Zurich is connected to numerous Swiss Ski resorts by easy rail connections, but none* of them can be reached from the city by direct trains.
*=We're 99% sure about this.
So a tick in the box for St Anton is that it does have direct trains from Zurich and the journey time is also shorter than to many of the Swiss Alpine resorts.
Oh and the end-to-end rail journey is pretty much fabulous for the entire train ride!
Departing from Zurich:
These trains* will depart from the platforms/tracks by the street level concourse in Zurich HB station (gleis 3 - 18)
*The train which is usually scheduled to depart at 08:40 is the EC train, all of the other departures are by Railjet trains.
Final Destination: Wien or Budapest or Innsbruck or Bratislava or Graz
All trains also call at: Feldkirch (and at Landeck-Zams after St.Anton)
From Zurich Flughafen/Airport:**
There are no direct trains between the station at Zurich Flughafen/Aiport and St.Anton
You will have to change trains at Zurich HB station.
Making the transfer will be much easier if you take a train from Zurich Flughafen to Zurich HB which uses the same part of Zurich HB station (platforms/tracks/gleis 3 - 18) that the trains on to St. Anton will depart from.
So when taking a train from the airport target either;
6 x RJX trains per day
1 x EC train per day
Book early and save: Yes
Online bookings open: 180 days* ahead of the travel date
*There's no need to book 6 months ahead to obtain the cheapest tickets.
If you look for tickets around 3 - 4 months ahead then the cheapest 'Sparschiene' tickets can be available on more trains.
The prices of the tickets are usually cheaper on OBB, particularly as its cheapest 'Sparschiene' tickets can now be booked up until the day of travel (if they haven't sold out) - previously Sparscheine tickets had to be booked at least 3 days ahead.
When looking up this journey on OBB, copy this spelling St.Anton am Arlberg into 'arr' station, the site struggles to find other variations of writing it.
However, it's worth comparing prices with SBB, but remember that the price on SBB will be in Swiss Francs and not euros.
Ticket Provider | Approximate Cost | |
---|---|---|
OBB | from €24 | |
SBB | * | |
Trainline | from €24 | |
Omio | from €24 | |
Happy rail | from €24 |
Arriving in St. Anton:
Listen out for the announcements, or keep an eye on the info screens on the train, because the approach to St.Anton station is in a tunnel, so you won't be aware of the train slowing down.
The train will reverse direction on departure from Buchs.
Step on board one of Europe's most epic rail journeys, with amazing views of two Swiss lakes AND a passage through the stunning Arlberg Pass.
This journey has arguably fewer 'nothing to see' moments than any other journey of this length.
Sit on the left (when facing the direction) of travel) on departure from Zurich for the best views.
Within 10 minutes of departing from Zurich there are a series of stunning views of not one, but two lakes, the Zurichsee...
...and then the Wallensee.
...can both be seen from the left of the train.
The best of the views as the train travels through the Arlberg pass will be over on the right, but the train will reverse direction on departure from Buchs.
Between Buchs and Feldkirch the train will travel through Liechtenstein, then after departure from Bludenz, the train threads through the stunning Arlberg Pass - though in summer the trees can get in the way.
In the pass, the best and most spectacular views of the entire journey are over on the right; even on a grey day.
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This is one of more than 100 train travel guides available on ShowMeTheJourney, which will make it easier to take the train journeys you want or need to make. As always, all images were captured on trips taken by ShowMeTheJourney.