Where to Ski And Snowboard - Put your car on the train

Put your car on the train

24th August 2010, by Wendy King

Autozug

Deutsche Bahn has announced that motorail services are now on sale for winter 2010/11 - many of which will get you and your car close to key Alpine destinations.

For rail fans, and those thinking about travelling to the Alps by train, the choice of routes is wider than ever. DB Autozug offers routes throughout Germany and beyond. The main German hubs include Düsseldorf, Hamburg, Frankfurt and Munich. You can reach some of these cities in just a couple of hours from the Dutch ferry ports, pop your car on the train and travel down to stations in Austria, Italy and even France. Key services stop at Schwarzach-St-Veit (in Austria’s Salzburg region), Innsbruck, Bolzano (for the Italian Dolomites), Piedmont (also in Italy) and Narbonne in France.

DB Autozug also offer a ‘Spezial’ deal, whereby international routes can be booked up to seven days before departure. They cost from 149 euros per one way journey, based on one passenger (sleeping in a couchette) and one vehicle. Each additional passenger pays 60 euros. You can already book some of the main Easter 2011 services.

If you don’t plan to take the car, City Night Line provides 15 overnight rail connections in eight different European countries. Prices start from 29 euros one way, from Paris to Munich for example. Munich is a good transitional point for journeys down to Austrian cities, as well as a gateway to key German ski resorts. And taking the overnight trains avoids the cost of an extra night in a hotel.

Rail travel is steadily gaining more interest. DB figures suggest a 1.9% increase on people using long distance services during the past year, which is over a million more passengers – and over 900 million in total used Deutsche Bahn’s rail services.

For more information: www.bahn.com/uk