In December 2025, Iain travelled from the UK to St Anton in the Arlberg region of Tirol, Austria.
London St Pancras-Gare du Nord (11:31 GMT – 14:49 CET)
I started my journey in Brighton, arriving at Eurostar check in at St Pancras at 10:50 for the 11:31 departure. This is later than the recommended arrival time, but i my experience, it is pointless turning up 75-90 minutes before departure. All you do is queue for longer and then have to wait longer in the departures area, which can sometimes get over-crowded (mainly because Eurostar encourage people to turn up too early!)
Maybe one day my approach will ruin my day but on this occasion it took FIVE minutes to get through check-in, security and both the UK and French customs. That still left me over half an hour in ‘departures’.
Iain at St Pancras
I’m not a super-frequent traveller on Eurostar, but I have taken it eight times this year, and that qualified me for a free upgrade to Eurostar Plus. I took Mark Smith’s advice and chose his favourite seat – 61. You can listen to my interview with Mark Smith on The Ski Podcast here.
The Man in Seat 61
Gare du Nord-Gare de Lyon
This is just two stops on the RER – a very straightforward journey that I detail in this video on YouTube.
Remember that the old paper carnet tickets are now out of use. If you don’t have a Navigo card already, you can buy one in the buffet on Eurostar, loaded with one journey. You can then load it up with more journeys later when you arrive at Gare de Lyon.
I DO NOT recommend you buy or top up your Navigo card in Gare du Nord. It is always extra busy there: save yourself time by avoiding the queues.
Getting on the RER at Gare du Nord
The journey between the two stations took me just over 25 minutes – that’s platform to platform (so stepping off the Eurostar to arriving into the departures hall in Gare de Lyon). I’ve done this journey in as little as 17 minutes and it has never taken more than 40 minutes.
Gare de Lyon – Hall 2
Gare de Lyon-Zurich (16:22 – 20:26)
These TGV Lyria trains are great. They are comfortable, spacious and have excellent wi-fi. I’d also upgraded to First Class (it was only EUR9 more as I have an Carte Avantage Pass – worth buying if you travel on SNCF more than once a year).
Tip – book the top deck for better views.
TGV Lyria to Zurich
Zurich-Feldkirch (20:40)
There are direct trains to St Anton from Zurich, but they didn’t fit in with my arrival time, so I had to make one change at Feldkirch. On arriving at Zurich four minutes late, I had just 10 minutes to change trains and platforms, but it was so simple, I had enough time to buy a drink and a snack as well.
It turned out the train I was getting onto was an OBB Nightjet lsleeper train with a final destination of Zagreb – with such a romantic destination I was tempted to stay on!
Nightjet to Zagreb
Feldkirch-St Anton (arr 23:19)
We arrived in Feldkirch about 4 minutes late for a connection that was only ever 7 minutes. However, I wasn’t alone and they simply held the connection (another OBB Nightjet service, this time to Vienna) to allow us to board.
I arrived in St Anton bang on time at 23:19, just over 11 hours after leaving London St Pancras. The St Anton station is superbly located and it was less than a five minute walk from there to the superb Hotel Alte Poste on the main high street.
Arriving in St Anton
Total Travel Time (London-St Anton): 11h18m
Total Cost: £162
Eurostar London to Paris – £49 (inc free upgrade to Eurostar Premiere)
Paris Metro – EUR2.50
Paris-Zurich (First Class) – EUR97
Zurich-St Anton – EUR29.80
