The end of the Tarentaise line, and the terminus of the Eurostar Snow. From here Les Arcs, Tignes, Val d'Isère, La Plagne and Sainte-Foy all begin — five different roads.
Bourg-Saint-Maurice is the end of the Tarentaise railway line. Beyond it there is only road: the hairpins up to Les Arcs, the climb past the dam towards Tignes and Val d'Isère, the valley road to Sainte-Foy. It is a switching point, and that is what makes it an unusual station.
Every winter Saturday it receives TGV services from Paris and Lille, along with the Eurostar Snow from London via Lille Europe. Thousands of travellers arrive within a few hours, carrying skis, snowboards and a week's luggage, and every one of them has to get further up.
We are based in Moûtiers, about forty minutes down the same valley. Our drivers cover this road every day from December to April, in both directions, and know the station at the hours when it is saturated — which bears no resemblance to knowing it on a Tuesday in November.
One detail that matters: Bourg-Saint-Maurice is linked to Arc 1600 by a funicular, in a matter of minutes. It is the only major Tarentaise resort with such a connection, and it provides a fallback when the mountain road is restricted.
A word about what surrounds the station. Bourg-Saint-Maurice is a proper valley town, with shops, ski hire outlets and large supermarkets — usually far cheaper than anything up in resort. Many of our passengers take advantage of that: a twenty-minute stop on the way up, and a self-catering week costs noticeably less. Mention it when booking and we build it into the journey.
The town also serves resorts that are often forgotten. Sainte-Foy-Tarentaise, on the road to Val d'Isère, is prized for its uncrowded slopes and its chalets. Villaroger and the north side of Les Arcs are also reached from the valley floor. None of these appear on any scheduled shuttle route: they are served privately, or not at all.
One geographical point worth knowing in winter: the Petit-Saint-Bernard pass, which links the Haute-Tarentaise to the Aosta valley in Italy, is closed from November to May. You therefore cannot cross into Italy by that road in season — you must come back down and use the Mont Blanc or Fréjus tunnel. It is a classic planning error among visitors reading a map without allowing for the season, and we would rather say so in advance.
Finally, on departures: a train missed at Bourg-Saint-Maurice has no equivalent to a missed train on the plains. The line is a dead end, frequencies are limited, and the next service may be the following day. We therefore calculate departure time on the actual state of the roads that morning, with a margin we are happy to defend.
One more thing about groups, which are very common at this station. The Eurostar sets down entire chalet parties at once: twelve, sixteen, sometimes twenty people who all need to be up the mountain within the hour. In that case we run a convoy — several vehicles leaving together and arriving together, coordinated by a lead driver, with a single point of contact for the organiser. It avoids the familiar situation in which half the group is at the chalet while the other half is still looking for a taxi outside the station. For agencies, chalet operators and concierge companies we set up centralised invoicing and dedicated seasonal terms.
Eight hours from St Pancras, and a platform in the middle of the mountains. It is the finest way to arrive — and the most punishing if nobody is waiting.
For the 2026-27 season the Eurostar Snow links London St Pancras to Bourg-Saint-Maurice every Saturday from 19 December to 20 February, with a two-minute cross-platform change at Lille Europe. Returns run on Sunday mornings and selected Saturday afternoons, from 27 December to 28 February.
That is the outbound journey; the return is closer to nine. You step down tired, often with family, always heavily loaded. The last thing anyone wants at that point is a queue in the snow.
At this station and at these times our passengers are overwhelmingly British. Our drivers speak English and know the resorts, the chalets and the habits of this clientele.
The same train calls at Chambéry, Albertville, Moûtiers, Aime-la-Plagne and Landry. We cover pick-ups at those stations too. Moûtiers station →
Eight hours by train from London, then twenty minutes of hairpins. It is that last quarter of an hour that sets the tone for the week.
Bourg-Saint-Maurice station — Haute-TarentaiseThey all start at the same station and have nothing in common thereafter.
About twenty minutes of hairpins to 1600, 1800, 1950 and 2000. Or the funicular, when the road is restricted. The route →
Roughly forty minutes past the Chevril dam, up to Val Claret. The route →
Around forty minutes as well, continuing beyond Tignes-les-Boisses. The route →
La Plagne via Aime or Bellentre depending on the village; Sainte-Foy on the Haute-Tarentaise road. The route →
Every winter the Haute-Tarentaise sees spells when the mountain roads are restricted or closed for a few hours, for snow clearing and controlled avalanche release. That applies to the climb to Les Arcs as much as to Tignes and Val d'Isère.
For Les Arcs there is an alternative that few visitors know about: the funicular connects the station to Arc 1600 in a matter of minutes, entirely independently of the road. In that case we set you down at the lower station with your luggage, rather than leaving you stranded at the bottom of a hairpin or attempting a climb we should not.
Making that call at the right moment means knowing what is actually happening on the road, not what an app suggests. That is one of the concrete advantages of a team living in the valley five months a year: we follow the prefectoral orders, we speak to colleagues coming down, and we ring you before you board the train rather than after.
For Tignes and Val d'Isère there is no equivalent — you wait for the reopening. But waiting warm in a café in Bourg-Saint-Maurice, forewarned, is a very different experience from waiting on a platform with no information.
A final word on equipment, which applies to every rail arrival. A family stepping off the Eurostar typically has a pair of skis or a snowboard each, as many hold bags, hand luggage, sometimes a pushchair and helmets. That is considerably more than the same group would carry on a weekend break. So we always ask how many ski bags you have when booking: that figure, not the passenger count, determines the vehicle assigned. A correctly sized van loads in five minutes on the platform; one that turns out too small costs an hour and spoils the first evening.
Your train, your resort, your equipment. We will be on the platform.