Menu Close

Hornboden

18 October 2017 / 33 Comments

4 great ski resorts in Austria

To FREEDOMtravel
Advertisement
In co-operation with snowtrex

Last winter we tried skiing in the Alps for the first time, and we were hooked! The Swedish mountains in all honour, but there is something special about going high up on an alpine peak and then sliding down these long descents that never seem to end.

Tweet
Share
Share
Pin
Share
Share

The view of the high peaks takes your breath away, and when your legs get tired, you can warm up in a cosy tavern in the middle of the slope. In today's post, we recommend four great ski resorts in Austria - one that we have visited and three that our partner has visited. SnowTrex selected to recommend among all their destinations.

Alpbach Valley

In January this year we went to the Alps for the first time to ski. We went to Alpbachtal where we stayed in a cosy little village. Reith im Alpbchtal and really experienced completely fantastic skiing. This ski area is not as well known as some others in Austria, which is why it has managed to retain its cosy and convivial feel.

Although Alpbachtal may not be well known, there are some really good slopes here. The area has nearly 109 kilometres of pistes and 16 km of ungroomed slopes. We enjoyed both the skiing and a lot of relaxed socialising with gluhwein and local food.

Skidresa till Österrike
Peter and I (Helena) in Alpbachtal in January this year

Mayrhofen

Mayrhofen is a lively ski resort in the Zillertal valley, largely neighbouring the Alpbachtal. The resort is a popular après-ski destination and there are also plenty of other off-slope activities, from ice skating and tobogganing to swimming and theatre.

The modern ski area includes a gondola lift that can carry as many as 150 (!) people. There are slopes of all levels of difficulty, especially blue and red. For the more daring, there is also Austria's steepest hill, Harakiri with a 38 degree slope.

The lift pass is valid for the entire valley, with about 515 piste kilometres (equivalent to almost five Åre), including glacier skiing. With the valley's own train and ski buses, which are included in the lift pass, you can comfortably travel between the different resorts in the valley.

Mayrhofen
Mayrhofen, Paul Suerth

Bad Gastein

Bad Gastein is a popular ski resort, which is also a health resort with several thermal baths. It even has its own research institute for spa treatments! The ski area in Bad Gastein is suitable for both experienced skiers and families with children. For families with children there is a practice slope, ski school, childcare and family activities such as tobogganing and dog sledding.

An advantage when travelling here is that the town is close to Salzburg Airport and has its own train station. Those who want to fly can therefore easily fly to Salzburgand then take the train from the centre of Salzburg to Bad Gastein, one of 4 great ski resorts in Austria.

Bad Gastein
© steinbauer-photography.com

Flirsch, St Anton

St Anton is known for its unbeatable skiing and here you will find everything from blue and red runs to opportunities for tough off-piste skiing. The ski area is located at an altitude of over 2800 metres, which means that it is very snow-safe even in a "bad" winter.

An insider tip from SnowTrex is the quieter neighbouring town of Flirsch, which has excellent bus connections with St. Anton, both ski bus during the day and after-ski bus in the evening/night. By staying in Flirsch, you can ski in one of the top areas of the Alps without breaking the bank.

St Anton am Arlberg, bra skidorter i Österrike.
TVB St. Anton am Arlberg/Josef Mallaun

Your tips for good ski resorts in Austria?

Have you been on a skiing holiday in Austria or elsewhere in the Alps? Which ski resort is your favourite?

Bra skidorter i Österrike
All our top tips for Austria. Click on the image!

You might also like:

Att åka längdskidor i ÖsterrikeCross-country skiing in Austria - ski school in Vorarlberg Vinterresa till VorarlbergWinter trip to Vorarlberg in Austria - our 8 best tips SkidåkningSkiing in Sweden until the summer
InformationAdvisa
3 tips on how to maximise your ski trip to the mountains
InformationFirst Camp
First Camp Hökensås in Tidaholm - nature and fishing

Subscribe to our newsletter

18 October 2017 6:00
Austria
,

Next post

Tullgarn Castle - in the footsteps of kings and tsars

Previous post

Femöre - barren rocks and military history in Oxelösund

Administrator

33 Comments

Add yours →

  1. Lena - good for the soul says:

    Ohhhh, how wonderful! It is so beautiful down there. I have skied in Zell am See in the summer, but have never tried winter time. It has not happened even though I have wanted it for a long time.

    Thanks for the lovely, somewhat unexpected, winter pictures 🙂 .

    Hug Lena

    18 October 2017 - 6:17

    Reply

    • Comment by post author

      Helena says:

      Summer skiing sounds great! As I said, we tried skiing in the Alps for the first time last winter. We thought it was fantastic! Would love to go again. (And by the way, hope for a nice white winter this year ;))

      18 October 2017 - 7:01

      Reply

  2. Ditte says:

    Surely it is high time to plan for skiing holidays and many "good" resorts are sold out since early autumn. I am most fond of the Alpine area in Italy where Cervinia, Gressoney Bad Gastein, Champoluc and Val Gardena are favourites and offer very good skiing as well as everything else that belongs to and is charming ski resorts. But I think the best skiing is in France where the range of slopes is by far the largest. I want to put on my skis and boots at the hotel and not take gondolas or buses to reach the ski areas.
    Often you have to in Austria.
    In France, Val Thorense, Tignes and Avoriaz are favourites. Switzerland with Verbier and Zermatt are also perfect, but in my opinion they are very expensive.
    I've tried Badgastein, Bad Hofgastein, Mayrhofen, Sölden, St Anton, Zell am Zee, Zillertal, Alpbach and Ischgl in Austria and the favourite is probably Ischgl, which offers exciting skiing at high altitude.

    Glad you were bitten and want to go again. And I hope to go, but many of the goodies are sold out....I was a bit late.

    18 October 2017 - 7:34

    Reply

  3. cheek says:

    We have travelled by motorhome over New Year several times to Riezlern in Austria, which I can highly recommend. Very nice place with good bus service that is included when you stay there. However, book camping in good time.

    18 October 2017 - 7:50

    Reply

  4. Ama de casa says:

    Oh! Immediately feel that I want to go to Mayrhofen and ride in Harakiri! What am I waiting for? (For the ski season to start, maybe? 😉 ) HAHA! It would be a sight to see Ama de kaaaasa on that slope. Although that would probably be the last thing I did... 😀.

    We have been to many places in the Alps, and also travelled in the USA, Canada, Andorra and Spain. There are many favourites there 🙂

    When it comes to Austria, Ischgl is probably a favourite. You can make a lovely tour there - even without skis. The fact that they have a lift and a conveyor belt through a tunnel in the town to the slopes doesn't make things worse 😉.

    Otherwise, I would like to mention Andorra, which was very nice.

    And of course the Sierra Nevada in Spain. We go there every year and train for the ski trip with the gang, so even I'm starting to recognise the lift system there. Otherwise, I'm mostly like a goldfish on the slopes, like "I've never been here before". in slopes where we have just travelled 🙂.

    18 October 2017 - 9:50

    Reply

  5. Liniz Travel says:

    We were last year in Wagrain / Kleinark it was really fantastic 🙂 we were so happy with the trip! But are hungry for Austria again !!! Hugs

    18 October 2017 - 10:07

    Reply

  6. lindane mum says:

    Oh, how wonderful it seems! Would love to go to the Alps.

    18 October 2017 - 11:25

    Reply

  7. Solan says:

    Never forget a ski week in Tignes, France. Stuck with one pole in a ski railing that was on a completely snowed-in car. Off piste!!!

    18 October 2017 - 17:15

    Reply

  8. Matts Torebring says:

    We have been to Kitzbühel, St Johan and others. These we have visited both summer and winter several times. To compare with the "Laptops" in the Nordic countries is just not possible,

    18 October 2017 - 18:00

    Reply

  9. Britt-Marie Lundgren says:

    Too bad I am not a skier (went for a few years when the children were of school age but was just as grateful every time I came down with my life). Austria is wonderfully beautiful and of the resorts I have been to Matehofen twice in the summer and hiked and then realised that it must be wonderful in the winter too!

    18 October 2017 - 18:09

    Reply

  10. Mr Steve says:

    Great pictures from great ski resorts. I did not know that Harakiri is also a terribly steep ski slope. However, alpine skiing is not on my agenda right now.

    18 October 2017 - 18:14

    Reply

  11. BP says:

    So you are absolutely right - you can't compare apples with pears, i.e. Åre with Austria, Italy, Switzerland and France. If you think it was big in Austria, I think you should try Tignes and Val d'Isère, two resorts that have common slopes. It is not enough with one week to ski all the slopes there, I can say.

    18 October 2017 - 20:27

    Reply

  12. Ruth in Virginia says:

    I have nothing to add here. Biggest ski trip I
    did in Sweden was in secondary school, when we went to Sälen for a week.
    But I have actually travelled in Squaw Valley, California, in 1952-53.
    This was before the Olympics were held there. Have also travelled on other
    places in the Sierra Nevada. - Austria was not available "in my time",
    unfortunately!

    18 October 2017 - 22:16

    Reply

  13. Elisabeth says:

    What a wonderful post. Makes me want to go skiing again, but at the same time I know that time is over. The pictures brought memories to life. Thanks for that!

    18 October 2017 - 22:43

    Reply

  14. Marina says:

    Oh so lovely! Pictures of skiing at its best. I don't have much experience of skiing in the Alps, other than in Reith, which is ages ago, plus I've been to the Val Gardena area in Italy which was absolutely fantastic. And it's tempting to do another trip with alpine skiing as a goal, so we'll see....

    19 October 2017 - 10:09

    Reply

  15. Travelsis says:

    The first time I went skiing was about 15 years ago. We were in Alpbach, beautiful Austria. A little nervous in the beginning, then the confidence grew and it went really well.... until the cruciate ligament and meniscus were damaged and it was to sit and watch the rest of the week.

    21 October 2017 - 21:05

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

ABOUT FREEDOMtravel

FREEDOMtravel is a digital travel magazine, launched in 2009, and operated by FREEDOMtravel AB. The magazine has about 120,000 unique readers/month according to Google Analytics.

Here you will find over 4000 stories on travel, adventure and camping - a new article every morning at 06:00.

CEO and responsible publisher: Peter Bergström

Editor-in-Chief: Helena Bergström

Peter och Helena FREEDOMtravel resemagasin

CONTACT US

Feel free to contact us for questions, tips and cooperation proposals!

FREEDOMtravel: kontakt@freedomtravel.se

The editorial team: redaktion@freedomtravel.se

Social media and newsletters

Feel free to follow us on social media, or fill in your email address below to receive our weekly newsletter with this week's stories.

Facebook: @freedomtravelnews

Instagram: @freedomtravelnews

Youtube: @freedomtravelnews

SEARCH AND FIND ON FREEDOMTRAVEL

Use the search box or browse the categories and archives. You can also scroll to the menu at the top of the page, where you will find country-by-country and landscape-by-landscape destination reports, as well as themed roads, car parks and much more.

Categories

Archive

Cookies
We serve cookies. If you think that's OK, just click "Accept all". You can also choose what kind of cookies you want by clicking "Settings".
Settings Refuse all Accept all
Cookies
Choose what kind of cookies to accept. Your choice will be saved for one year.
Sava Refuse all Accept all