 Poster: A snowHead
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A new sleeper train route has been launched to the Austrian Alps, see Daily Telegraph article. The journey begins with a Eurostar from London to Brussels, followed by a change of platform to take a Thalys or ICE train from Brussels to Cologne. From there, you board an ÖBB NightJet sleeper train, travelling overnight to arrive in the heart of the Tirol at around 8:30am the following morning.
There's a mistake in the article though. It says "Next, at Kufstein, you can alight for the resorts of the Ski Juwel area such as Alpbach and Niederau as well as those in the Zillertal valley, which include Mayrhofen and Hochzillertal." As the train has already been through Kufstein and Wörgl it must stop at a different station, presumably Jenbach (for the Zillertal valley). 
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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More on the snowcarbon website about it. Looks pretty interesting, too bad we'd already booked air tix for next trip.
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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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@Alastair Pink, while I am a big fan of the Caledonian Sleeper, which is somewhat optimised for actually sleeping by stopping along the way so it doesn’t arrive in Edinburgh too early ... two changes and this sounds rather like a chore. What’s the total journey time?
Also, I hardly see how Lyon is particularly useful for Avoriaz or Les Gets.
Travel Journalists? Eh?
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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| under a new name wrote: |
@Alastair Pink, while I am a big fan of the Caledonian Sleeper, which is somewhat optimised for actually sleeping by stopping along the way so it doesn’t arrive in Edinburgh too early ... two changes and this sounds rather like a chore. What’s the total journey time?
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From the snowcarbon.co.uk website:
Outbound journey - London to Austria (runs everyday)
Depart 12:58 or 15:04 London St Pancras Eurostar
Arrive 16:08 or 18:05 Bruxelles-Midi
Depart 18:25 Bruxelles-Midi ICE
Arrive 20:15 Cologne
Depart 21:21 Cologne NightJet
Arrive 08:25 Kufstein
Arrive 08:36 Wörgl
Arrive 08:53 Jenbach
Arrive 09:14 Innsbruck
Return journey - Austria to London (runs everyday)
Depart 20:44 Innsbruck NightJet
Depart 21:06 Jenbach
Depart 21:23 Wörgl
Depart 21:35 Kufstein
Arrive 08:15 Cologne
Depart 08:44 or 09:43 Cologne ICE
Arrive 10:32 or 11:35 Bruxelles-Midi
Depart 12:52 or 14:52 Bruxelles-Midi Eurostar
Arrive 14:05 or 16:05 London St Pancras
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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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It’s not terribly new - been running since last December. Just a new uk-focussed marketing campaign I guess.
Anyway, I travelled this way Edinburgh-Innsbruck and the same return, in July. Very fine. Comfortable bunks, good sleep, acceptable breakfast. Edin-Inns was about 22hrs including changes at London, Brussel, Köln. Had time at Köln for a quick kolsch and flammküchen before the sleeper left  . No showers at Innsbruck which is a pain if you want to come straight off the hill onto train, though there are good showers in Köln.
We will take this sleeper again for skiing this winter, though I’m not convinced how easy ski carriage will be on Eurostar.
Also Austrian railways now doing car-train/ sleeper combo Düsseldorf-Innsbruck which is appealing for those of us coming off the Newcastle-Amsterdam ferry and seeking to avoid a long day on holiday-clogged Autobahns.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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The Austrian Nightjet from Dusseldorf has been running for sometime now
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| under a new name wrote: |
| Travel Journalists? Eh? |
The same copy writers who tell you that the Ryanair flight you have booked is convenient for the city you are going to.
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| Inboard wrote: |
| Austrian railways now doing car-train/ sleeper combo Düsseldorf-Innsbruck which is appealing for those of us coming off the Newcastle-Amsterdam ferry and seeking to avoid a long day on holiday-clogged Autobahns. |
That is of interest. Thanks for the info. I have done the alps by train in the past but the biggest trouble is the crossing of the channel. If you start in the North of England (or as yourself, Scotland) then you have to start sufficiently early that you have to take Friday off work so as to get across to mainland Europe on the Friday evening.
Ferries are not much better as those from the Northern ports tend to be overnight crossings.
But with an early Easter coming up I was intending trying the trains again. If there isn't too much maintenance being carried out on Good Friday....
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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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Jeepers. 5 hours min to get on the nightjet?
I can almost be from London to the bar in Cham by that time...
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Skis on Eurostar xmt the actual snow trains are a PITA and NOT allowed except as payed oversize baggage which has to be booked in ages ahead of departure and the charge is very Easyjet / Ryanair like. I have raised this with Eurostar in a customer service return but am not holding my breath.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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@mcspreader Are you sure?
| Eurostar website wrote: |
Skis and snowboards.
On our direct trains to Bourg-St-Maurice, Lyon, Avignon and Marseille we allocate extra space on board so you can take one pair of skis or one snowboard on board with you in addition to your standard adult luggage allowance. For safety reasons, skis and snowboards have to be kept in a protective case that covers the whole item.
On all other trains, they’re included as one of your two pieces of luggage. |
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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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It's seems a huge faff when you can fly to Salzburg or Innsbruck in an hour and a half...
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@queen bodecia, +1
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You know it makes sense.
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Cost?
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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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| cameronphillips2000 wrote: |
| Cost? |
In the Daily Telegraph article I linked to in the original post it said £215 return (for a seat in a 6 berth couchette). If you opt for a proper sleeper cabin it will obviously be more.
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Poster: A snowHead
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Cost: Köln-Innsbruck-Köln was c£120 in July, for 1 bunk in shared 4-bunk cabin. Private cabins a little more but given it combines travel and overnight accommodation it’s acceptable. Austrian Rail have good deals if you buy in advance, more expensive at short notice. Similarly DeutscheBahn have great Londonspezial deals so St Pancras-Köln (ie including Eurostar) can be c£60. I’ve trained to/from Germany 7 times so far this year, usually buying c3-6 weeks in advance, and typically pay c£80-90 between London-Köln.
Faff? Yes, it’s longer journey time than flying but a lot more fun (IMHO). You get to see lots of different bits of other countries. Not a route which will appeal to everyone but a great option for some. And much lower environmental costs.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Travelling to Austria by train in a day from London is entirely feasible and very cheap - have done it a few times now. If you catch the booking window right (90 days, usually), there is a London Special fare of €59 (including the Eurostar) - may be some additional small seat booking fees. London to Brussels, then Frankfurt, then Munich and then Salzburg, leave London 6.57am arrive Salzburg 18.58. Return is 0800 leave arrive London at 1958. A long journey, but stress free, no luggage restrictions etc. For around €20 more you can upgrade to first class. Kids under 15 go free on the German part. Easy to add the final leg to say Zell am See (great for Saalbach), or can also easily get to places like Worgl etc from Munich by train.
Another pleasant route I have done is via Paris - head out Friday evening, dinner and hotel in Paris and then a leisurely train via Stuttgart to Salzburg (or Innsbruck) arriving mid-afternoon.
For all European train journeys, www.bahn.de is fantastic and by far the cheapest (use instead of SNCF, as has better prices and better child deals than the French site even on same TGV trains). Sometimes it does not like Salzburg being in Germany - just book from the first station in Germany (Freilassing) and then add a ticket for a couple of euros to Salzburg, and other trains magically pop up.
The other fount of knowledge for all things train is the seat61 website.
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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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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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This is interesting. fair amount of faffing tho.
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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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Bergmeister - Yes, it is, but for most trains Deutsche Bahn actually treats Salzburg Station as being in both Germany and Austria (although as you say, it is not). The good news is that it treats it as being in Germany for the London Special fares, so the cheap prices are available to Salzburg (usually).
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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Last year I did Gatwick to Innsbruck, left my house in West Sussex at 6am and via car hire office, hotel check in, ski hire shops and lift pass office, I was on the slopes in Scheffau at 11.15am. Flights were £130 each, return.
I used to do the disco train to Moutiers. That was fun!
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| queen bodecia wrote: |
| It's seems a huge faff when you can fly to Salzburg or Innsbruck in an hour and a half... |
Agree, I would be more inclined to try it in summer with less and lighter baggage and treat the journey as a part of the holiday. For skiing I just want to get there.
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I guess you need to consider how convenient it is to get from home to airport, and airport to ski destination. If it is easy, then this train does not seem to be worth it, unless you want to do it just for the experience.
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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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| TopGooner wrote: |
Last year I did Gatwick to Innsbruck, left my house in West Sussex at 6am and via car hire office, hotel check in, ski hire shops and lift pass office, I was on the slopes in Scheffau at 11.15am. Flights were £130 each, return.
I used to do the disco train to Moutiers. That was fun! |
I had a very similar day about 15 years ago (albeit to Geneva not Innsbruck). I even managed to do the journey in reverse on the same day (having spent 6 hours on the slopes in Chamonix), and was back home in West Sussex by 11.30pm.
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FAQ
