
Case Study: Taking the train from the UK to Arinsal, Andorra
Tom Thorp recently contacted us after listening to Iain talking about train travel on The Ski Podcast: “I’ve been enjoying your podcast, thank you for all your work creating interesting episodes and insights.” Tom is a ski instructor, working both in the UK and regularly in the European mountains. He specifically wanted to share his...

Case Study: UK to Méribel (Les 3 Vallées) by train
In January 2023, Iain Martin, presenter of The Ski Podcast and founder of Ski Flight Free, travelled from the UK to Méribel – in the heart of Les 3 Vallées – by train. London to Paris All train trips to the Alps from the UK depart from London St Pancras International. I booked the first Eurostar of the...

Case Study: UK to Orelle (Les 3 Vallées) by train
In December 2022, Iain Martin, presenter of The Ski Podcast and founder of Ski Flight Free, travelled from the UK to Orelle – the secret fourth valley of Les 3 Vallées – by train. London to Paris As with all train journeys to the continent, my day started at London St Pancras. Although on arrival...

Cauterets / Crans Montana / Eurostar / Les Arcs / Orelle / Serre Chevalier / Ski Flight Free / SNCF / Soll / Train Travel / Zermatt
‘The Best Ski Resorts to travel to by train’
Iain – founder of Ski Flight Free – was recently commissioned by ‘The Independent’ to put together a summary of the best ski resorts to travel to by train. The eight resorts that made the short list were: Les Arcs (Find out about the Travelski Express here) Crans Montana Serre Chevalier (Read about their night...

What is the actual carbon footprint of a train?
We are indebted to our friends at Midnight Trains for this analysis, first published on their website, but so compelling that it deserves to be shared. Let’s weigh up the stats First up, according to the French government, the transport sector generates more greenhouse gases than any other, representing 31% of all emissions. Drilling down...

French ski resorts lobby for more trains
The National Association of Mayors of Mountain Resorts (ANMSM) has called for better train services to ski resorts in France to reduce the carbon footprint of ski holidays. A survey commissioned by the ANMSM and conducted by G2A Consulting showed that almost half of respondents would change the way they travel to resort if the...

Case Study: Chamonix by Train from the UK
In May 2022, Iain from Ski Flight Free travelled to Chamonix in France by train. He left London St Pancras at 08:01 BST and arrived in Chamonix at 19:02 CET (18:02 BST). This is his report of the journey. London-Paris I live in Brighton, so actually my journey started early with a direct train to...

Paris-Briancon Night Carriages to be upgraded
Good news from Serre Chevalier for lovers of train travel – France Relance, the plan introduced by the French Government to stimulate the economy, has invested in new night trains. There is an overall investment of EUR100 million and the Paris-Briançon line carriages will be among those first to be renovated. A total of 44...

Case Study: Switzerland by Train from the UK
In March 2022, Iain from Ski Flight Free travelled to Andermatt in Switzerland by train. He left London St Pancras at 08:01 GMT and arrived in Andermatt at 19:06 CET (18:06 GMT). This is his report of the journey. London-Paris Although I started in Brighton, let’s start off this blog post from London, as this...

Alpe d’Huez delivers a subtle hint to take the train
I loved this subtle guerilla campaign that Alpe d’Huez recently ran in conjunction with SNCF. Many resorts are encouraging holidaymakers to take the train rather than fly or drive, but the resorts of Alpe d’Huez teamed up for a few days with Ouigo, the SNCF’s low-cost offering. Travel to resort is typically 50-80% of the...

Travel by Train to the Alps via Lille
The most obvious routes to the Alps are via Paris, but did you know that you can travel to ski resorts via Lille? There are direct TGV trains from Lille Europe on the Tarentaise line to Moutiers, Aime la Plagne and Bourg St Maurice as well as through the Mont Blanc valley to Cluses, Sallanches...

New Paris to Pyrenees Night Train for 2021/22
Like buses, overnight trains to ski resorts come in two at a time. We only recently reported on the Briancon service and now we have news of a Paris to Pyrenees night train. After the successful reopening of an Intercités night train from Paris to Nice in May, the SNCF is launching a night service...