Eurostar + Travelski Night

London to Bourg-Saint-Maurice - winter 2025-26			Train
Dep	London St Pancras	16:31	Eurostar
Arr	Paris Nord	19:58
Transfer from Paris Nord to Paris Austerlitz
Dep	Paris Austerlitz	22:15	Travelski Night
Arr	Moutiers-Salins	07:38
Arr	Aime-la-Plagne	07:58
Arr	Bourg-Saint-Maurice	08:12

Bourg-Saint-Maurice to London - winter 2025-26
Dep	Bourg-Saint-Maurice	20:07	Travelski Night
Dep	Aime-la-Plagne	20:27
Dep	Moutiers-Salins	20:44
Arr	Paris Austerlitz	06:15
Transfer from Austerlitz to Paris Nord
Dep	Paris Gare du Nord	09:02	Eurostar
Arr	London St Pancras	10:30

After arriving Moutiers-Salins at 07:38
Resort	Depart Moutiers-Salins	Arrive resort
Courchevel	08:30	19:48
Meribel	Paris Austerlitz	21:40	Intercités de Nuit
Arr	Ax-les-Thermes	09:14
Arr	Andorre-L'Hospitalet	09:42
Arr	Latour-de-Carol	10:07

Latour-de-Carol to London - winter 2024-25 (predicted schedule)
Dep	Latour-de-Carol		Intercités de Nuit
Dep	Andorre-L'Hospitalet
Dep	Ax-les-Thermes
Arr	Paris Austerlitz	07:53
Transfer from Austerlitz to Paris Nord
Dep	Paris Nord	10:08	Eurostar
Arr	London St Pancras	11:30

Train station	Ski resort	Transfer time
Veynes	Super Devoluy	TBC
Gap	Praloup	TBC
Embrun	Les Orres	TBC
Mont-Dauphin-Guillestre	Risoul, Vars	TBC
L'Argentière-les-Écrins	Puy St Vincent	TBC
Briançon	Montgenèvre	TBC
Briançon	Serre Chevalier	TBC
Ax-les-Thermes	Ax-Les-Thermes	TBC
Andorre-L'Hospitalet	Grandvalira	TBC
Latour-de-Carol	TBC	TBC

 

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Your Eurostar + Intercités de Nuit stories

Eurostar + Intercités de Nuit trainPhoto: Daniel Elkan

We love getting stories from skiers about their ski holidays using Intercités de Nuit.

Angela McCreedy said that her party slept well on the sleeper from Paris to Briançon, before their ski holiday in Serre Chevalier, but that next time they'll pay €40 surcharge to keep one bunk free to pile luggage on.

Guy Russell's party booked a compartment for themselves (‘espace privatif’) on the sleeper train from Paris to Ax Les Thermes and said that compared to flying, the journey gave their holiday 'a sense of adventure'.

Finally, travelling from Scotland to Montgenèvre by train, Simon Amos' family enjoyed eight days in the resort by arriving early Saturday and leaving Saturday evening.

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Which sleeper-train routes were axed?

The two key routes for skiers that were axed were:

• Paris - Moûtiers, Aime, Landry, and Bourg-Saint-Maurice
• Paris - Annecy, Cluses, Sallanches, and Saint-Gervais

Because of this, the following resorts are no longer accessible by sleeper train from Paris:

Avoriaz, Brides les Bains, Courchevel, Flaine, La Clusaz, La Plagne, La Rosiere, La Tania, Le Grand Bornand, Les Arcs, Les Carroz, Les Contamines, Les Gets, Les Menuires, Manigold, Megeve, Meribel, Morillon, Morzine, Peisey-Vallandry, Sainte Foy, Samoens, St Gervais, St Martin de Belleville, Tignes, Val d'Isere, Val Thorens, and Valmorel.

The French Government and SNCF are predicted to reopen the above routes sometime between 2026 and 2030.  Hopefully, sleeper trains will fully return to the French Alps soon.

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Step 1: Take the Eurostar to Paris

Eurostar at St PancrasPhoto: Eurostar International

At London St. Pancras, you’ll board the Eurostar, sit down, have a chat with your friends, go to the cafe bar, read a book, look at the scenery gliding by—perhaps share a joke with a fellow passenger.

There are lots of great ways to use your time on-board. Before you know it your Eurostar will arrive at Paris Nord.

You may also want to read our guide to what the Eurostar is like on board. 

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Step 2: Change from Paris Nord to Paris Austerlitz

Taxi transfer in Paris

Next you'll need to transfer from Paris Nord, where the Eurostar arrives, to Paris Austerlitz: the station from where Intercités de Nuit trains depart for the Alps.

The easiest way to do this is with a pre-booked taxi. Your driver will wait for you at the end of the Eurostar platform, holding a placard with your name. There’s also a taxi rank 50 metres to the right of the Eurostar platform, where you can call a cab if you haven’t pre-booked.

You can take the Metro direct from Paris Nord to Paris Austerlitz, but if you have a fair bit of luggage it’s best to avoid as this requires going up and down some stairs. When you get to Gare d'Austerlitz, you can have dinner opposite the station, or bring some food onto the train.

You can read about these options in depth in our guide to changing station from Paris Nord to Paris Austerlitz.

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Step 3: Overnight to the Alps on the Intercités de Nuit

There's something about getting on an overnight train that’s always exciting, never more so than when you’re headed for the Alps.

On board the Intercités de Nuit, you'll see Paris slipping away through the window, then its vast suburbs before you’re in the countryside.

In the morning you'll wake up close to the slopes and ready to ski, while thousands of other skiers stand in airport queues or find themselves cooped up on long transfers.

Intercités de Nuit trains are not built for luxury—they’re cosy, not spacious. However, they do the job and you can comfortably get a good night's sleep, dreaming of that first run.

You may also want to read our guide to what Intercités de Nuit sleeper trains are like on board.

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Step 4: Transfer to your resort

Your final step will be to get from the arrival station to your chosen ski resort.  Transfers typically take between 15 minutes and 45 minutes. This is far shorter than airport transfers, which can take 1.5 to 3 hours—sometimes longer.

It's a good idea to pre-book a taxi transfer, although at most Alpine stations you can usually find a taxi rank nearby.

There are also buses from train stations to ski resorts, usually timed to coincide with the arrival of the Intercité de Nuit sleeper.

We have a transfer guide for every ski resort on the Snowcarbon website to show you taxi and bus options and how to book them. 

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The Eurostar + sleeper train journey

In 2011, several of our team travelled to the Portes du Soleil via the Eurostar to Paris, and then a sleeper train to the Alps, filming the journey as we went.

We travelled in Standard Class on the Eurostar and Intercités de Nuit (then known as the Corail Lunéa), sleeping in a six-berth couchette.

The journey was a lot of fun and a good way for friends to socialise and get to know each other at the start of the holiday.

You can read more about our onboard experience of the sleeper train here.

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How to book Eurostar + Intercités de Nuit journeys

Intercites de Nuit trainPhoto: Daniel Elkan

Most skiers travelling by Eurostar + Intercités de Nuit book the journey independently.

At the time of writing, a ski package holiday containing Eurostar + Intercites de Nuit included doesn't really exist. We hope that might change in the future.

Until then, you can book both legs of your journey online, or with a rail-booking agent.  For more info about which websites and rail-booking agents to use, read our guide to how to book rail travel to the Alps.

What's worth knowing is that despite SNCF putting a lot of money into renovating its sleeper trains, it sometimes puts them on sale in an odd way. For certain dates, Intercités de Nuit trains that should normally be on sale don't go on sale immediately.

This is different from TGV. SNCF releases its daytime train tickets in a fairly predictable manner, with blocks of dates on sale and all the trains during that period bookable. 

We’ve found that Intercités de Nuit aren't put on sale in this way. Instead, ticket sales can be less predictable, as if certain dates were being held off. It's something you should be aware of when booking ahead. If the date you want isn't on sale at the outset, it will likely go on sale in due course, which is reassuring and frustrating at the same time. Just make sure to keep checking.

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How to book an 'espace privatif' (private couchette)

Sleeper couchettePhoto: Simon Amos

Couchette compartments on the Intercités de Nuit contain either six berths (Standard Class) or four berths (First Class).  However, if you’re 4–5 people in Standard Class, or if you’re 1–3 people in First Class, you can book the whole couchette for yourself by paying an 'espace privatif' supplement.

Not a lot of people know this is possible. Indeed, we discovered it from the excellent Mark Smith, founder of the rail website The Man in Seat 61.

How much does it cost:

You can read more about the espace privatif on Seat 61's page about sleeper trains from Paris

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Ski holidays by train — Ask Snowcarbon

At Snowcarbon we are always happy to help you with suggestions for great resorts, fantastic accommodations, and how to get where you’re going!

We look forward to helping you.

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