There are many ways of getting to St.Anton and
here I will give you as much information as I can about your choices. I
would recommend flying rather than driving as it is a long way here and seems
even further on the way home!
There are several
airports that you can fly into - I would recommend Friedrichshafen, Innsbruck
or Zurich but you can also use Basle & Munich (Easyjet) or Stuttgart (German Wings) but
these are further away from the resort. Also for those of you wanting to fly from Ireland: Ryanair fly to Memmingen & Salzburg from Dublin. Air Lingus fly to Zurich, Salzburg & Munich from Dublin, Cork, Knock & Shannon.
For those not wishing to use Stansted then the following may help:
Luton - Easyjet to Zurich
Edinburgh - Easyjet to
Zurich
Gatwick - Easyjet to
Zurich, Salzburg, Basle, Innsbruck & Munich
When you arrive at your chosen airport there are also several ways of
reaching St.Anton. If you choose the car hire option there are a couple of
things to bear in mind - there
could be a lot of snow - have you driven in heavy snow before??
In Austria they drive on the right hand side of the road - have you driven on the continent before??
FRIEDRICHSHAFEN
PLEASE NOT: Ryanair are no longer flying into Friedrichshafen, they have transferred this route to Memmingen
- details below. A German airline has now taken over the slot and is flying into Friedrichshafen from Gatwick.
The best and easiest airport
for St.Anton is Friedrichshafen.
Although it is in Germany, Friedrichshafen is only a ninety-minute drive from
St.Anton. MyWings
fly most days from Gatwick into this cute
little airport... it has by far the easiest / quickest arrival and
departure
through times of any European airport I have been to. So how do you get
to
St.Anton from Friedrichshafen? My wings seem to be offring a good
service and are carrying, skis, snowboards, boots & poles free of
charge. They are not as cheap as Ryanair but probably about equal when
you take account of Ryanairs baggage charges. However the main problem
with them is that they do not fly Saturdays and St Anton is pretty much a Sat - Sat resort.
Car Hire
If there are a group of you I would suggest that car is by far your
best option as most of the major firms operate hire services from
Friedrichshafen. Directions by car to St.Anton can be found below. Also
remember when booking your car hire to ask for WINTER TYRES and CHECK they are
fitted when you collect the car. Quite often they forget and then have to give
you a free upgrade to a car with winter tyres.
Mini Bus Transfer
Ski Express Arlberg.
I think that this is by far the best service for airport transfer. It
is run by Christian Frey and offers a door to door service straight to
the resort. The cost is 45 Euro pp single and 80 Euro return. Also you
can get a minibus for 220 Euro one way.
Tel. 0049 7541 398615 Mob. 0049 1716 513789
Taxi
You can prebook a taxi to collect you but prices for this start
at around 250 euro each way. However if you get a taxi at the airport it should only cost you 200 euro.
Taxi Lami 0043 5446 2806 Taxi
Harry 0043 5446 2315
Coach
Loacker Tours operate
a coach service to St.Anton at weekends. This coach meets the Ryanair
flights
each day and the cost is between 35 & 60 Euro one way or 65 &
115 Euro retun depending on the day of your travel - it is cheaper at
the weekends. You should
be aware that this is a shuttle and the bus will most likely go via
several resorts and at busy times the transfer can take several
hours.
Tel
No. 0043 6645 187040
Train
There is a train station situated at
Friedrichshafen and you will be able to get to St.Anton from here but you will
need to make one or two connection changes. For the rail network journey planner click here.
Directions to St.Anton via
road :
Turn right as you leave the airport terminal and drive about 500m until
you reach a T Junction. Turn left here and this will bring down to a roundabout
where you turn right towards Friedrichshafen. As you come into Friedrichshafen
itself you will go through a set of traffic lights and should then see in front
/ above you a flyover. Go underneath the flyover and then take a filter left.
This is signposted towards Lindau and there will be a Lidl supermarket on your
right. The road number is 31. You will continue towards Lindau for about 20km
until you come to the main Munich / Innsbruck motorway. The number of this
motorway is 96. When you reach it you have to take a left turn onto it heading
towards Bregenz. This will take you to the German / Austrian border, if your
car does not have an Austrian tax disc you must purchase one here, (they are
not expensive - you are not in the UK now!) Once through the border stay on the
motorway, you will pass through a long tunnel under Bregenz. Once through the
tunnel you continue for about another 50km until the road becomes single
carriageway. Continue for about a further 15km and then the road once again
becomes dual carriageway. Continue through a couple of short tunnels until you
go through a very long tunnel of several kilometres - this is the Arlberg
tunnel - and at the end of it you exit to St.Anton. There is a small toll for
using this tunnel.
Memmingen
Ryanair fly
into this airport from Stansted & Dublin. It is a little bit further away from
St.Anton than Friedrichshafen but it is all motorway so the transfer
time should be around two and a half hours.
Taxi
You can prebook a taxi to collect you but prices for this start
at around 300 euro each way. However if you get a taxi at the airport it should cost you less.
Taxi Lami 0043 5446 2806 Taxi
Harry 0043 5446 2315
Private Transfer
Ski
Express Arlberg operate a private transfer service from Memmingen and I
think that they are by far the most personal airport transfer service.
It
is run by Christian Frey and offers a door to door service straight to
the resort. They offer both a car and a mini bus transfer from
Memmingen but you will have to telephone to book it as it is not on
their website.
Tel. 0049 7541 398615 Mob. 0049 1716 513789
Coach
Arlberg Express operate
a coach service to St.Anton at weekends. This coach meets the Ryanair
flights
each day and the cost is 45 Euro one way or 85 Euro retun. You should
be aware that this is a shuttle and the bus will most likely go via
several resorts and at busy times the transfer can take several
hours.
Tel
No. 0043 5582 226
Train
There
is a train station situated at Memmingen, my advice is find people to
share a taxi with direct to the station (11 Euro), there is a bus
connection but I have found it does not make the train connection you
need. You will be able to get to St.Anton from here but you will
need to make several connection changes. I have made this journey a
couple of times and it will take 3 - 4 hours. I suggest you only
use the train as a last resort or if you have time to kill. For the
rail network journey planner click here
INSBRUCK
BA & Thomson fly into Innsbruck from
Gatwick. Innsbruck is the
closest airport to St.Anton but maybe Gatwick is not so good for many people!
It is very easy to get from Innsbruck to St.Anton, either by Train, Car or
taxi. Air Berlin
fly into Innsbruck from Stansted but only on Thursday & Friday. A problem that you can encounter when
flying to Innsbruck is being diverted to somewhere like Munich or
Salzburg if the weather is bad at Innsbruck. It is even worse if your
flight home is diverted somewhere away from Innsbruck and you then have
a big rush to try and make the flight. When returning to the UK from
Innsbruck always check your flight and the weather early!
Train
There is a direct train service to St.Anton from Innsbruck. Simply take
a taxi from the airport to the railway station, all you need to do is check the
train times to see how they will work with your flight - journey planner
Car Hire
The journey from Innsbruck to St.Anton is very easy and mostly dual
carriageway. Leave the airport and follow the signs to the A12. When you reach
the A12 follow the signs towards Bregenz and Arlberg. Stay on the A12 all of
the way until you reach the exit for St.Anton, which is about a 50 minute,
drive.
Taxi
You can also organise a taxi to collect you but prices for this start
at around 200 euro each way
Taxi Lami 0043 5446 2806
Taxi Harry 0043 5446 2315
ZURICH
Easyjet fly
into Zurich, which is
quite a good airport for getting to St.Anton. Whilst further away than
Friedrichshafen & Innsbruck it does have the advantage of a railway
terminal and the connection to St.Anton is good. You could also hire a car and take the two and a half hour drive to
St.Anton but I would certainly not advise you to take a taxi unless your are
Richard Branson.
Mini Bus Transfer
Arlberg Express operate
a coach transfer service to St.Anton. You should
be aware that this is a shuttle and the bus will most likely go via
several resorts and at busy times the transfer can take several
hours.
Tel
No. 0043 5582 226
Train
Trains run very frequently to the main Zurich station where you will be
able to catch a train direct to St.Anton. However make sure that you check out
your arrival times against the train departures so you don't end up spending
the evening in Zurich! Journey Planner Another
tip is to sit in the dining car on the train where there are good food, drinks
and waiter service. It is a very pleasant way to get to St.Anton, the Swiss /
Austrian trains are so much better than you will be used to in the UK.
Car Hire
Whilst not the cheapest option, car hire is the easiest and quickest
route from Zurich to St.Anton and the route is pretty much motorway all the
way. Two things to remember : Firstly make sure that you arrange a hire car
that has winter tyres and snow chains. Secondly when you cross the border into
Austria you must buy a tax disc - this is not expensive but the fine for not
having it is !!
Directions
Leave the airport and take the A51 south following signs towards the
A1. Turn onto the A1 towards Winterthur and St.Gallen. Stay on the A1 past
Winterthur and St.Gallen and then when you pass St.Margrethen follow the signs
to the A13 - Now you are on the A13 you need to exit at Junction 3 signposted
towards Hohenems. This will then bring you across the border into Austria.
Follow signs to the A14 and then get onto the A14 towards Innsbruck. Once on the
A14 you continue for about another 40km until the road becomes single
carriageway. Continue for about a further 15km and then the road once again
becomes duel carriageway. Continue through a couple of short tunnels until you
go through a very long tunnel of several kilometres - this is the Arlberg
tunnel - and at the end of it you exit to St.Anton. There is a small toll for
using this tunnel. Do not take the road for the Arlberg pass to St.Anton as
this may have a lot of snow on it. When you take the car back you should fill
up in Switzerland as it is much cheaper.
We hope that you have found these directions useful - if so we would welcome a small donation, Thank you