Eurostar + Intercités de Nuit
France's sleeper trains are making a comeback, but what are your current options for getting to the slopes?
Sleeper trains are ever popular with skiers. You dream your way to the slopes and get extra ski days as a reward: a romantic way of travel with a practical benefit.
Combining a Eurostar to Paris with an Intercités de Nuit sleeper train from Paris to the Alps is one way of doing this.
Until 2009, Intercités de Nuit was known as Corail Lunéa (“Moon Coral”)—in our opinion, a more inspiring name for a much larger service.
There used to be more overnight services from Paris to many parts of the Alps. You could get one from Paris to Bourg-Saint-Maurice, Saint-Gervais, and even Chur in Switzerland. Then, in 2016, SNCF axed several routes despite widespread protest.
SNCF is now planning to bring back more of its former sleeper trains, newly refurbished. However, the target dates for the comeback are frustratingly vague.
So what are your current options?
Paris - Briançon (via Intercités de Nuit)
One of the most important sleeper routes SNCF didn't axe in 2016 was Paris - Briançon.
Briançon station is in the southern Alps. The two main ski resorts it serves are Montgenèvre and Serre Chevalier. Other resorts travellers can access en route include Super Devoluy, Praloup, Les Orres, Risoul, Vars, and Puy-Saint-Vincent.
| London to Briançon - winter 2024-25 (predicted schedule) |
Train/resorts served |
||
| Dep | London St Pancras | 15:31 | Eurostar |
| Arr | Paris Nord | 19:00 | |
| Transfer from Paris Nord to Paris Austerlitz | |||
| Dep | Paris Austerlitz | Intercités de Nuit | |
| Arr | Veynes | 06:19 | Super Devoluy |
| Arr | Gap | 06:45 | Praloup |
| Arr | Embrun | 07:42 | Les Orres |
| Arr | Mont-Dauphin-Guillestre | 08:05 | Risoul, Vars |
| Arr | L'Argentière-les-Écrins | 08:19 | Puy-Saint-Vincent |
| Arr | Briançon | 08:38 | Montgenèvre, Serre Chevalier |
Oddly, before the 2016 cuts the sleeper train from Paris Austerlitz to Briançon used to depart later (at 22:10) and still reach Briançon at the same time as now (about 08:30). Why is it slower? We are trying to get local and regional politicians to ask SNCF this question, as the previous departure time from Paris meant you could take a later Eurostar from London, providing greater flexibility for travel.
| Briançon to London winter 2024-25 (predicted schedule) |
|||
| Dep | Briançon | 20:23 | Intercités de Nuit |
| Dep | L'Argentière-les-Écrins | 20:42 | |
| Dep | Mont-Dauphin-Guillestre | 21:00 | |
| Dep | Embrun | 21:18 | |
| Dep | Gap | 21:58 | |
| Dep | Veynes | 21:33 | |
| Arr | Paris Austerlitz | 07:53 | |
| Transfer from Austerlitz to Paris Nord | |||
| Dep | Paris Austerlitz | 10:08 | |
| Arr | London St Pancras | 11:30 | |
Paris - Latour-de-Carol (Intercités de Nuit)
Another key route is Paris - Latour-de-Carol, which serves some French Pyreneen resorts and also some resorts in Andorra.
| London to Latour-de-Carol - predicted journey schedule winter 2024-25 | |||
| Dep | London St Pancras | 16:31 | Eurostar |
| Arr | Paris Nord | 19:48 | |
| Transfer from Paris Nord to Paris Austerlitz | |||
| Dep | Paris Austerlitz | 21:40 | Intercités de Nuit |
| Arr | Ax-les-Thermes | 09:14 | |
| Arr | Andorre-L'Hospitalet | 09:42 | |
| Arr | Latour-de-Carol | 10:07 | |
The return journey is below.
| Latour-de-Carol to London - winter 2024-25 (predicted schedule) |
|||
| Dep | Latour-de-Carol | Intercités de Nuit | |
| Dep | Andorre-L'Hospitalet | ||
| Dep | Ax-les-Thermes | ||
| Arr | Paris Austerlitz | 07:53 | |
| Transfer from Austerlitz to Paris Nord | |||
| Dep | Paris Nord | 10:08 | Eurostar |
| Arr | London St Pancras | 11:30 | |
Ski resorts served by Intercités de Nuit
Photo: Daniel Elkan
Below, you'll find a list of resorts currently served by Intercités de Nuit and in each case the station-to-resort transfer time.
| Train station |
Ski resort |
Transfer time |
| Veynes | Super Devoluy | TBC |
| Gap | Praloup | TBC |
| Embrun | Les Orres | TBC |
| Mont-Dauphin-Guillestre | Risoul, Vars | TBC |
| L'Argentière-les-Écrins | Puy St Vincent | TBC |
| Briançon | Montgenèvre | TBC |
| Briançon | Serre Chevalier | TBC |
| Ax-les-Thermes | Ax-Les-Thermes | TBC |
| Andorre-L'Hospitalet | Grandvalira | TBC |
| Latour-de-Carol | TBC | TBC |
Your Eurostar + Intercités de Nuit stories
Eurostar + Intercités de Nuit trainPhoto: Daniel Elkan
We love getting stories from skiers about their ski holidays using Intercités de Nuit.
Angela McCreedy said that her party slept well on the sleeper from Paris to Briançon, before their ski holiday in Serre Chevalier, but that next time they'll pay €40 surcharge to keep one bunk free to pile luggage on.
Guy Russell's party booked a compartment for themselves (‘espace privatif’) on the sleeper train from Paris to Ax Les Thermes and said that compared to flying, the journey gave their holiday 'a sense of adventure'.
Finally, travelling from Scotland to Montgenèvre by train, Simon Amos' family enjoyed eight days in the resort by arriving early Saturday and leaving Saturday evening.
Which sleeper-train routes were axed?
The two key routes for skiers that were axed were:
- Paris - Moûtiers, Aime, Landry, and Bourg-Saint-Maurice
- Paris - Annecy, Cluses, Sallanches, and Saint-Gervais
Because of this, the following resorts are no longer accessible by sleeper train from Paris:
Avoriaz, Brides les Bains, Courchevel, Flaine, La Clusaz, La Plagne, La Rosiere, La Tania, Le Grand Bornand, Les Arcs, Les Carroz, Les Contamines, Les Gets, Les Menuires, Manigold, Megeve, Meribel, Morillon, Morzine, Peisey-Vallandry, Sainte Foy, Samoens, St Gervais, St Martin de Belleville, Tignes, Val d'Isere, Val Thorens, and Valmorel.
The French Government and SNCF are predicted to reopen the above routes sometime between 2026 and 2030. Hopefully, sleeper trains will fully return to the French Alps soon.
Step 1: Take the Eurostar to Paris
Eurostar at St PancrasPhoto: Eurostar International
At London St. Pancras, you’ll board the Eurostar, sit down, have a chat with your friends, go to the cafe bar, read a book, look at the scenery gliding by—perhaps share a joke with a fellow passenger.
There are lots of great ways to use your time on-board. Before you know it your Eurostar will arrive at Paris Nord.
You may also want to read our guide to what the Eurostar is like on board.
Step 2: Change from Paris Nord to Paris Austerlitz
Taxi transfer in Paris
Next you'll need to transfer from Paris Nord, where the Eurostar arrives, to Paris Austerlitz: the station from where Intercités de Nuit trains depart for the Alps.
The easiest way to do this is with a pre-booked taxi. Your driver will wait for you at the end of the Eurostar platform, holding a placard with your name. There’s also a taxi rank 50 metres to the right of the Eurostar platform, where you can call a cab if you haven’t pre-booked.
You can take the Metro direct from Paris Nord to Paris Austerlitz, but if you have a fair bit of luggage it’s best to avoid as this requires going up and down some stairs. When you get to Gare d'Austerlitz, you can have dinner opposite the station, or bring some food onto the train.
You can read about these options in depth in our guide to changing station from Paris Nord to Paris Austerlitz.
Step 3: Overnight to the Alps on the Intercités de Nuit
Intercités de nuit couchettePhoto: Daniel Elkan
There's something about getting on an overnight train that’s always exciting, never more so than when you’re headed for the Alps.
On board the Intercités de Nuit, you'll see Paris slipping away through the window, then its vast suburbs before you’re in the countryside.
In the morning you'll wake up close to the slopes and ready to ski, while thousands of other skiers stand in airport queues or find themselves cooped up on long transfers.
Intercités de Nuit trains are not built for luxury—they’re cosy, not spacious. However, they do the job and you can comfortably get a good night's sleep, dreaming of that first run.
You may also want to read our guide to what Intercités de Nuit sleeper trains are like on board.
Step 4: Transfer to your resort
Photo: Ski Lifts
Your final step will be to get from the arrival station to your chosen ski resort. Transfers typically take between 15 minutes and 45 minutes. This is far shorter than airport transfers, which can take 1.5 to 3 hours—sometimes longer.
It's a good idea to pre-book a taxi transfer, although at most Alpine stations you can usually find a taxi rank nearby.
There are also buses from train stations to ski resorts, usually timed to coincide with the arrival of the Intercité de Nuit sleeper.
We have a transfer guide for every ski resort on the Snowcarbon website to show you taxi and bus options and how to book them.
The Eurostar + sleeper train journey
In 2011, several of our team travelled to the Portes du Soleil via the Eurostar to Paris, and then a sleeper train to the Alps, filming the journey as we went.
We travelled in Standard Class on the Eurostar and Intercités de Nuit (then known as the Corail Lunéa), sleeping in a six-berth couchette.
The journey was a lot of fun and a good way for friends to socialise and get to know each other at the start of the holiday.
You can read more about our onboard experience of the sleeper train here.
How to book Eurostar + Intercités de Nuit journeys
Intercites de Nuit trainPhoto: Daniel Elkan
Most skiers travelling by Eurostar + Intercités de Nuit book the journey independently.
At the time of writing, a ski package holiday containing Eurostar + Intercites de Nuit included doesn't really exist. We hope that might change in the future.
Until then, you can book both legs of your journey online, or with a rail-booking agent. For more info about which websites and rail-booking agents to use, read our guide to how to book rail travel to the Alps.
What's worth knowing is that despite SNCF putting a lot of money into renovating its sleeper trains, it sometimes puts them on sale in an odd way. For certain dates, Intercités de Nuit trains that should normally be on sale don't go on sale immediately.
This is different from TGV. SNCF releases its daytime train tickets in a fairly predictable manner, with blocks of dates on sale and all the trains during that period bookable.
We’ve found that Intercités de Nuit aren't put on sale in this way. Instead, ticket sales can be less predictable, as if certain dates were being held off. It's something you should be aware of when booking ahead. If the date you want isn't on sale at the outset, it will likely go on sale in due course, which is reassuring and frustrating at the same time. Just make sure to keep checking.
How to book an 'espace privatif' (private couchette)
Sleeper couchettePhoto: Simon Amos
Couchette compartments on the Intercités de Nuit contain either six berths (Standard Class) or four berths (First Class). However, if you’re 4–5 people in Standard Class, or if you’re 1–3 people in First Class, you can book the whole couchette for yourself by paying an 'espace privatif' supplement.
Not a lot of people know this is possible. Indeed, we discovered it from the excellent Mark Smith, founder of the rail website The Man in Seat 61.
How much does it cost:
| Class | Minimum number of people | Total supplement required |
| First Class | 1 | €70 |
| First Class | 2 | €50 |
| First Class | 3 | €40 |
| Second Class | 4 or 5 | €45 |
You can read more about the espace privatif on Seat 61's page about sleeper trains from Paris
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.