Ski resorts in Austria
The number of Austrian ski resorts would satisfy any advanced skier for the next 10 years, even if he would be visiting Austria 2 - 3 times a year. Most of tchem are located in the federal states of Austria: Salzburg and Tyrol. It is impossible to describe them all here, so use our filters to select the most interesting ones. With the filters you can choose number of ski slopes and mark if the resort should have a glacier.
Although we have 55 ski resorts from Austria in our offer, we will try to present a few in this text. Of course, please treat this as an introduction to the topic and for more information, use one of the links below and go to the full presentation of a specific skiing region.
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Austria is a country where alpine skiing has really developed, and the cradle of these sports is the region Arlberg with resorts such as St. Anton am Arlberg and Lech am Arlberg . In addition to the great history, the region Arlberg is currently the largest connected ski area in Austria. In total, there is over 350 km of ski slopes, on which we can ski without using ski buses. All thanks to the Flexibahn gondola created in 2016, which connects slopes of Stuben and Zürs. From there you can go further to Lech am Arlberg . The Arlberg is so large that people accommodated in St. Anton are not able to ski on to Lech am Arlberg make round using local slopes and then come back before the evening. The same applies to people who live in Lech am Arlberg. It should be added here that Lech am Arlberg is not the end of the skiing area, you can easily go on to Warth am Arlberg and Schröcken. For skiers who want to visit the whole region on skis and live in St. Anton we recommend traveling by car to Lech in the morning, leaving the car on the parking, skiing around this part of the region and returning by car to the hotel in the evening. In particular, we recommend this region to those who like and appreciate space and to explore huge areas in a short time. Of course there are also very difficult slopes here, where advanced skiers can spend the whole day grinding each aspect on the same route. As for the level of the routes, in the current opinion St. Anton has more technically difficult routes, and Lech is easier. Because of numer of nightclubs and discos in St.Anton we recommend Lech to families with children. p>
Skiing in Ischgl
Not far away from Arlberg, we will find a luxury resort Ischgl. Here we can ski on more than 250 km of connected slopes. This is quite expensive town because most of hotels are 4* and 5* proposals. This is the only resort where such high-class hotels are located so close to each other, sometimes they is only a few meters between them. However it is possible to find cheaper accommodation, just choose one of the small towns at the beginning of the valley, such as
See im Paznauntal or Kappl. These villages have their own lifts and there are some kilometers of slopes, but for top skiing you have to go to Ischgl . So you will need to drive to the lifts about 10 – 20 minutes in the morning but you will not have to pay a lot for accommodation.
For people who like to end the day on the slopes in a party atmosphere, we recommend famous place, an "Apre Ski hot spot" - Paznauner Taja. Here the party starts every day from 3:00 p.m. and at 5:00 p.m. all skiers ski down one route to the center of Ischgl. Do not end your ski day there if you do not like overcrowding on the slopes. For those we recommend leaving this place earlier. While for the snowboarders – keep close to friend skier because there are numerous flattening on the route.
In our opinion there will be two other things to do in this region. Ski on the Swiss side to shop in the duty-free zone and go one day for skiing in Galtür. A wonderful skiing resort with an intimate atmosphere and great routes.
Skiing in Solden
Another Top ski valley in the western part of the Tyrol is Ötztal. Skiers here choose mainly the most popular Sölden, where the ski season starts from the beginning of November untill the end of april. In addition to the red and black routes within the town, there are many blue trails on 3 glaciers. There is famous route to get to glaciers with special skibuses – definitely worth trying. Recently, Sölden, has gained additional prestige. It’s because last part of the 007 agent was filmed with a cult scene of a chase on the Gaislachkogel slopes. In 2018 an interactive museum "007 Elements" has been created where every fan of this series can feel how it is to be a royal agent. The valley Ötztal is not only Sölden, the unique village is Vent. You will find there only 20 km of trails, but because there is only a few hotels, everyone feels like in private ski resort. Let’s add that Vent is located at an altitude of 1800 m above sea level and it takes just 20 minutes to get here from Sölden. Another worth visiting resort at the end of the valley, near the border with Italy is Obergurgl - Hochgurgl. An amazing place as both towns are located practically on the slopes at a height of 1900 m above sea level. One day visit here could be to less, because we have available 110 km of routes, which are open from the end of November till the end of April. This resort is not the cheapest, but during the whole winter season, no crowds guaranteed. For all motorcyrcles lovers, we recommed visit in world’s highest located motorbike museum.
West Tyrol has also other important ski resorts worth visiting. For skiers who like to start or end the season with a guarantee of snow, we recommend visiting following glaciers:
- Stubai with highest numer of slopes within austrian glaciers. Stubai itself has 108 km of slopes, and the entire Stubaital valley has 145 km of slopes
- Pitztal - this is where the top restaurant "Cafe 3.440 " is located
- Kaunertal despite there i only 22 km of trails you should go there for at leaast 2 – 3 days. In the charming town of Feichten, which is the closest to the glacier, you can find cheap hotels and apartments. Combined with our Free Ski offer throughout the winter season, the package per person comes with very low price. Although the town is quite small, you will find here several shops, restaurants and a well-equipped swimming pool with wellness facilities "quellalpin". The trip from Feichten by car will be quite memorable. Initially we pass through the gates as on the highway, where we get the skipass. Then we pass the beautiful lake "Gepatsch-Stausee" and drive steeply into the first parking just under the glacier. An interesting fact is that the car can go even higher, into the second parking space. Great route because we feel like we were driving a car on the ski slopes.Kaunertal made a huge impression on us, with it’s specific atmosphere we did not feel like in the typical resort ski. There are short and challenging routes as well as longer up to 5 km long descents, so you should have enough for couple days of skiing
Epic Ski Safari in West Tyrol
For crazy enthusiasts of skiing like us, who would like to visit different ski resort every day, we have a proposal to visit 6 great regions in the western part of Tyrol during a 7-day ski trip. This is a trip which we do every couple of years. We would like to point out that during this stay it is difficult to rest, but the impressions and memories remain with you for a long time. The best place for accommodation is Landeck. From here we have the easiest way to get to the individual valleys. Landeck is a more commercial town and we can find better hotels here at a lower price than directly in ski town. We strongly recommend to find hotel with wellness facilities because after so many kilometers on slopes each day, evening relaxation will be priceless. We start with larger centers and end with smaller ones. Every day at 9:00 a.m. we have to be at the gondola, so get used to early mornings. Our plan for such trip is as follows:
- 1 day: skiing in Arlberg. We start at Galzigbahn in St. Anton, ski down to Flexibahn and immediately break through to Lech am Arlberg. On return, there ishould be enough time to get off the famous "Valluga" peak. So if Valluga would be your priority you should go there straight away from Galzigbah li>
- 2 day: luxury Ischgl. Here you can choose various routes, but you may not have enough time to get to the Swiss side. Think about the morning the next day if you plan to visit an "Apre Ski hot spot" - Paznauner Taja 😊
- 3 day: famous Sölden the longest morning route from Landeck so it's worth getting up, a little bit earlier. There should be enough time to ski on the glacier
- 4 day: differential Serfaus-Fiss-Ladis. We suggest to prepare a specific plan because there is simplyto many ski routes and very big area to cover. If you think you are an advanced skier, you should try black „Direttissima” track, with starting point at the top of the 2596m Zwölferkopf
- 5 day: Pitztal glacier. You probably fill little bit tired so plan an extended lunch in "Cafe 3.440" and enjoy the views
- 6 day: calm finnish at the Kaunertal. Please note statistically last day of skiing is the easiest one to catch an injury
Of course, the schedule can be set according to weather forecasts and your preferences. On sunny days it is worth to choose the glacier.
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