up to £500! This is even before you have bought/fitted your roof box, booked your channel crossing, cried at the petrol prices on Europe’s motorways, paid 10 euros for an average sandwich in a French service station and bought 17 coffees during your 12+ hour drive.
Flying is another not so great experience. It’s not all bad if you don’t own any equipment as it's just like travelling to any other holiday destination. But if you own ski’s , snowboards, boots, poles, helmets and various other items. Travelling by plane is a nightmare. You have to pay extra for oversized luggage, but then only get a 30kg limit, and if you’re taking everything you need for the slopes, this can be a tall order.
All the stress and weight requirements are nothing in comparison to the faff when arriving at the airport. Whether it be waiting for your transfer to pick you up, hiring a car where there are another 1,000 people in the queue, or waiting for a bus that will be late and inevitably, overcrowded. There has to be a better way…… Surely? Yes, the train.
With a zero weight limit on luggage, you can grab yourself a Snokart Zoom 6 luggage set and pack it full with everything you need and more. There are many resorts where you can get to, and here is a list of top resorts that are easily accessible by train.
Austria Ski Resorts by Train
St Anton
Austria is the first country to start with, and more specifically, St Anton. The famous resort where that iconic movie, Chalet Girl was filmed. This is considered one of the best resorts in Austria, with its amazing runs, off piste routes and incredible apres ski.
Altogether there are 280km of slopes served by 85 lifts in the Arlberg ski area (which also includes the resorts of St Christoph, Lech, Zürs and Stuben).
Here’s an example of how to reach it for a price as small as £120 each way: depart on the Eurostar from London St. Pancras at 07:55, arrive in Paris Nord at 11.17 and transfer to Paris-Lyon. Take the 12.23 train to Zurich arriving at 16.26. Depart Zurich at 16.40 and arrive in St Anton at 19.03.
Alpbach
Here’s an example of how to get there from London with a rough price of £130 each way. Take the 06.57 ski train from St. Pancras to Brussels. From Brussels, get on the 10.25 InterCity Express to Frankfurt. Take the 13.54 to Munich, arriving at 17.07, and the 17.38 EuroCity train from Munich to Woergl arriving at 18.49.
French Ski Resorts by Train
Les Arcs
Next on the list, we are shifting over to the French Alps to Les Arcs. This is one of France’s most popular snowboarding resorts, and it is extremely easy to reach by ski train. Les Arcs's nearest station is Bourg St Maurice and in the ski season there are regular Saturday trains during the day and overnight Eurostar trains on Fridays.
From Bourg St Maurice you can pick up a bus to resort or a transfer minibus. The train is about eight hours from London. Before you know it, you’ll be in snowboarding heaven. Other things we love about Les Arcs: its speed-skiing track and the Mille 8 development – complete with a brand spanking-new gondola to replace the Villards chairlift, a beginners' area with magic carpet and the ‘discovery’ blue run.
To get there, depart London St. Pancras at 07.55 and arrive in Paris-Nord at 11.17. Transfer to Paris-Lyon and depart for Chambery at 12.45. Arrive in Chambery at 15.35 and take the local train to Bourg St Maurice at 16.29. Arrive in Bourg St Maurice at 18.19 and hop aboard the funicular train to Les Arcs in 7 minutes. This Journey can be as little at £100 each way.