Ski resorts by train

Winter trains go on sale Thursday 12th October

Sun 08 October, 2017

By

By: 
Daniel Elkan

Tickets for indirect train journeys to ski resorts go on sale from 5am (approx time) on Thursday 12 October 2017. This means that from 12th October it will be possible to book indirect journeys to ski resorts up to and including the 12 January 2018. A rolling booking horizon* of 3 months will then apply.

Then, from 7 November 2017 it will be possible to book up to and including the 12 March 2018 inclusive, a key period for ski holidays. A rolling booking horizon of 3 months will then apply once more, continuing on to Easter and beyond.

How to book train journeys to the Alps
There are a number of ways to book these journeys. My preferred booking website is www.loco2.com, which I think has the best functionality and is most user friendly. Loco2 is an innovative start up founded by brother and sister team Kate and Jamie Andrews.  Earlier this year it was bought by Voyages SNCF. Loco2 doesn't have a call centre, so if you are thinking that you'd prefer to call you can do this via rail company call centres.  Voyages SNCF, Eurostar and also Switzerland Travel Centre can all help:

Rail company Phone number Opening hours Booking fee
Eurostar 01233 617 575  8am - 7pm Mon-Fri;  9am - 5pm Sat-Sun. £10 per total booking
Voyages SNCF 01732 520 550 or 0844 848 5848  9am - 7pm Mon-Fri, 9am - 6pm Saturdays. £8 per total booking
Switzerland Travel Centre 0207 420 4934 9am - 5pm Mon-Fri; 9am - 1pm Saturdays. None

Rail booking agencies
And option that may appeal to you is to let rail-booking experts source and book tickets for you.  There are a few companies in the UK that do this, who offer a brilliant service by making sure that you are offered the most suitable journey options, for the best prices. Ffestiniog Travel is one such company, organising rail tickets across the UK and Europe including, of course the snow trains.  There is a booking fee for all ticketing arrangements made – this is minimal and charged as a percentage of the total booking cost, ranging from a few points up to a maximum charge of £30. Contact details are:
Phone: 01766 772 030; email: info@ffestiniogtravel.co.uk; website: visit: www.ffestiniogtravel.com

Eurostar cancels it's winter service via Lyon

Eurostar has told me that it won't run the service from London and Ashford to Lyon this winter.  It's a great shame, and bad news for skiers who want to travel by train because the via-Lyon route made a convenient option for a lot of different French ski resorts.  This is not the end of the story, and for the 2018-19 season the work starts now to persuade Eurostar to run that service successfully.  More about that in a forthcoming blog post.