2025-26 Journey Planner - ready!

Some things are important to know ahead of time.

You don't order breakfast without knowing which way the eggs are to be cooked, for example. Nor would you plan a rail-ski holiday without checking out the train timetables first.
 
But most train companies don’t publish timetables until the moment that they put tickets on sale. 

This particularly affects skiers because:

– Ski holidays are planned further in advance than most other trips.

– You might be considering a new ski destination with a less-familiar route. 

– Each person in your party will want to know what the journey entails..

To help solve this problem, we created the SnowCarbon Journey Planner (SJP).  The abbreviation 'SJP' makes it sound like a new political party, which it isn't. It's just a useful tool.

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10 useful things to know about the SnowCarbon Journey Planner

Cafe-bar foodPhoto: Daniel Elkan

1.     The SJP is hand-researched for skiers and snowboarders
Instead of relying on algorithms (like rail-booking websites do), the SJP is hand-researched and ski-resort specific (see example, below). The journeys that you see come from a unique database that we create and keep updated.
 
2.     It doesn’t show every possible journey
Instead, the SJP shows what I consider to be the more convenient journeys from London to each destination, thinking from a skier/snowboarder’s perspective. It doesn't show journeys that arrive in resort late at night, for example. Quality over quantity.

3.     It show journeys you won't always find online
Algorithms that power rail-booking websites are a blunt tool. Sometimes they fail to show specific journeys that you might have wanted to take, which is nuts really. The SJP reliably displays journey options so that you are made aware of them.

4.     It's date searchable
Unlike most rail-booking websites, the SJP shows the running days of the week – plus it gives a date range for each journey. You can search to see which journeys should run on a given date, too.
 
5.     It's not a crystal ball (but it's more than a goldfish bowl)
The timetables in the Journey Planner are (at this stage) a prediction, not a cast iron guarantee. However, most rail timetables vary by only a few minutes, year to year. Some services, like Eurostar Snow, are more difficult to predict. For example, Eurostar might extend this service into March and April next season. We don’t know yet (they say it’s the hope that kills you).

Photo: Daniel Elkan

6.     Once journeys are confirmed, we update the SJP
Once train companies publish journey schedules, we recheck timings and update the SJP accordingly. At that time you can also begin to use actual rail-booking websites like Trainline, Rail Europe and Deutsche Bahn to look up bookable journeys—but remember that rail-booking websites rely on algorithms that are not always reliable - as SnowCarbon's research consistently shows.  That makes the SJP an invaluable companion for ticket booking, like having a friend in the passenger seat who knows the best routes (but you're in a train, not a car). 
 
7.     It links to train guides
Schedules are one thing, but what about the travel experience? For each leg of every journey on the SJP, you can click a link to view an ‘Onboard experience’ guide for that train, such as snowcarbon.co.uk/guides/onboard-experience/tgv for the TGV in France or snowcarbon.co.uk/guides/onboard-experience/railjet for the Railjet in Austria. 

8.     It’s arranged by ski resort, not by train station
We’ve presented the SJP so that you access train schedules by choosing a ski resort first. We’re aware that it would also be useful to access schedules by choosing a train station. This functionality will be available in due course.
 
9.     Remember – rail-ski maps and Seat 61
Maps can be useful companions for planning journeys. We’ve created a rail-ski map of France and a rail-ski map of Austria for this purpose. Also, for train travel to Europe, the excellent Seat61 and ShowMeTheJourney websites have helpful info too although they aren’t specialised for skiing.
 
10.     Advice on booking journeys
SnowCarbon doesn’t sell train tickets nor book rail journeys for you, but we do offer impartial advice on how to do so. For each resort on SnowCarbon, you’ll find a ‘Book travel’ page (such as snowcarbon.co.uk/ski-resorts/la-plagne/la-plagne-book-travel) and a ‘Transfer guide’ page with advice about how to reach the resort from the station (such as snowcarbon.co.uk/ski-resorts/morzine/morzine-transfer-guide). And our SnowCarbon Guides section has a more about various aspects of travel and how to book.

Here's the link to the SnowCarbon Journey Planner page.

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Timetables can be wierdly fun

It takes about 12 full days of pouring over train schedules to create the Journey Planner, cross referencing a variety of sources. I find this oddly exciting. Geeky it might be, but I blame a simple desire to find better ways to travel to the snow.

The search for the best schedules can be wistful too, with many cases of 'would have been great if there was a connecting train at...' etc. But as in Hemingway's wonderful novel, The Old Man And The Sea, it's about perseverance. Sometimes you are the old man, sometimes you are the fish and sometimes you are the sea. 

Photo: Suzy Austrin

Suggestions for your next ski holiday

Photo: Daniel Elkan

If you'd like any inspiration and suggestions for your next ski holiday – such as which ski resort, great places to stay and how to get there, I'll be happy to help. Just get in touch and let me know what you are ideally looking for.