 Poster: A snowHead
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Planning a weekend trip and wondering whether we can avoid hiring a car for a change and take a train from the airport. Ideally not more than 2 hours journey. Any ideas?
Open to Italy, Austria, France, Switzerland.
Have done longish journeys in Austria a few times for weeklong trips... Innsbruck to St Anton, Munich to Zell am See. Anything shorter but with an attractive destination and reasonable flight times from London to make the most out of a long weekend?
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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@Adam123, Innsbruck to the Zillertal (Mayrhofen, Zell, Kalenbach) by train.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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St Anton from Zurich
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Wengen from Bern
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Lots of options with Ski Amadé from Salzburg....
Schladming, Radstadt, Pichl (Reiteralm), Eben, Altenmarkt, The Gasteins.
Also possible to get to Ski Circus areas too.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Looked at Flumserberg for Xmas as it could be got to from Zurich by train in seemingly about an hour as there were some cheapish flights going at the time. Didnt go for it in the end but looked an interesting option
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Do the trains run from the airport in Salzburg and Innsbruck? Zurich to St Anton, Davos, Engelberg etc pretty easy though Swiss trains are infuriatingly slow. Geneva to Le Chable and Vallorcine via Martigny pretty hassle free.
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Verbier from GVA, the last section is by Gondola.
In fact almost anywhere in Switzerland
Nendaz may be easier and that gets you on the same system.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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| Quote: |
Do the trains run from the airport in Salzburg and Innsbruck?
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short bus ride from the airport to the main station. close enough to not be an inconvenience.
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Champery (PdS) from GVA
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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I live in Altenmarkt and commute by train to Salzburg 4 days a week. It couldn't be easier. The airport has a regular bus transfer to both Salzburg Hauptbahnhof and Salzburg Süd. As @flangesax says, there are loads of options, most less than an hour.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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Kitzbuhel from Munich is about 2.5 hours on the train
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You know it makes sense.
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GVA to Paradiski
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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Flaine etc. from Cluses station
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Poster: A snowHead
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Is there easy frequent public transport from Cluses? It’s not the easiest link from Geneva either (train to centre, bus 61 to Annemasse, slowish train to Cluses ... )
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Lots of options depending on sort of resort you are looking for, and critically for a weekend, flight times. Some that we have done:
Geneva to Villars - probably the shortest and easiest. Also Gstaad. I think you can also get to Crans Montana by train quite easily.
Geneva Verbier
Geneva Champery (2.5 hours)
Bern Wengen/Murren
Zurich St Anton
Innsbruck Selva Val Gardena (needs a taxi at end, and station not at airport - short bus ride)
Salzburg Zell am See (station not in airport - short bus ride)
This year we are doing Munich Westendorf (anywhere on Ski Welt possible, and perhaps closer - for example Hopfgarten or Brixen) - 2 hrs 4 mins on train. Kitz is also not much further.
Geneva, Zurich and Munich are good for weekends, as much more likely to find suitable flight times to max the skiing time.
www.bahn.de is the best source for train times (and often tickets) regardless of country.
This is a good source for resorts with stations:
https://www.snowcarbon.co.uk/ski-resorts/ski-resorts-and-closest-stations
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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| Quote: |
Is there easy frequent public transport from Cluses?
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yes
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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I’ve done Zurich-St Anton easy transfer and very reliable even in bad weather.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Chambery Airport, short taxi to station then train to B.S.M. Funiculaire to Les Arcs. Might be a bit longer than 2 hours but not much.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Not in your specific area but Gala Yuzawa, Japan has it's own Shikansen (Bullet Train) station, Platform to Gondola in one building!
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I have done St. Anton. It's excellent from either Innsbruck (really short 1 hour train ride) or zurich (longer but easy).
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@johnE, bus every 4 or more hours? Hardly a swift transfer.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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@Adam123, why not just do one of the Haute Savoie stations and get a transfer from Geneva airport?
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Davos or Arosa from ZCH
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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many flights to ZCH >> Engelberg usually just under 2 or Andermatt 2.30
If you want to go by train, Switzerland has it dialled.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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| Adam123 wrote: |
Planning a weekend trip....
Have done longish journeys in Austria a few times for weeklong trips... Innsbruck to St Anton, Munich to Zell am See. Anything shorter but with an attractive destination and reasonable flight times from London to make the most out of a long weekend? |
If you rate Innsbruck to St Anton as “longish”, then just every option mentioned above is “very longish”. Assuming favourable connections, Innsbruck airport to station is about 10 - 15 min and the train to St Anton a bit over an hour.
Zürich airport to St Anton: probably close to 3 hours with favourable connections. That said, it is very easy, as is the Innsbruck option.
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You may find that there are some special offers available for train/hotel/skipass at the Swiss travel websites of the SBB, MySwitzerland and the London Swiss Travel Centre.
CH Tourism: https://www.myswitzerland.com/en-gb/service-updates/offers.html?nodeid=25140&utm_source=home&utm_medium=gruezitext&utm_campaign=winter_campaign
Swiss Travel Centre, London (STC): https://switzerlandtravelcentre.co.uk/
Train: https://www.sbb.ch/en/leisure-holidays.html
Swiss Air also fly London-Sion so it may be worth seeing if their timetable and prices work for you and consider the Valais resorts (Verbier, La Tzoumaz, Nendaz, Crans-Montana). Landing in Sion saves you 90+ minutes travel to the Valais compared to GVA, and there are buses to Nendaz and train links to Verbier or you might use the time you've saved and take the train Sion-Zermatt although that does mean ignoring ski areas that are nearer.
If you are using the télépherique/bus/train via GVA then allow time for changing trains, missing the first bus out, etc. when booking the flights. The SBB website above has all the bus/télépherique/train timetables integrated. Some of the smaller satellites/resorts may have a bit of a bus gap at lunchtimes, as not many people travel then, so its worth scheduling your flights after checking the village connections, not before. As a rule of thumb, we aim to arrive in GVA before 11:00 and fly home after 14:30 if we're using the train to our apartment in La Tzoumaz (although it's not an issue with the bigger resorts like Verbier and Nendaz).
As the main driver, I'd endorse how much more relaxing the homeward transfer is using public transport. No having to dig the car out, possibly put chains on when we're under time pressure, traffic delays, finding a nearby service station, negotiating the airport, handing-over the car to some nutter rental driver who'll blame a scratch on us, shuttle bus etc. At GVA at least, the train is right inside the airport terminal.
Last edited by So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much  on Mon 4-12-17 10:37; edited 5 times in total
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You know it makes sense.
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| under a new name wrote: |
| @johnE, bus every 4 or more hours? Hardly a swift transfer. |
It's a 45 minute drive from Cluses to Flaine too........
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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One thing I would say is that like anywhere, if you're travelling on the train and obviously a tourist, just be security-minded. Trains to/from aiports on Fridays and Saturdays are a target for thieves. I had my rucksack stolen on the train to Geneva.
Please, don't let this put you off - it's no different to The Underground or any public transport - I was careless in a way I wouldn't be on the trains back home because I was on holiday. For some reason, I'd also put my passport in the rucksack as well (doh!) so this meant an unplanned Weekend in Berne waiting for the British Consulate to issue me a new passport. Although I did get to travel on top of a nice double-decker train along the Bernese Oberland on the trip from Berne to Geneva.
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Poster: A snowHead
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Interesting how few posts suggest Tarentaise resorts.
Ian Kenvyn did suggest Paradiski from Geneva, but that is a long way round and quicker by bus.
Dubaian suggested starting form Chambery and taking a bus to the station. I've not done that one, but have done similar from Grenoble airport - worked fine for me.
The best airport though is Lyon. You can take trains straight from the airport (Saint Exupery), though there is a better service (and cheaper fares) from Lyon Part Dieu which is just a quick tram trip away.
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