How to book train travel to St Anton

St Anton ski resort is well connected by train, and this guide will show you how to book rail travel to St Anton in the best ways possible.

Planning your journey to St Anton

St Anton train station (AKA St Anton am Arlberg) is located within the village of St Anton. When it comes to routes and times, the Snowcarbon Journey Planner is your most reliable, punctual friend. It shows you the best, hand-researched rail journeys from London to St Anton by train, for dates up to 12 months in advance, to help you plan your journey before tickets go on sale.

Once tickets are on sale, you can of course use rail company and ticketing websites such as Loco2, Trainline.eu, Deutcshe Bahn, OBB or SBB to research and compare journey schedules. 

When to book train travel to St Anton

Daytime and overnight journeys to St Anton go on sale approximately 90 to 120 days in advance (it varies depending on the date).
Generally, in terms of saving money, trains around Europe work the same way as flights do - i.e: the earlier you book, the lower the fares.
Packages that include train travel are available from a number of tour operators. This is particularly useful for popular dates such as Feb half term.  For more details, see the Packages section below or browse ski holidays by train to St Anton.

How much does it cost?

Based on many years of experience and constant research, these are the rough costs for return rail travel from London to Jenbach, in standard class:

How to book – online, phone or agency?

In this day and age, booking a train journey from the UK to the Alps should surely be about as simple as booking a flight, right?
Wrong. It’s fair to say that the various rail operators have made a veritable dog’s dinner of integrating their booking systems.
As a result, it’s very important not to treat as gospel the journey options or prices that you are given – whether you get them online or by phone. 

For journeys that involve two or more trains, more suitable schedules or better prices might exist. And indeed, in many cases journeys or trains that are definitely bookable show up as 'not available' online. It’s ridiculous. And somebody needs to say something. And now we have.

Oh, and by the way, if you want extra time in Paris, either when changing trains or to stopover, then you’ll find that online booking - which automatically minimises the time between trains - isn’t suitable. 

So what’s the solution? Essentially, you need to be prepared to use a combination of phone, online or booking agency until you’re satisfied you’ve got the best options.

Booking online

For some daytime journeys, online booking works fine.

But as mentioned, be aware that some journey or fare options just don’t show up online and if you want to stopover in Brussels or another city en route, or have extra time changing trains, online booking generally is too inflexible to allow this.  Don’t accept that what you see online is all that there is. Here are the most suitable booking websites to use.

Deutsche Bahn
The German national rail operator website's won't currently win any awards for aesthetic design, but is an option for booking daytime travel to Austria.
(The Deutsche Bahn website doesn't cope well with the London - Austria overnight journey). 

Trainline.eu
Formerly Capitaine Train, this ticket retailer has a user-friendly website and helpful guidance, which we rate as on a par with Loco2.com.

Loco2.com
Online ticket retailer Loco2 was recently bought by SNCF. It is relatively easy to use with well-written guides.

You can also see more about the NightJet at NightJet.com

Booking by phone

While some of the daytime train journeys to St Anton can be booked online, we'd certainly advise booking booking by phone or with an expert agency (see below) for overnight journeys, or where you want more flexibility or something different than what is automaticaly booked online.

It's important to be clear that most of the train company and ticket agency websites don't effectively offer the Eurostar + NightJet overnight journey, even if they say they do. Much better to contact one of the rail companies or expert agencies by phone or email. Be mindful that the person at the end of the phone may not be familiar with the best journey options to the Alps.

Of course, before you call it's a good idea to research some of the journey times online, either with the Snowcarbon Journey Planner or on train-company or ticket retailer websites (such as Loco2, Trainline.eu, Deutsche Bahn, OBB or SBB) so that you have your own pre-researched train-journey schedule to hand - or even email them to the rail-company or agency in advance.

Deutsche Bahn
+44 (0) 8718 80 80 66 (costs depend on provider)
Mon-Fri: 09:00 to 20:00 (GMT), Sat-Sun: 09:00 to 13:00 (GMT)
Email: sales@bahn.co.uk

You can also call Ffestiniog Travel or Rail Canterbury - see details below.

Booking with an expert rail-booking agent

We recommend both Ffestiniog Travel and Rail Canterbury for their expertise. These two companies both have experienced staff who have helped many skiers that we’ve sent their way in the past. Although they have to charge a modest commission on tickets, these agents can often source cheaper prices overall - and they certainly make booking easy. For journeys where you would really benefit from expert, tailored help, they’re a good option.

Ffestiniog Travel
Ffestiniog Travel is a rail-booking agent - and also a charitable trust - based in Wales. Profits, rather wonderfully, go to the upkeep of a local heritage railway.
Phone: 01766 515630; email: rail@ffestiniogtravel.co.uk

Rail Canterbury
Husband and wife team Jacky and Phil run this small Canterbury-based agency and are hugely experienced in booking trains.
Phone: 01227 450088; email: rail@rail-canterbury.co.uk
 

Group bookings

You can’t book more than nine tickets online in one booking. So if there 10 or more people in your party, you’ll need to book via the groups department of one of the train companies or with one of the aforementioned rail-booking agents such as Ffestiniog Travel or Rail Canterbury. There are modest discounts for groups and you can book a little further in advance of the normal booking horizon.

Deutsche Bahn
Phone +44 8718 80 80 66 (costs depend on provider)
Mon-Fri: 09:00 to 20:00 (GMT), Sat-Sun: 09:00 to 13:00 (GMT)
Email: sales@bahn.co.uk

Ffestiniog Travel
Phone: 01766 515630; Email: rail@ffestiniogtravel.co.uk;

Rail Canterbury
Phone: 01227 450088; email: rail@rail-canterbury.co.uk

More about train travel to St Anton

Before you book travel to St Anton, you might like to find out more about the train options. We’ve already mentioned that you can use the Snowcarbon Journey Planner to research train travel from London to St Anton

You can also read our guide to journeys by Eurostar + NightJet

We also have more in-depth guides for how to book train travel, how to book the lowest fares and how to book train travel for groups of 10 or more.

Find fantastic accommodation in St Anton

There’s plenty of great accommodation in St Anton.  If you’d like some advice, suggestions or contacts, just send an email to Snowcarbon’s founder, Daniel.