Overnight ski train - hell or discotastic?

[TheyCallMeStacey]

We are hoping to go to the Alps by train at Easter, the daytime Eurostar is full so we are left with the option of overnight Ski train. DCs are 9 & 6, what are your experiences??

Well, not a ski train but an overnight to Naples. Will you all have a cabin to yourselves? Keep the door locked and valuables hidden. Escort kids to and from the loos.

By the morning the loos on my train were disgusting. Truely. My mind boggled at what had gone on in there. It's another world!

We can pay extra to have the cabin to ourselves. Part of the train is also a disco, interesting. It is the loos that are worrying me!

friends have done this and had a fab time I would go for it but be prepared to just go with the flow

Take your own loo paper - and anti-bac wipes for seats!

and pay extra for your own cabin defo

Laughing at andiem's comment to go with the flow.

I HOPE you don't have to do this.

friends just stayed up all night in the disco with their two kids but I think there was quite a lot of snogging going on amongst some of the younger train passengers

maybe you could book as far away from the disco carriage as possible.

We took this ski train train pre children and it was ok. Agree with the comments about loos on trains..they are yuk!

Assume that if you take this train you will have 8 days skiing which is a bonus. Will you be able to leave cases somewhere in your ski accommodation on the first and last days?

We took an overnight ski train from Paris to briancon last year with younger DCs and they loved it. The advantage you have with the train you are booking is that you won't have to cross Paris.

the dc's would love to disco all night.

happy womble - it is the eurostar to Paris then just a change of platform onto the overnight ski train to Chambery. the 8 days of skiing is a big plus, we are probably booking the Club Med at Alpe d'Huez so would hopefully have no trouble leaving our bags there on the first and last days.

TCMStacey..I would book that train - changing platforms at Gare du Nord is very straightforward. The good thing about the overnight train is that you have the option of getting off at Chambery whereas I don't think you can on the daytime train.

I haven't been with club med but have seen their website and their set up looks great..Alpe D'huez sounds a lovely resort too.

Hope you have a lovely time and put a review on Mumsnet when you get back!

Thanks very much happy womble, will def post a review of train and resort.

How did you book your ski train? We have been trying online and can only find trains that involve changing from Gare du Nord to Austerlitz - not fun with ski luggage and tired DCs.

Helprelocating - we have just booked flights from Gatwick to Grenoble with EasyJet, the trains seemed more complicated and the times were not great. Also we got 4 return flights for £250!

helprelocating - have you tried contacting rail europe..they should be able to sell you tickets for the overnight train from gare du nord (unless it has sold out or stops running before the end of the season).

We took a train from austerlitz last year - we ended up having to get taxis accross paris as there is no lift down to the metro at gare du nord and our children (2 and 5) were too young to carry any bags..if your children are older it would probably be possible to get down to the metro but allow plenty of time to get from gare du nord to gare d'austerlitz.

Once on the sleeper the children loved it and said they preferred it to the daytime direct eurostar this year.

Thanks happywomble - I have looked on Eurostar but is sold out, I will try rail europe.
TheyCallMeStacey - I looked at flights but we are considering Les Arcs so while the flights came in Ok the transfers were exorbitant.....
Next year I aim to book early - in the past we have had some good early booking deals from Club Med. Hope you enjoy your hols

It mught be chepaer to book a car for the 4 of you rather than transfers for 4. We got a good deal from holiday autos one year that we flew into Geneva. Justr make sure to book for pick up on the "French" side.

in the end we have booked the ski train from Paris as part of the package with Club Med and booked our own Eurostar from London to Paris. Club Med get cheaper rates and also include the transfer from the station to the hotel, and it has worked out cheaper to do this and pay for a hotel for 4 in Paris for one night, than to book Club Med with no transport and and arrange trains through RailEurope/Eurostar! Now I just need to find all the missing ski gloves!

We used to go on the overnight ski train when I was a teenager - we loved it

My parents obviously thought it wasn't bad either since we did it several times

I'm glad you have managed to book the train via Club Med helprelocating. Thats really good that Club med will book the train and transfer as I did find it a bit of a nightmare booking the french sleeper through raileurope last year.

I hope you have a fantastic skiing holiday.

helprelocating which Club Med are you going to? We haven't skiied with them before but have heard good things, particularly about the food!

sorry for not replying sooner - haven't been looking at the ski threads. We are off to Les Arcs Altitudes. It will be our 3rd Club med ski trip. So far the food has always been good and the children love being able to order their own drinks and snacks at the bar when they come back from skiing. The clubs are great as you don't have that dash around the bottom of the ski lifts collecting children from lessons just as yours finishes. i hope you have fun! It was actually answering your question on another thread that inspired me to go away and book!
Thanks for your good wishes Happywomble - it was the thought of the transfers that made me look into getting Club Med to book the package from paris - it is just much easier knowing the coach will collect you from the hotel!