Eurostar + European Sleeper
You can travel to Austria and Italy's slopes overnight by combining the Eurostar to Brussels with a European Sleeper train—a new service for travel in February and March.
Overnight rail travel has always attracted skiers, making the journey part of the holiday and adding two extra days on the slopes.
This February and March 2025, you can take the Eurostar to Brussels, then the European Sleeper—a new overnight service to the slopes of Austria and Italy.
This new journey option adds comfort and capacity to the range of options for train-and-snow-loving travellers.
How does it work and what can you expect? Where can it take you and how do you book? Our guide below has the answers.
When does the European Sleeper run?
Photo: European Sleeper
The European sleeper runs on the following dates.
Outbound dates (going to the Alps) with the European Sleeper
• Wednesday 05 February 2025
• Friday 14 February 2025
• Thursday 21 February 2025 (to Innsbruck only)
• Saturday 23 February 2025
• Thursday 28 February 2025 (to Innsbruck only)
• Tuesday 04 March 2025
• Wednesday 12 March 2025
Inbound dates (coming from the Alps) with the European Sleeper
• Sunday 09 February 2025
• Tuesday 18 February 2025
• Saturday 22 February 2025 (from Innsbruck only)
• Thursday 27 February 2025
• Saturday 01 March 2025 (from Innsbruck only)
• Saturday 08 March 2025
• Sunday 16 March 2025
Step 1: Take the Eurostar to Brussels
Photo: Eurostar International
The first thing you'll need to do is to take a Eurostar train from London St. Pancras to Bruxelles-Midi.
It's only a couple of hours' travel time. Still, enough time for interesting conversations with friends or fellow travellers, reading a book, working on that thing you've been working on, taking in the scenery, a trip to Eurostar's rather disappointing café-bar, watching that film you've heard about, doing some thinking, remembering to do that thing you forgot and... Now you've arrived!
You may want to read our guide to what the Eurostar is like on board.
Step 2: Take the European Sleeper from Brussels
As night descends, it's time to board the European Sleeper, headed for the Tirolean Alps.
Depending on which ticket you've booked, you'll find yourself in a private single, double, or triple “sleeper”; a five or six-person “couchette” (mixed and women’s only available); or a seated compartment (the cheapest option).
The train departs Brussels at 19:00 and no doubt you'll feel a frisson of excitement as you move out of the station. Soon, you’ll be zooming past the night lights of wintry Brussels, into rural Flanders and onwards towards snow-capped mountains.
Before sleeping, you can visit the European Sleeper’s restaurant carriage and bar.
Step 3: Transfer to your resort
In Austria, the stations that the European Sleeper stops at are Kufstein, Wörgl, Jenbach and Innsbruck.
Once the European Sleeper arrives in Austria the next morning, your final step will be to get from the station to your chosen ski resort.
Depending on which ski resort you are headed for, you might need to:
a) take a local train to travel onwards in Austria to a different train station
or
b) take a bus or taxi transfer from the station (where the European Sleeper stops) to your resort
If travelling by taxi, it's a good idea to pre-book a taxi transfer, although at stations such as Wörgl and Innsbruck Hbf you should find taxis waiting at the taxi rank too.
There are train connections from Wörgl and Innsbruck Hbf to other ski resorts in Austria. Many ski resorts in Austria have a train station in their base village (see our transfer table further on in this guide).
Timetable for London to Austria by Eurostar + European Sleeper
This is a timetable for journeys between London and Austria, with a combination of London to Brussels by Eurostar, and then onwards with the European Sleeper.
London to the Alps | Train station | The Alps to London |
15:04 (dep) - Eurostar | London St Pancras | 13:57 (arr) |
18:05 (arr) | Brussels Midi / Zuid | 12:52 (dep) - Eurostar |
19:00 (dep) - European Sleeper | Brussels Midi / Zuid | 11:30 (arr) |
20:30 (dep) | Breda | 09:30 (arr) |
21:00 (dep) | Tilburg | 09:00 (arr) |
21:30 (dep) | Eindhoven Centraal | 08:30 (arr) |
22:30 (dep) | Venlo | 07:30 (arr) |
23:30 (dep) | Cologne Hbf | 06:30 (arr) |
06:30 (arr) | Munich | 23:30 (dep) |
07:30 (arr) | Kufstein | 22:30 (dep) |
08:00 (arr) | Wörgl | 22:00 (dep) |
08:30 (arr) | Jenbach | 21:30 (dep) |
09:00 (arr) | Innsbruck Hbf | 21:00 (dep) |
09:30 (arr) | Brennero | 20:30 (dep) |
10:30 (arr) | Bressanone | 19:30 (dep) |
10:45 (arr) | Ponte-Gardena-Laion | 19:15 (dep) |
11:00 (arr) | Bolzano | 19:00 (dep) European Sleeper |
Timings are provisional; dep = depart, arr = arrive |
Rail-ski map of Austria
Together with graphic designer David Cooper and Austria Tourism, SnowCarbon has created a rail-ski map of Austria.
The aim of the map is to help skiers and snowboarders plan rail journeys to ski resorts.
Here's a link to download the Austria rail-ski map as a PDF.
How to book Eurostar + European Sleeper journeys
Photo: European Sleeper
There are two ways to book the European Sleeper.
You'll need to book your Eurostar tickets and your European Sleeper tickets separately.
You can book the Eurostar (London to Brussels) on the Eurostar website.
Tickets start at £39 one way (Eurostar Standard); £70 one way (Eurostar Plus) and £245 one way (Eurostar Premier).
You can book European Sleeper tickets on the European Sleeper website.
European Sleeper - couchette compartment prices
€199 euros (per person, one way) for place in a 6-person compartment
€229 euros (per person, one way) for place in a 5-person compartment / or shared women-only compartment
€799 (one-way, per compartment) for a private 5-person compartment
Includes:
- Air conditioning/heating
- Seats during the day, comfortable couchettes at night
- Big fold-up table available during the day
- Couchette 5-person compartments can also be booked as a private compartment
- Couchette 5-person compartment also available as Women Only
- Blanket, sheet and pillow are included for all passengers
- Bathroom and toilet are on the corridor
- Compartments can be locked from the inside
- Mineral water included
- Breakfast can be added for an additional fee
European Sleeper - sleeper compartment prices
€259 (per person, one-way) in a sleeper compartment for three people.
€309 (per person, one-way) in a sleeper compartment for two people.
€409 (per person, one-way) for a private sleeper compartment for one person.
Compartments can be booked as single, double or triple
Includes:
- Washbasin in the compartment, toilets elsewhere in the carriage
- Seats and table are in the compartment
- A comfortable mattress and made-up bed, including duvet, pillow and sheets
- Men and women travel together, except in the women-only compartment
- Compartments can be locked from the inside
- Wake-up call at the desired time
- Towel and toiletries included
- Breakfast, mineral water and welcome drink included
Transfers to Austrian ski resorts
The table below shows the average transfer times between popular ski resorts in Austria and the closest train stations to them.
As you'll see, in many cases the train station is in the actual resort village, so the transfer is minimal (a short walk or a couple of minutes in a taxi)
Ski resort | Train station | Transfer time |
Alpbach | Jenbach | 20 minutes |
Bad Gastein | Bad Gastein | Station is in the village |
Bad Hofgastein | Bad Hofgastein | Station is in the village |
Damüls | Bludenz | 35 minutes |
Dorfgastein | Dorfgastein | Station is in the village |
Ellmau | Kufstein | 19 minutes |
Ellmau | Wörgl | 21 minutes |
Hinterglemm | Zell am See | 21 minutes |
Hopfgarten | Hopfgarten | Station is in the village |
Ischgl | Landeck-Zams | 31 minutes |
Kaprun | Zell am See | 9 minutes |
Kitzbühel | Kitzbühel | Station is in the village |
Lech | Langen am Arlberg | 20 minutes |
Leogang | Leogang | Station is in the village |
Mayrhofen | Mayrhofen | Station is in the village |
Niederau | Wörgl | 7 minutes |
Obergurgl | Ötztal | 47 minutes |
St. Anton am Arlberg | St. Anton am Arlberg | Station is in the village |
St. Johann in Tirol | St. Johann in Tirol | Station is in the village |
St johann in Salzburg | St Johann im Pongau | 5 minutes |
Saalbach | Zell am See | 18 minutes |
Saalfelden | Saalfelden | Station is in the village |
Scheffau | Kufstein | 16 minutes |
Scheffau | St Johann in Tirol | 16 minutes |
Schladming | Schladming | Station is in the village |
Schruns | Schruns | Station is in the village |
Seefeld | Seefeld in Tirol | Station is in the village |
Sölden | Ötztal | 34 minutes |
Söll | Kufstein | 14 minutes |
Zell am See | Zell am See | Station is in the village |
Zürs | Langen am Arlberg | 20 minutes |
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 where you're going.
We look forward to helping you.