With winter descending upon the northern hemisphere, Rail Europe is highlighting its top Alpine escapes, with each option having recently become more accessible via rail.
In first place is the French Alps, with Eurostar Snow returning to the destination on 19 Dec, offering trips from the Netherlands and Belgium to stations such as Moûtiers, Aimela-Plagne and Bourg-Saint-Maurice.
For those already in France, Rail Europe advises of additional TGV INOUI services, including up to seven special trains from Paris to Bourg-Saint-Maurice on peak days.
Innsbruck also makes the cut.
Geared to those who want a city break with mountains on the doorstep, the Austrian city is now accessible thanks to a new daily direct ICE connection from Hannover launching 13 Dec.
. . . Advanced Options
For the serious skier, agents can recommend Austria’s St Anton am Arlberg, famed for its challenging slopes.
Clients can get there on a new ICE connection travelling ex Frankfurt, operating every Sat, with the return service on a Sun. Austria features again with Kitzbühel, home to skiing as well as winter walking routes, with a seasonal ICE Großglockner connecting Hamburg and Hannover directly with the resort, operating over selected weekends from 18 Dec.
Switzerland rounds out the list, courtesy of upgraded Nightjet sleeper trains that will operate from 13 Dec, allowing clients to fall asleep in Amsterdam and wake up in Basel and Zurich, from which they can journey onwards to the Swiss Alps to ski. For more on these destinations and rail journeys, see HERE.
