Ski resorts by train

Bourg St Maurice bus transfers

Mon 16 December, 2019

By

By: 
Daniel Elkan

At Snowcarbon we've been investigating connections from the Eurostar Ski Train and TGV trains to ski resorts in the Tarentaise region of France, so that you can have an at-a-glance picture of the situation. We're creating a series of tables (see below) to make this clear (well, hopefully clear). 

You'll notice that some of the journeys from ski resorts back to Bourg St Maurice stations take longer than the journeys from stations.  That's because the bus companies like to allow more time in case of traffic or snow on the roads, to leave ample time to get the train.  So that might mean your journey is unlikely to be as long as the bus schedule says, and you'll have more time for coffee or food (or wine) in Bourg St Maurice.

Please us know if you have questions, of course.

Outbound to La Rosiere (Saturday arrival)
Train to Bourg St Maurice Train arrives Next bus departs Bus arrives resort
overnight Eurostar Ski Train 06:17 07:15 08:05
07:18 TGV from Lille 13:24 13:45 14:35
08:45 TGV from Paris 13:54 14:45 15:35
12:45 TGV from Paris 17:48 18:15 19:05
daytime Eurostar Ski Train 19:03 No bus Er...nope

 

Return from La Rosiere (Saturday departure)
Train from Bourg St Maurice Bus departs resort Bus arrives train station Train departs
09:17 TGV to Paris 07:00 08:00 09:17
daytime Eurostar Ski Train 07:00 08:00 09:34
16:30 TGV to Paris 15:00 16:00 16:30
overnight Eurostar Ski Train 18:00 18:50 22:12

See also our Bourg St Maurice to La Rosiere transfer guide


Outbound to Tignes (Saturday arrival)
Train to Bourg St Maurice Train arrives Next bus departs Bus arrives resort
overnight Eurostar Ski Train 06:17 06:45 07:45
07:18 TGV from Lille 13:24 13:45 15:15*b
08:45 TGV from Paris 13:54 14:30 15:35
12:45 TGV from Paris 17:48 18:00 19:30 *b
daytime Eurostar Ski Train 19:03 19:35*a 21:05

*a:  this bus runs only on 8th, 15th and 22nd Feb 2020.
*b:  this bus goes via Val d'Isere first, so takes longer.

Return from Tignes (Saturday departure)
Train from Bourg St Maurice Bus departs resort Bus arrives train station Train departs
09:17 TGV to Paris 06:45 08:00 09:17
daytime Eurostar Ski Train 06:45 08:00 09:34
16:30 TGV to Paris 14:45 16:00 16:30
overnight Eurostar Ski Train 18:00 19:30 22:12

See also our Bourg St Maurice to Tignes transfer guide


Outbound to Val d'Isere (Saturday arrival)
Train to Bourg St Maurice Train arrives Next bus departs Bus arrives resort
overnight Eurostar Ski Train 06:17 06:45 07:45
07:18 TGV from Lille 13:24 13:45 14:45
08:45 TGV from Paris 13:54 14:30 15:30
12:45 TGV from Paris 17:48 18:00 19:00
daytime Eurostar Ski Train 19:03 19:35*a 20:35

*a:  this bus runs only on 8th, 15th and 22nd Feb 2020.
 

Return from Val d'Isere (Saturday departure)
Train from Bourg St Maurice Bus departs resort Bus arrives train station Train departs
09:17 TGV to Paris 06:45 08:00 09:17
daytime Eurostar Ski Train 06:45 08:00 09:34
16:30 TGV to Paris 15:05 16:20 16:30
overnight Eurostar Ski Train 18:45 19:45 22:12

See also our Bourg St Maurice to Val d'Isere transfer guide


Outbound to Les Arcs (Saturday arrival) *c *d
Train to Bourg St Maurice Train arrives Next bus departs Bus arrives resort
overnight Eurostar Ski Train 06:17 07:15 07:55
07:18 TGV from Lille 13:24 14:00 14:40
08:45 TGV from Paris 13:54 14:00 14:40
12:45 TGV from Paris 17:48 18:00 18:40
daytime Eurostar Ski Train 19:03 No bus Er...nope

*c:  Les Arcs is also served by funicular railway from Bourg St Maurice to Arc 1600, with (free) connecting buses from there to the other villages.
*d:  Times are based on arrival and departure times at the village of Arc 1800 (Charvet)

Return from Les Arcs (Saturday departure) *c *d
Train from Bourg St Maurice Bus departs resort Bus arrives train station Train departs
09:17 TGV to Paris 07:35 08:05 09:17
daytime Eurostar Ski Train 07:35 08:05 09:34
16:30 TGV to Paris 15:05 15:50 16:30
overnight Eurostar Ski Train 14:15*e 14:50 22:12

*c:  Les Arcs is also served by funicular railway from Bourg St Maurice to Arc 1600, with (free) connecting buses from there to the other villages.
*d:  Times are based on arrival and departure times at the village of Arc 1800 (Charvet)
*e:  This is the last direct bus down to Bourg from Les Arcs, but you can travel later on the free buses to Arc1600 and then take the funicular railway to Bourg St Maurice, or travel by taxi.

See also our Bourg St Maurice to Les Arcs transfer guide


Outbound to Sainte Foy (Saturday arrival)
Train to Bourg St Maurice Train arrives Next bus departs Bus arrives resort
overnight Eurostar Ski Train 06:17 07:15 07:45
07:18 TGV from Lille 13:24 15:45 16:15
08:45 TGV from Paris 13:54 15:45 16:15
12:45 TGV from Paris 17:48 no bus er...nope
daytime Eurostar Ski Train 19:03 no bus er...nope

*a:  this bus runs only on 8th, 15th and 22nd Feb 2020.
 

Return from Sainte Foy (Saturday departure)
Train from Bourg St Maurice Bus departs resort Bus arrives train station Train departs
09:17 TGV to Paris 08:00 09:00 09:17
daytime Eurostar Ski Train 08:00 09:00*e 09:34
16:30 TGV to Paris 12:30 13:30 16:30
overnight Eurostar Ski Train 16:30*f 17:15 22:15

*e: given that the Eurostar Ski Train officially requires at least 60 minutes check in time at Bourg, then on paper this is cutting it fine. In practice, it might be fine, but it's a bit of a risk.
f* this is the last bus from Sainte Foy ski resort to Bourg St Maurice.

See also our Bourg St Maurice to Sainte Foy transfer guide


Our conclusion from this research
Having done this analysis of connections between Bourg St Maurice train station and the resorts that it serves, namely La Rosiere, Tignes, Val d'Isere, Les Arcs and Sainte Foy, it's clear that skiers travelling on the direct Eurostar Ski Train are not as well served by buses as they could be.  (For Les Arcs, it's a bit different, because the resort is served by funicular railway to 1600 and a free bus service from there to the other villages).

In some cases too, connections between TGV trains and buses are also not well co-ordinated. It should be noted that there are more TGV departures and arrivals than those listed here - but we've listed the most useful TGVs for UK-based skiers.

Of course, there are plentiful taxi services that can be booked.  But if you are a couple, for example, a taxi just for two of you works out more expensive than one shared with others. From an environmental point of view, it would be better to be able to share a vehicle with others. Perhaps shared minibus and taxi services designed with train departure and arrival times in mind are something that needs to be developed if we are going to make it even better for rail-travelling skiers to travel by train.  In which case, watch this space!