Review of Overnight Ski Train to the Alps: London to Briancon

Most British skiers will remember the overnight ski train to the Alps. Departing London St Pancras Friday evening it arrived in Bourg St Maurice Saturday morning. Sadly, it’s been gone a few years, but with a change in Paris is still possible to travel overnight by train from London to Briancon for a ski holiday.

It is not quite the smooth one train journey, as you need to change train stations in Paris. To review the overnight ski train to the Alps I took my two boys (aged 12 and 10) on a family ski holiday to Serre Chevalier.

London to Briancon Overnight Train Journey

An sleeper train departs from Paris (Gare d’Austerlitz) at 20:50 every day of the week and arrives in Briancon at 08:30. There is a similarly timed overnight train running in revers every day too.

Coming from London all you need to do is take the Eurostar to Paris Gare du Nord in time for the connection. Using the metro line 5 it takes around 15 minutes to reach Austerlitz, with services running every four or five minutes.

The Eurostar runs every hour from London and takes around two and a half hours. So in theory if you depart London on the 17:30 train you’ll reach Paris at just after eight giving you enough time to make the train from Gare d’Austerlitz. Although that is cutting it a bit fine.

Personally I would allow an extra hour. Getting off the Eurostar can take a while and you need to buy metro tickets and find the right line. There are plenty of restaurants and take away style eateries just outside Gare d’Austerlitz, so you can then have time for dinner before you board.

A Day and a Half in Paris

When I started planning this trip my kids made it very clear they wanted to spend some time in Paris. So I decided to get a later train from London, book a hotel and have a day exploring the French capital. We scheduled in a second day of exploration on the way home, as why not!

Top of my boys list was a trip up the Eiffel Tower. It is well worth booking in advance as we avoided a very long queue. The views, as you’d imagine, were great and my boys loved it.

We didn’t plan loads, but did have afternoon tickets booked at the Choco Story (Chocolate Museum). Here we learnt about the history of chocolate and enjoyed various tastings. Chocolate-making workshops are also available.

Walking around Paris

Between the two we took a walk along the Seine, through the city taking in various famous sites and gardens. This included; Champ de Mars, Jardins du Trocadéro, Palais Galliera, Champs-Élysées and Place de la Concorde.

We also spent some time in La Tête dans les Nuages – apparently the largest indoor amusement park in Europe. It was the large Mario and Luigi in the window which drew my Nintendo fanatic kids in. Inside it is mainly arcade games and virtual reality experiences, with bowling and a few small rides.

We didn’t have as long on the way home but walked a different part of the Seine, which bizarrely was flooding over it’s banks. Walking from Gare d’Austerlitz, where we stored our luggage, we headed to Notre Dam, the Louvre and Jardin des Tuileries.

My kids were not that interested in seeing the art and museums. They loved seeing the buildings, the street markets and having hot chocolate in upmarket Parisian cafes. Trying various multi-coloured Macarons and lots of cakes was also on the menu, fortunately we walked miles to burn it all off.

Review of Overnight Ski Train to the Alps

We had beds booked in a sleeper cabin for four. As there were just the three of us it was nice that we were not sharing with a stranger (which unfortunately happened on the way home). Every bed comes with a bottle of water, plus a box with eye mask, earplugs and wipes.

The bedding is a basic sleeping bag, essentially a sheet with a fitted blanket on top. Plus of course a pillow. Everything was clean and the bedding was provided in sealed plastic bags for sanitary, if not environmental, reasons.

With personal lights and charging points the sleeper carriage was both practical and comfy. The only issue was one of the bottles of water had leaked on one of the beds. Fortunately, we only needed three of them.

After using the clean bathroom facilities the boys pretty much went straight to sleep – I wasn’t far behind. While the train rocks and there is the odd announcement, particularly as approaching stops from around five in the morning, we all slept really well in both directions.

When we woke and opened the blackout blind we were treated to a beautiful view of snow topped mountains. Getting off the train in Briancon it was noticeably colder. We popped to a large supermarket for self catering supplies before taking the 25 minute bus to Villeneuve, one of the Serre Chevalier villages.

As the highest town in France you can  ski directly from Briancon with a cable car to the slopes. Having spent a day exploring the UNESCO World Heritage it would make for a unique ski holiday. Food and drink prices in the town are cheaper then in resort and the old fortifies part of the town is fascinating.

Ski Holiday in Serre Chevalier

Of course the train was just the journey, albeit with enjoyable stopovers in Paris. We had come to the French Alps for a ski holiday in Serre Chevalier. It was my second winter in a row in the area with my children, and I wouldn’t be surprised if we return again this winter.

Serre Chevalier is a great ski area. There are 250km of varied slopes across 13 villages reaching up to 2491m. Even during the Easter school holidays the slopes were quiet with plenty of space for children to learn. I don’t think we ever queued for more than a minute of two for a lift.

But best of all Serre Chevalier is significantly cheaper than places like Three Valleys, Paradiski or Portes du Soleil. Everything from lessons to lift passes and food to drink costs less than more well known French ski areas. Which makes a huge difference when you spend a week with perpetually hungry kids on the slopes.

As a snowboarder I love the area, the off piste through the larch forests is unique, there is a good snow park and there is lots of variety. If you’d like more detail check out my review of a family ski holiday in Serre Chevalier.

Overnight Ski Train London to the Alps: Conclusion

There are many ways to travel from the UK for a ski holiday. Most people fly and quite a lot drive to the Alps, I have done both many times, I have also travelled by coach and by train. But this was the first time taking an overnight ski train to the Alps.

It is the way to travel. Despite stocking up at the supermarket we were in resort in time for a full day on the slopes. On the way home you don’t have to leave resort until after the slopes are long closed. So your arrival and departure days become full ski days, meaning you can get more time on the slopes.

We travelled during the Easter school holidays. Booked well in advance, the train tickets were much cheaper than flying, particularly once you factor in transfers too and from the airport.

Ultimately the overnight ski train to the Alps is a relaxing way to travel, even as a solo parent with two children. Yes it takes a bit longer, but we factored in time in Paris, and explored Briancon for an afternoon.

To top it all off travelling by train is better for the environmental than flying. Unfortunately it is not always cheaper than flying, which is crazy. But you can either get extra days on the slopes or save on a couple of nights accommodation. This winter I will certainly be getting the train again!

I hope this review of the overnight ski train to the Alps encourages you to travel from London to Briancon. To find out more about the sleeper train go to www.sncf-connect.com/paris/briancon.