In September 2024, Iain from The Ski Podcast travelled by train from the UK to Crans Montana in Switzerland.
This is one of the best ski resorts to travel to by train, as the funicular from Sierre means you can get off the train and be in resort little more than 15 minutes later.
London-Paris Gare du Nord
Normally I start from Brighton, but as I had an ski industry event in London the day before, I decided to stay up in London at a hotel near to London St Pancras.
That meant a relative lie-in compared to when I start from Brighton and I arrived at London St Pancras at 07:05. It’s always pretty swift to ‘check in’ at Eurostar, but this time was a personal best, taking just six minutes from arriving at the ticket gate, through security and customs into the departure lounge.
We arrived in Paris bang on time. Then it was down to Line D on the RER and 25 minutes from putting my foot on the platform at Gare du Nord, we were in Gare de Lyon.
It’s a very straightforward journey, detailed in the video below:
Paris Gare de Lyon-Geneva
I do love the TGV Lyria trains to Switzerland. It cost EUR8 to upgrade to first class when I first booked. It’s worth it for the extra wide seats. The Wi-Fi is excellent and three hours later we were in Geneva.
Geneva-Sierre-Crans Montana
There were 40 minutes in Geneva, not quite enough time for a stroll down to the lake, so I squeezed in another 20 minutes work in Starbucks (on the same level as the platforms).
The connection to Crans Montana is a train to Brig and it takes slightly less than two hours to reach Sierre. On arrival in Sierre, it’s no more than a five minute walk to the funicular that whisks you up to Crans Montana in just 12 minutes.
In true Swiss style, the free local buses are scheduled to fit perfectly with the funicular arrivals, so the final connection to your hotel is seamless.
Timings
Dep London – 08:01
Arr Crans Montana – 18:30 (17:30 UK time)
The total journey took 9½ hours from London
Costs
Eurostar – £98
Paris Metro – £3
SNCF – £92 (1st Class)
Geneva-Crans Montana – £68 (book at travelswitzerland.com)
Total – £261
Carbon Footprint
Research by Protect Our Winters shows that travelling by train generates less than 5% of the equivalent carbon emissions created by flying.
The example below uses Tignes, a similar distance away from Geneva as Crans Montana. The carbon footprint of flying is 500 kg/CO2e, compared with 22 kg/CO2e by train.
