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Tickets for Eurostar's ski train have gone on sale today. The train to the Alps from London St. Pancras to the heart of the Tarantaise Valley is one of the more relaxing ways you can begin your skiing holiday.
Picking up the train from St. Pancras, you can be in Moutiers in eight hours, with only a 30 minutes check-in time and a half hour taxi ride to resorts such as Meribel and La Tania, with Courchevel and Val Thorens not much further. It only takes a few more minutes to get to Aime La Plagne, for La Plagne and Bourg St. Maurice, which offers easy access to Les Arcs via the Funicular and the likes of Val d'Isere, Tignes and La Rosiere by bus or taxi.
Travelling at 186mph on a train, where you can relax at your seat, pop into the buffet, or in Standard Premier, enjoy a meal served at your table, can be much less stressful than arriving at an airport two hours before you depart, worrying about your luggage allowance, paying through the nose to take your skis with you and then enduring transfers at the other end that can typically take three hours may be slightly more cost efficient, but doesn't always get you there any quicker.
The Eurostar might not be the cheapest way of getting to the Alps with tickets starting at £149 return for Standard and £229 return for Standard Premier, but it offers a less stressful journey if you are based in the South and especially from London.
The train departs shortly after 10am, meaning no skiing on the first day, though you should arrive in resort in time to pop to the ski hire shop and to enjoy your chalet meal. There is also an overnight service, offering eight days or skiing, though the seats are not the most comfortable to sleep in.
With peak dates selling quickly the prices can often rise early on, so if you fancy heading to the Alps a different way this winter, you might want to get in quickly.
Written by Charlie Hamilton-Beaufort
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