Skiing the Alps by Train: Car-Free Family Trips from Germany, Austria and Switzerland

The honest case for the train is partly money and partly sanity. Once you add up the costs of driving, the gap narrows fast, and the combined rail tickets can close it entirely.

• The hidden driving costs add up: fuel, the Austrian motorway vignette, the Swiss annual sticker, winter tyres your rental may charge for, and resort parking that is rarely free at the big stations.
• Kids travel well by rail: they can move around, look out the window, and arrive un-frazzled instead of car-sick after three hours of hairpins.
• The last leg is short: at most resorts the bus or funicular connection waits at the station, so you are not navigating a strange mountain town in the dark.
• You skip the worst day to drive: Saturday changeover traffic into the Tyrol and Salzburg valleys is brutal. The train sails past it.

The trade-off is luggage discipline and a bit of planning. Worth it for most families. We will be honest later about when a car still wins.

Zurich is the gateway to eastern Switzerland's resorts. From Zurich main station, fast trains run roughly hourly to Chur (about 75 minutes) and Landquart, where you change onto the narrow-gauge Rhaetian Railway (RhB) or a Postbus for the final climb.

• Davos and Klosters: change at Landquart onto the RhB. The train runs right into Davos Platz and Klosters, so for once the station is in the resort.
• Arosa: the Arosa line leaves from Chur station and runs through the town streets before climbing to Arosa in about an hour, dropping you a short walk from the lifts.
• Laax, Flims and Falera: there is no train station here. Take Postbus route 81 from Chur, where the bus terminal sits directly above the platforms, to Flims Dorf Bergbahnen by the cable car.
• St. Moritz and the Engadin: change at Chur (the Albula line) or at Landquart via Klosters and the Vereina tunnel; reckon on about three hours from Zurich, with the RhB station a 5 to 10 minute walk from the Corviglia funicular.

Munich is the workhorse gateway for the German and Austrian Alps, and Frankfurt and Stuttgart feed into it on fast ICE and Railjet services. Innsbruck is the hub almost everything routes through.

• Garmisch-Partenkirchen: a direct regional train runs from Munich roughly hourly, no change, straight to the Zugspitze and Garmisch-Classic areas.
• Innsbruck: fast OEBB and DB trains from Munich, plus ICE and Railjet from Frankfurt and Stuttgart. From Innsbruck, local trains and buses fan out to Stubai, the Axamer Lizum and beyond.
• Kitzbuhel, St. Johann and Zell am See: all sit on the Salzburg-Tyrol railway. Kitzbuhel even has a stop near the Hahnenkamm lift, so the walk to the gondola is short.
• Zillertal resorts: change at Jenbach onto the narrow-gauge Zillertalbahn that runs up the valley toward Mayrhofen.

If you are coming from further north, OEBB Nightjet sleeper trains reach Innsbruck overnight from cities such as Hamburg and Hanover, with onward connections to the Otztal, Landeck-Zams and St. Anton. The new-generation cars have sleeping compartments with private bathrooms and budget Mini Cabin pods, which can turn a long haul into one fewer hotel night.

From Vienna you head west along the main line through Linz and Salzburg, the spine that feeds the Salzburger Land and Styrian resorts.

• Salzburg: frequent Railjet services, then onward regional trains and buses into the Salzburger Land valleys and the Gastein resorts.
• Schladming: a direct OEBB express runs from Vienna on selected days of the week (not daily, so check the timetable), taking roughly four hours, with introductory fares advertised from around 20 EUR per person when booked early.

At Schladming the station is about 1.5 km, a 15 minute walk, from the Planai valley station. Easier with kids: the regional ski bus is free with a valid lift pass, or the line 975 bus does the same hop for a few euros. Confirm the current train days and fares on the OEBB site before you build a weekend around one departure.

This is where the train stops being merely greener and starts being cheaper. Both Switzerland and Austria sell a single ticket that bundles your travel with your lift pass.

• Swiss Snow'n'Rail (SBB RailAway): one product combining your public transport ticket with a 1, 2 or 6-day ski pass. The discount depends on the resort, and you can load the pass straight onto your SwissPass card so you walk through the turnstile without queuing at the till. Sold online only, at the SBB leisure site.
• Austrian OEBB combined ticket: for the 2025/26 season the OEBB Rail Tours winter range covers 22 ski areas, bundling the train, a 1 to 10-day ski pass, and the regional bus from station to slopes where one is needed.
• A genuinely useful detail: on the Austrian ticket the rail portion stretches to fit the ski pass. A 1-day pass gives you 2 days of rail validity, a 3-day pass gives 5 days, and a 6-day pass gives 8, so a relaxed travel day at each end is built in.

Prices and the exact resort list change each season, so confirm the current offer on the SBB or OEBB site before you bank on a specific number.

The train beats the car for a family trip, but only if you pack for it. A few habits make the difference between smooth and frazzled.

• One bag per person, on wheels: aim to carry everything in a single trip. The connecting bus or funicular is the tiring part, so do not over-pack.
• Rent gear at the resort: dragging skis across two changes is the most common regret. Booking rental for collection in the village lets you travel light, and the combined tickets often include a rental discount code.
• Keep the essentials on you: snacks, water, boots and gloves go in the bag you carry, not the one in the overhead rack, so a hungry four-year-old is a 30-second fix.
• Book family seating: on Railjet, ICE and the Nightjet you can reserve grouped seats or a whole compartment, which keeps a long ride calmer for everyone in the carriage.
• Toddlers ride cheap or free: small children travel free or at a deep discount across DB, OEBB and SBB, so the maths gets even friendlier the younger your crew is.