Sleeper trains to the Alps

What are your sleeper train options?

Sleeper trains are experiencing a renaissance in Europe. For skiers, they're brilliant: sleep on your way to and from the slopes, adding two extra days' skiing to your holiday. Considering the benefits, there really should be more options. No doubt, in the coming years, there will be. 

Currently, the three main options for travel between London and the Alps are:

• Eurostar + Travelski Night Express (to French ski resorts)
• Eurostar + Intercités de Nuit (to French ski resorts)
• Eurostar + NightJet (to Austrian ski resorts)

In the sections below, we'll give you more information about each of these options.

Eurostar + Travelski Night Express

Breakfast on the Travelski Night ExpressPhoto: Daniel Elkan

Photo: Daniel Elkan

Combining a Eurostar to Paris (or Brussels) with the Travelski Night Express sleeper train means you can enjoy overnight rail travel to the French Alps and two extra days skiing as part of your holiday. There are two routes: 

• Paris to Bourg-Saint-Maurice
• Brussels to Bourg-Saint-Maurice

The Travelski Night Express is a new service, a private charter train by French ski tour operator, Travelski. You can buy packages with train ticket, transfers, accommodation in resort and ski pass included. Or you can just buy the train tickets and choose your own accommodation in resort. 

The Travelski Night Express departs Paris Gare de Lyon and Brussels-Midi every Friday throughout the winter season. It calls at Moûtiers-Salins, Aime-la-Plagne and Bourg-Saint-Maurice. It returns from the Alps every Saturday throughout the season, arriving in Paris and Brussels on Sunday morning. 

The Travelski Night Express has a cafe-bar-restaurant that is tastefully done out (in a kind of retro, speakeasy feel) and which stays  open all night. The atmosphere is friendly, and food and drink reasonably priced. The train has couchettes that sleep six people each.

You can find out more about this sleeper train option in our guide to Eurostar + Travelski NIght Express. 

Eurostar + Intercités de Nuit

Daniel Elkan, Intercités de Nuit train

Intercités de Nuit are the name for the French sleeper trains run for many years by SNCF. They are simple sleeper trains with no cafe bar or restaurant on board, just four-berth and six-berth couchettes.

There are two routes that are relevant for skiers at the moment, which run every night. 

Paris - Briançon
Key resorts served: Montgenèvre, Serre Chevalier

Paris - Rodez/Latour-de-Carol
Key resorts served: (in Andorra) Pas de la Casa, Soldeu

You can combine a Eurostar to Paris with an Intercités de Nuit sleeper train. 

There used to be nightly services across lots of routes in France, including the skier-friendly Paris to Bourg-Saint-Maurice and Paris to St Gervais. Then in 2016, the French Government decided to axe many sleeper services across France (including Paris to Bourg-Saint-Maurice and Paris to St Gervais) despite their enduring popularity, particularly with skiers.

Snowcarbon campaigned to keep these vital services running; check out this two-minute film we made as part of the campaign: Save the Sleepers.

Having realised the error of their ways, the French Government and SNCF have said they will bring back more sleeper train routes. This is currently expected to happen in 2030.

You can find out more about this train-travel opition in our guide to Eurostar + Intercités de Nuit.

Eurostar + NightJet to Austria

ÖBB/Harald Eisenberger

You can travel overnight from London to Austria's ski resorts by combining a Eurostar with a Nightjet sleeper train. Nightjet is the growing network of overnight trains run by Austrian national operator ÖBB. 

For UK-based skiers, the most interesting routes will be: 

London > Brussels > Cologne > Innbsruck 
Outbound and inbound journeys run every day. 
This is the shortest overnight Nightjet route to Innsbruck, changing trains at Brussels and Cologne. 

Route 2. London > Amsterdam > Innbsruck 
Outbound and inbound journeys run every day. 

This route takes a few hours longer than via Brussels and Cologne. The advantage of the Amsterdam route is that it's only one change of train and there's a bit of time to check out Amsterdam. 

Route 3. London > Brussels > Salzburg
Outbound journeys run Mon, Wed, and Fri.
Inbound journeys run Tues, Thurs, and Sat.

Route 4. London > Paris > Salzburg
Outbound journeys run Mon, Wed, and Fri.
Inbound journeys run Tues, Thurs, and Sat.

The NightJet has couchettes with berths (fold-down bunks) so you can lie flat and enjoy a good night's sleep on your way to the slopes.

You can choose from sleeping in a 2-berth, 4-berth or 6-berth couchette compartment, which can be shared or private.

Although the train has no café-bar, the NightJet staff can give you a wake-up call accompanied by a complimentary continental breakfast brought to your couchette. You can also order hot and cold drinks and snacks at any time.

Find out more about travelling to Austria by sleeper train in our section on London to Austria by Eurostar + NightJet. 

What are couchettes like?

Reading in Intercités de Nuit couchetteDaniel Elkan

Couchettes are train compartments containing folding beds known as 'berths', with six or four berths in each couchette. On every sleeper service (regardless of country or operator), you'll get freshly laundered sheets, a pillow, a quilt, and a small bottle of water.  There’ll also be a ceiling light and a reading light by each bed, and the couchette door will be lockable from the inside. Upper berths have straps to prevent you from rolling out of bed onto the floor.

In a 6-berth couchette, there’s not much space to move about once you've got your luggage in, but it's fine for banter and sleeping. You can also get 4-berth couchettes or (on Austrian trains) a more expensive 2-berth (sometimes called a compartment)—particularly good for couples wanting a bit of privacy.

Couchettes are normally mixed-sex carriages, but you can request a single-sex couchette too. On most sleeper trains, you can convert the couchette beds to seating in the morning.

Extra days on the slopes

Photo: Daniel Elkan

One of the advantages of sleeper trains for skiers are the extra days you get on the slopes.  One when you arrive. And one on the final day of your holiday. That created eight days on the slopes instead of the usual six. 

Normally, if your holiday accommodation is Saturday - Saturday and you fly or you take daytime trains, you'd ski on the Sunday to the Friday (six days in total).

But by travelling overnight on the Friday, you get to ski on the Saturday of your arrival. And then at the end of the week, when all the other skiers are leaving the resort on Saturday morning, you'll be able to ski quiet slopes all day before having apres / dinner and heading to the station to get your overnight train. 

Luggage on sleeper trains

The under-the-bed spaces will usually fit two snowboard bags or three pairs of skis each.

Obviously, if you’re in a four-berth couchette rather than six, you'll have fewer items of luggage because there's fewer people, and more space per person.  

Reclining seats on sleeper trains

Some overnight trains have reclining seats as well as couchettes, but in the case of the overnight Travelski Express, reclining seats are your only option. Think carefully before you choose to travel this way—it isn’t as comfortable as a couchette and getting to sleep won’t be so easy.

Unlike a couchette, which is closed off by a door, reclining seats are located on either side of the train gangway, so people will be walking past you to go to the toilet, etc. Also, the lighting stays on in the reclining seat areas, so an eye mask helps.

Changing in Paris

The easiest way to change stations in Paris is with a pre-booked taxi. Your driver will meet you at the end of the Eurostar platform holding a sign with your name on it. This is available when you travel independently, but can also be requested as part of a rail-inclusive ski package.

If you haven’t booked, there’s a taxi rank at each train station in Paris, metres from the train platforms.

The Metro change from Paris Nord to Paris Austerlitz (where many Intercités de Nuit night trains depart from) requires going up and down several flights of stairs, so a taxi is much easier if you have luggage.

For more info, see our guides on how to change in Paris.

Extra time on the slopes

Overnight trains from Paris usually arrive in the Alps between 7 am and 10 am, and the direct Eurostar Ski Train arrives even earlier.  If you are travelling independently, let your accommodation owner know your arrival time in advance, so that they can arrange a room where you can store your things while you go skiing and facilities to freshen up or shower on arrival. When you return in the afternoon, you can check into your room.

On your final day, you’ll check out in the morning, store your things, and leave to ski. If you are in a chalet, there may be some overlap with the next week’s guests arriving before you leave to catch the overnight train, but this shouldn’t be a problem. Have dinner in the resort or at the station before catching your overnight train.

If you fancy spending the Sunday of your return journey exploring Paris, Paris Austerlitz has showers and luggage storage facilities. You can then take the afternoon or evening Eurostar back to London.

Key questions for your chalet provider

Many chalets, hotels or apartments will be used to skiers who fly, normally arriving late afternoon and departing in the morning a week later.

Travelling by overnight train means arriving in the morning and skiing the same day. However, there may be other guests (from the previous week) there when you arrive. So, here are seven key questions to check with your accommodation provider or tour operator before booking.

1. Will our accommodation be open when we arrive in the morning?
2. Can we get into the building to store our luggage securely and get changed into our ski clothes?
3. Will other guests from the previous week still be there when we arrive?
4. Can you pick us up from the station, and is there a charge for this?
5. At what time will our rooms be available?
6. Can you recommend anywhere for breakfast before we hit the slopes, or could you provide some breakfast?
7. Can you arrange our lift passes in advance so we can head straight onto the slopes?

Answering these questions early should give you a smoother arrival and maximise your time on the slopes.

One-way overnight, one-way daytime

Many Alpine resorts are accessible by both daytime and overnight journeys, so an interesting option is to travel overnight outbound and travel daytime inbound, or vice versa.

Skiers often think of 'daytime' or 'overnight' train travel as an 'either/or', but as each has its advantages, it can be worth mixing them up into the same trip. You could also make one of the journeys a Paris stopover.

'Something for the weekend, Sir?' No, not really.

Sadly, since the 2016 cuts, the relative lack of weekday overnight rail options to French resorts means there are poor pickings if you want to use overnight rail for a ski weekend.

You could leave London on a Thursday evening, catch the overnight train from Paris and be on the slopes Friday morning. However, the way that SNCF has run this route in the 2017–18 season has been quite unpredictable, with services going on sale late and changes to the timetable to make the journey longer—not really viable for weekenders. 

For weekend ski trips, where travel time is limited, you might find that flying is a more viable option.

Ski holidays by train — Ask SnowCarbon

At SnowCarbon we are always happy to help you with suggestions for great resorts, fantastic accommodations, and how to get there.

We look forward to helping you.