 Poster: A snowHead
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Time to get another trip report/blog-type thread going. Like my previous one from 2021, this isn't about the skiing but rather about the logistics of getting to the Alps in as environmentally-friendly a way as possible. In my case that means using trains and since I live in Gothenburg on the west coast of Sweden it can be quite a long and convoluted journey.
I'm basically repeating the journey described here but with a couple of minor differences. The plan is to leave Gothenburg at 10:30 on Friday morning, going down to Copenhagen and then on to Hamburg where I pick up a Nightjet sleeper to Basel, arriving at 08:00 on Saturday morning. In Basel I'm cheating somewhat because @Gämsbock and @SnowPenguin have once again offered me a lift from there. In full self-denial mode I don't count this as being environmentally unfriendly since they would be driving anyway, and adding me plus my kit won't add a lot to the fuel consumed. If I was sticking to the trains then I'd be continuing on from Basel to Geneva airport (3 more trains) to arrive there at about midday and hop on the Lardybus there.
The most complicated part of the journey is booking it, because I have to use several sites. This time I booked the Nightjet via the Austrian ÖBB site, then managed to work out how to book the remainder via Deutsche Bahn. It should theoretically be possible to book it all via DB but this never seems to work. Last time I had to use the Swedish system as well, to book the first leg down to Copenhagen. Booking the whole Gothenburg-Hamburg leg via DB meant that it cost the same to take a direct train from Gothenburg to Copenhagen as it did to change in Malmö (normally this is more expensive). Fingers crossed this works out, as it's a bit of a pain changing trains with ski luggage.
Cost-wise, I've paid €260 (£230) so far which includes getting all the way there, and back as far as Hamburg. I've not booked the return leg from Hamburg yet because I may be meeting [b]@mini_mg[b] in Copenhagen on the way home and I don't yet know what time she'll be arriving, if at all. The final leg will add another €60 or so, for a total of €320 (£280). This is almost exactly what it would cost me to fly from Gothenburg to Geneva (with Swiss, so ski carriage included). I'm not accounting for the fuel from Basel to Tignes here, and if I was taking the train all the way to Geneva it would cost me a bit more but this is roughly balanced by the cost of airport parking and fuel to get to the airport. So overall the costs of the train and flying are very similar for me. The other "cost" of course is time off work, as I have to take an extra day (Friday) and I'll arrive home Sunday evening rather than Saturday evening and whilst I sleep quite well on trains, I'll still be more tired than if I flew. This one is a cost I'm prepared to pay, but I am lucky that I have generous holiday allowances and fewer home responsibilities now that mini_mg is at university.
Everything looks good but there's plenty of time for cancellations, engineering works, unlicensed trains and all sorts of other problems to emerge. For now though, I'm not worried. Except that the Danish railway site didn't offer me the train from Copenhagen to Hamburg (something about engineering works), and the Swedish booking site wouldn't show anything actually running beyond Copenhagen at all, despite there now being a sleeper train from Sweden to Hamburg (no good for me on this journey but potentially useful in future). What could possibly go wrong?!
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Excellent, enjoyed the last one immensely.
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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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2 days to go and things are starting to heat up. Literally, in the case of the weather here, which has been subzero for the past 10 days but will maybe just sneak above freezing on Friday. And figuratively, because the German train drivers are going on strike on Thursday. So far, I can't see that any of my trains have been cancelled. But the trip may be about to get rather more complicated than I'd like 
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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And the inevitable cancellation arrived this morning. Train from Copenhagen terminates at the border at Padborg. No feasible way to get from there to Hamburg other than a taxi, which would have been massively expensive. Fall back option is to fly to Geneva which I was trying to avoid, but no choice now.
So, this TR will be rather short, at least until the way home. I'm still hoping to get home via the train, strikes permitting, in which case the thread may live a little longer.
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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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 shame! Fingers crossed for the return trip.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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I would take a plane and get over yourself.
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I for one am looking forward to your report ! 
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@mgrolf, sorry to hear that, enjoyed the last one. Better luck next time 
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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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Following this with great interest. A similar trip has been on my radar but for opposite reasons - the ability to work on the train thus saving vacation days
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@nevis1003, ??? 
@scr, I've never found it particularly productive working on trains, maybe related to what I do, but I know plenty of people who do. If I felt I could work effectively on the train, that would be another reason to do it.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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I did Bristol, UK to Hintertux, Austria via train December last year, and tried to work. At best I had decent enough signal 50% of the time.
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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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@swskier how did your journey go? I’ve tried to get to Austria from South Wales by train, but it always seems too complicated.
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@Pen Eira, I’ve done Scotland to Austria a few times.
Once you get to London, it can be straightforward:
London St Pancras to Brussels or Amsterdam (direct Eurostar)
Brussels or Amsterdam to Innsbruck (direct OBB sleeper)
I’ve done Scotland to Innsbruck this way in just under 24hrs before now.
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You know it makes sense.
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@mgrolf, that's a shame - I enjoyed your last thread. As you know, I like a train journey.
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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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| mgrolf wrote: |
| And the inevitable cancellation arrived this morning. Train from Copenhagen terminates at the border at Padborg. No feasible way to get from there to Hamburg other than a taxi, which would have been massively expensive. Fall back option is to fly to Geneva which I was trying to avoid, but no choice now. |
This is what really worries me about rail travel to my holiday, apart from multiple train services and booking systems etc. etc.
The man in seat 61 doesn't make it sound particularly easy either.
Well done for trying 
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Poster: A snowHead
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@mgrolf, yep, shame about your trip (like others, was looking forward to vicarious journey!).
My train plans Edinburgh-Brides Les Bains for PSB in 2019 were scuppered by SNCF strikes.
But what some folk don’t always remember - flying can be equally affected by strikes (air traffic is a common one, esp in France), so I don’t think there’s more or less risk to holiday disruption by planning to use train instead of flying.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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@Pen Eira, long, but, I didn't pick the best route. I was doing Bristol to Paris, stay over 1 night, then Paris to Hintertux. French went on strike for my 2nd day which meant I wouldn't be able to get to Stuttgart and then I'd miss all my trains through Germany, so I ended doing Bristol to Stuttgart, then carried on from there as originally planned.
I'd not do that route again in the future, but I had a eurostar to Paris journey I needed to use from a cancelled trip in the summer.
I'd probably do to Amsterdam, and then the ÖBB nightjet sleeper service from there to Austria.
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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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Silver linings and all that...sleeper train now also cancelled. I would have been on my way to Copenhagen when i got that message, if DB hadn't cancelled the Copenhagen-Hamburg leg yesterday.
One benefit (if I can call it that) is that the extra length of the train journey leaves me more flexibility for an alternative. So I'm flying tomorrow morning from Gothenburg (no stress, just a bit expensive) and will hopefully meet up with my previously arranged lift there. If not, I've got the Lardy Bus as a back up option.
So, off to the airport early tomorrow.
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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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Right, just about time to get this running again. I'm currently in Basel, with a couple of hours before my train arrives. So far, no strikes, cancellations or other dramas - those have been reserved for anyone trying to get away from Bourg St Maurice. Rail replacement bus? Well, yes, as long as you only want to go as far as Annecy!
My train leaves Basel Badischer at the strangely satisfying time of 22:22. Hopefully I'll be able to get settled down quickly and sleep reasonably well. I'm looking forward to sleeping better than I have done this past week at 2000+ metres. I'm due into Hamburg just before 8 tomorrow morning, then have just under an hour to wait for the train north to Copenhagen.
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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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Train arrived bang on time, and the handy guide to where the train stops was spot on so I found my carriage easily.The guard had to unlock the cabin to let me in (!) which didn't happen last time.
I'm in a 4 berth compartment, lower bunk. 2 others in here already, not sure if we'll get a fourth. Pretty basic but comfortable enough. There's a pillow, sheet and blanket provided, and a small table between the bunks. Luggage goes under the bunks or up above the corridor. Getting my skis in was awkward because there's some sort of box under one end of my bunk, but they just squeezed in.
It's a bit boomy, but hopefully I'll get used to that and get a decent night's sleep. Having just typed that, the noise has got considerably louder...
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@mgrolf, Sleep well ...!!
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@albob, thanks. I got a decent night's sleep, all things considered. The bed was definitely on the firm side, and the compartment quite warm, but not too bad. Just passed through Klecken, so not far from Hamburg, and breakfast has arrived.
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Breakfast report: rolls, fresh but insubstantial, butter cold and not enough, jam ok. Coffee verging on undrinkable. I have 45 minutes or so in Hamburg Hbf so I'll probably go looking for more breakfast!
Turns out the guy on the bunk opposite me was Swedish, and Gothenburg was his home town. We're both heading to Copenhagen next (him to visit his sister, me to meet mini_mg) so the similarities are almost scary! We're on the next train together so I might bump into him again.
For now, I've just got a bit of a wait in a dark, slightly chilly station.
And the other handy coincidence is that the Copenhagen train leaves from the same plattform, so I don't have to lug my kit around (unless I go in search of decent coffee).
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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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The Copenhagen train has arrived. It's supposed to be quiet, but one carriage is out of action and that happens to be the one that the Swedish gymnasium (equivalent of 6th form/high school) trip was booked into. It also happens to be the one next to mine, so they've all decamped into this one. Quite amusing listening in to the conversations between students and teacher about whether or not they can sit in seats that are booked for other parts of the journey.
Anyway, here are a couple of pictures of Hamburg, as seen from a train early on a Sunday morning in December.
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Passport check of sorts at Padborg, the Danish border. Border Police got on, walked along the carriage, said thank you, left again. Didn't ask a single person for documents. Here's what they could see of mine:
Southern Denmark today is very much like northern Germany. Flat and grey. Not a lot to look at, or describe. More students have descended on my carriage, presumably kicked out of reserved seats by people getting on in Schleswig and Padborg.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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@mgrolf, really enjoying this, partly as looking for any tips as I'm considering a trip up to Scandinavia by train to see the northern lights next winter.
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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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@sugarmoma666, happy to compare notes or help out with the Scandi parts any time.
Currently it's still flat and grey, so if you do come this way I'd highly recommend finding something (book, film etc) based around here to enjoy as you pass through. Last time I was watching Band of Brothers on my way down through northern Germany - not quite the right location, but the terrain is pretty similar and it really added to the overall effect. This time I'm wading through some middling science fiction on my kindle - it's just not the same. 
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Having said that, we've just started our across the Storebælt - the big bridge and tunnel that connects Zealand and Funen, crossing the Great Belt channel. It's 18 km long in total, and a combination of a normal bridge and (for cars) a huge suspension bridge or (for trains) a tunnel. Driving over it would be much more spectacular; on the train, it looks grey then black.
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You know it makes sense.
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Successfully negotiated the usual chaos at Copenhagen Central. It's never fun trying to navigate around with skis in a busy place. Now just a short hop to the airport to meet mini_mg, and one more train to get home. The current train is stuck in the station though - apparently it is waiting for permission to continue.
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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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And rendezvous achieved. One more train.
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Poster: A snowHead
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Big bridge number 2. Trains go under the road deck so it really doesn't look very impressive from the window. But it means we're back in Sweden.
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