5 Alpine Rail-to-Piste Routes to Try This Winter

Detailed summary

Meanwhile, Austrian national carrier ÖBB is steadily developing its fleet of Nightjet sleeper-train services. By travelling to Paris or Brussels (in some cases with an additional…

How about riding the rails to your ski resort this winter? Dedicated skier sleeper services — including the likes of Travelski Night Express (TNE) and Nightjet — along with Eurostar Snow are putting resorts in France, Austria and further afield in the Alps within easy reach for UK and European travellers. TNE offers overnight travel, both ways, enabling eight days’ skiing instead of the usual six offered by tour operator packages. Couchette compartments come with flat sleeping berths, and there’s an elegant cafe-bar-restaurant carriage. Travelski offers train-plus-accommodation packages from Paris, Amsterdam or Brussels, and rail tickets can also be booked independently.

Meanwhile, Austrian national carrier ÖBB is steadily developing its fleet of Nightjet sleeper-train services. By travelling to Paris or Brussels (in some cases with an additional change at Cologne), you can board a Nightjet bound for the ski regions of Tyrol or Salzburg, home to an abundance of stellar Austrian resorts.

Eurostar Snow — only running outbound until 20 February 2027 — takes skiers from London to Lille, where they switch platforms for a Eurostar Continental train to Bourg-Saint-Maurice, gateway to the French Alps. Combine Eurostar and high-speed TGV to access a wider range of resorts in France, Austria, Switzerland and Italy, too. Plus, services to many destinations run daily, offering more travel flexibility. Here’s our pick of the best rail routes to the pistes.

Only 20 minutes from Bourg-Saint-Maurice station, Sainte Foy is relatively unknown and benefits from quiet, tree-lined slopes and abundant off-piste. The village is built in classic Savoyard style, offering quintessential Alpine charm. Take lessons at Evolution 2 ski school or try night-time snowshoeing with Snocool. Plus, enjoy craft beer up at the lofty Le 1580m microbrewery and DJs at L’Apres bar. Daytime journey to Bourg-Saint-Maurice 7h58m, overnight 13h38m (transfer 20 mins).

The so-called ‘cradle of Alpine skiing’, St…

One…

Opening of the article, excerpted from National Geographic. To read the rest, open the article on the publisher's site.