Looking for a ski holiday with a sense of place and respect for traditions — as well as plenty of gravity-driven excitement? Austria is waiting. The country where the young Hannes Schneider perfected the art of downhill skiing in the early 20th century — and taught his Arlberg technique to a legion of eager disciples — has much to offer. There are plenty of friendly, family-run hotels and guesthouses, where parents and grandparents busy themselves and plough their profits back into continuous programmes of refurbishment. Add in some of the highest snowfall averages in the Alps, as well as reasonably priced food and drinks, and it’s not hard to see why so many holidaymakers are charmed.
But it’s not just the sense of comfort that marks this place out. Austria is also a country that’s 60 per cent mountains. Many of the locals ski like gods and many of the pistes are just a little steeper than you’ll find in the resorts of France and Italy. The après-ski bars are a bit more lively too — although by no means are all resorts party towns. Scroll down for our pick of the best ski resorts in Austria.
Main photo: a church and lodges in Kitzbuehel, Austria (Getty Images)
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1. Hintertux
Best for a giddy, adrenaline-soaked preview of the season ahead
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Hintertux may be a high-altitude ski area rather than a conventional mountain resort but the quality of its slopes and length of its season make it a worthy member of Austria’s elite. Set at the far end of the Tuxertal valley, south of Mayrhofen, its pistes rise to a very snowsure 3,250m and provide the steepest glacier skiing in the Alps as well as broad and flattering intermediate descents. As a result, as soon as the first autumn snows fall, its slopes are buzzing with training camps for ski racers as well as holidaymakers from the Netherlands, Germany and the Czech Republic who can’t wait until winter. Later on, it’s popular with skiers staying in Mayrhofen whenever there’s a thaw on, and the quality of the snow at lower altitudes is suffering. But bear in mind that in the autumn there isn’t enough skiing here to keep you busy for a whole week. Aim for three days on the slopes and book at least a couple of lessons so that you make the most of the available terrain.
Meanwhile, down in the Tuxertal, the villages of Hintertux, Madseit, Juns and Lanersbach have plenty of accommodation, linked to the slopes by regular buses (though many visitors drive themselves). There’s even a touch of après-ski revelry to be found in the Hohenhaus Tenne, at the bottom of the lifts. No-one, however, would suggest the Hintertux as a destination for party animals. Skiing is what matters here — on cold, soft and grippy snow.
2. Solden
Best for groups of twenty and thirtysomething intermediates
Fifteen minutes north of Gurgl in the long Otztal valley, Solden is bigger and brasher than its near neighbour. Here, hotels, bars and restaurants spread for a couple of miles along the flat valley floor as well as perching on Hochsolden’s mountain balcony, 600m higher up, and by mid-afternoon the partying is well under way. Piste-side bars such as Obstlerhutte and Panorama Alm get going first, before the action moves to the likes of Almrausch down below.
That said, Solden is also serious about its snow. In three places the lift system reaches above 3,000m, and there are pistes on two skiable glaciers. One of them — the Rettenbach — hosts the opening race of the World Cup ski season at the end of October. As with all high-altitude resorts, you can’t see a thing when it’s snowing or foggy, but by way of compensation you get reliable snow and unusually broad pistes. In all, the resort claims 90 miles of mostly intermediate-friendly skiing.
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You’ll also find an ongoing push into the luxury market, led by the five-star hotels Das Central and Bergland, as well Ice Q — a sharp-edged, glass-walled mountain restaurant that starred in the James Bond movie Spectre. But this is not another Lech or Courchevel. Come instead for the impromptu parties, the pan-European buzz and the staggering mountaintop scenery, and you won’t be disappointed.
3. Serfaus
Best for midwinter family trips, with lots to do between ski lessons
The most southerly resort in the 132-mile Serfaus-Fiss-Ladis ski area, Serfaus deserves to be much better known by British families. On the snow, the secluded, mid-mountain Kinderschneealm is set aside exclusively for young beginners, while off-the-slopes facilities include a zip wire, Alpine coaster and the Playin centre, complete with climbing walls and a soft play area. There’s even an underground railway to keep the streets traffic-free. The one weakness is the lack of an indoor public swimming pool. So if your brood likes an après-ski splash, book one of the two state-of-the-art family hotels — the Bar or the Furgler. As well as pools and play areas, both have their own kids’ clubs.
This level of child-friendly infrastructure should give parents time to do their own skiing and they’ll enjoy the area’s wide intermediate pistes. But aim for a Christmas, New Year or mid-February trip as opposed to the Easter holidays. The slopes here rise to a respectable 2,828m, but most of the home runs face southeast, and will suffer in a spring thaw.
4. St Anton
Best for advanced and expert skiers — and anyone who wants to join their ranks
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St Anton is the wild child of Austrian skiing: tougher than most, a lot more daring and friends with anyone who can ski — and party — with spirit. You can thank the terrain for this devil-may-care attitude. Up top, amid the crags and chutes of the 2,809m Valluga, lie some of the most celebrated off-piste descents in the Alps. Lower down, an off-duty race track called the Fang awaits anyone who wants to emulate the heroics of the World Cup circuit, while the Kandahar serves up bumps the size of Volkswagen Beetles. Skiers looking to raise their game can sign up for lessons with one of the local ski schools such as Piste to Powder.
Yes, there is easier skiing here too — especially above Lech, on the other side of the Arlberg ski area. There’s an excellent area of nursery slopes by St Anton’s eastern suburb of Nasserein too. But you’re not going to get the most from St Anton unless you’re prepared to push yourself a little and — when the skiing’s done — celebrate the day’s achievements with all your new best friends, in bars such as the Mooserwirt and the Krazy Kanguruh. The sense of camaraderie you’ll experience in them is every bit as memorable as the action on the slopes outside.
St Anton is one of the most accessible Austrian resorts if you’re travelling by train. It can be reached from London in under 12 hours and is served by its own mainline railway station.
5. Lech
Best for those with a taste for bling-free Alpine luxury
It may be St Anton’s principal partner in the big, multi-faceted Arlberg ski area but it’s a strikingly different proposition. Smooth, elegant and discreet, it regularly plays host to European and Middle Eastern royals — and anyone else with the taste and budget for its richly textured, immaculately run hotels. Lech’s signature look is one that mixes crackling fires, unvarnished wood panelling and finely-woven woollen throws.
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Out on the snow, mid-level pistes beckon in every direction, culminating in the White Ring. This half-day tour takes in neighbouring Zürs, Zug and Oberlech, as well as some of the most spectacular scenery in the Arlberg. Confident, athletic intermediates will love it.
But not all the skiing here is quite as soothing as Lech’s reputation suggests. Anyone who loves a steep piste should keep an eye on Lech’s daily grooming report — so they can plunge down the vertiginous Langerzug as soon as all its moguls have been smoothed away. Off-pisters should put Lech on their must-ski list too. Immediately north of here lies little Warth am Arlberg — the snowiest ski village in the Alps. Lech gets more than its fair share of the white stuff too. Provided you hire a guide to keep you safe and treat the mountains with respect, memorable powder-skiing adventures await.
6. Gurgl
Best for Christmas and Easter holidays when the snow quality can be iffy in lower resorts
Set at the end of the long, deep Otz valley, hard up against the main Alpine ridge, Gurgl is as snow-sure as an Austrian resort can get without clambering onto a glacier. The lift system rises to 3,000m and snow cannons provide back-up on 90 per cent of its pistes — so a long season is guaranteed. Usually, you can ski its broad, mid-level runs from mid-November until the end of April.
Meanwhile, at the bottom of the lifts, two villages beckon — Obergurgl at 1,930m and Hochgurgl at 2,150m. Despite the high altitude, both are decked out in traditional Tirolean style with sloping roofs and wooden balconies. They’re packed with friendly, privately owned hotels too — many with their own indoor pools and kids’ clubs. One even has an indoor horse-riding arena. It’s little wonder this remote pocket of gemütlichkeit (which translates roughly as cosy, good cheer) is such a big hit with parents. In fact, it’s not unheard of to find three generations of the same family holidaying together here — with everyone from grandparents to the little ones having learnt to ski on its soft, confidence-boosting snow.
7. Kitzbuhel
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Best for sybarites and mid-winter skiers
Don’t be scared of Kitzbuhel. This pretty medieval mining town might be home to the most hair-raising World Cup ski race of all — the Hahnenkamm — but beyond its terrifying, straight-down-the-mountain course, Kitzbuhel is in fact a kitten. Loved by both Brits and Bavarians, it’s a resort defined by its intermediate-friendly pistes, characterful mountain huts and swanky hotels with state-of-the-art spas and gastronomic restaurants. Kitzbuhel’s pistes top out at a modest 1,965m, which is too low for good quality snow at the end of the season, so ski here in January or February instead.
If you buy a Super Ski Card, instead of one of the regular KitzSki ski passes, you can sample easy-skiing resorts just like it right across the Kitzbuhler Alpen region — including the SkiWelt and St Johann in Tirol. This single lift ticket unlocks 1,750 miles of pistes and it’s worth using it to day-trip across to Westendorf, next door, to ski the Kandler. It’s one of the finest red-rated pistes in the Alps and drops through 1,026m, all the way from the summit of the Choralpe to the valley floor at Brixen.
8. Ischgl
Best for confident, athletic intermediates
These days Ischgl is playing down its hard-partying image. But the second pillar of its popularity remains: the mountains that line the Austro-Swiss border. Here, between 1,365m and 2,853m, you’ll find one of Austria’s best areas of snow-sure, upper-intermediate skiing. Yes, other resorts’ lift systems may reach a little higher and some may have individual ski runs of better quality, but none quite match the number and concentration of red-rated pistes — most of which lie above 2,000m and are backed up by an epic snow-making system. Ischgl’s 1,100 snow cannons can turn most of its pistes white without a flake of snow falling from the sky.
When Mother Nature does lend a hand, there’s some superb off-piste skiing too, especially off the Piz Val Gronda cable car. Add the buzz of the tightly-packed town and the rejuvenating qualities of its Silvretta Spa, and it’s no wonder this is such a popular destination for energetic groups of adults — whether they plan to get stuck into its après-ski scene or not. Don’t be scared of the long, challenging and (in the afternoon) congested home run back into the resort.
9. Obertilliach
Best for romantics, explorers and families with young children
Not everyone wants to take their ski holiday in a big, bustling mega-resort — and if ever you find yourself longing for somewhere quieter, calmer and more connected with the Alps’ rural past, Obertilliach in the Osttirol awaits. The least-developed mountain resort in one of the most overlooked corners of Austria, its ski area holds just six lifts and nine miles of pistes.
What it does have in spades, however, is the sense that life doesn’t have to be lived at 100mph. Here, in its beautiful, sun-blackened historic core, you’ll find tractors parked up alongside the 4x4s, while neighbours chat across balconies and their kids play in the streets after school. Sometimes, all you can hear is the drip-drip-drip of meltwater. It’s tempting to find a bench in the sunshine and sit while all the knots in your nervous system loosen.
If you can stir yourself into action, two kinds of unusual but magnificent ski holidays await. The first is a serene introduction to winter sports that mixes easy nursery slopes with cross-country skiing on the valley’s extensive network of trails. The second is an adventurous, intermediate-friendly ski safari, which begins with Obertilliach’s own signature ski run — the long, plunging Ralsabfahrt — and moves onto some of the Osttirol’s other mini-resorts, such as Sillian and Kals-Matrei. Either way, you’ll discover a side of the Alps most people think vanished in the 1970s.
10. Mayrhofen
Best for confident, athletic piste skiers who want a taste of the 21st century with their snow
Mayrhofen has long been a fixture on British travel company programmes — and thoroughly deserves its place there. A cheerful, low-rise town, it’s peppered with friendly, unpretentious hotels and equipped with two separate ski areas offering a wide range of terrain. One is more or less set aside for beginners and wobbly intermediates. The other is home to one of the steepest black-rated ski runs in the Alps, as well as a top-notch terrain park. Meanwhile, back at base, a lively après-ski scene beckons as the lifts shut.
What few Brits realise, however, is that this is just the start of the skiing on offer here. Mayrhofen sits in the Zillertal, a valley about 30 miles long that’s home to three more sizeable lift systems and a whopping 338 miles of pistes. You’ll need to master the local bus timetables to make the most of it or (more conveniently) hire a car. But if you’ve got the legs to ski hard and the appetite for some day-tripping, you’ll get a taste of almost every kind of slope the Alps have to offer — from the smooth, fast, glacier runs of the Hintertux, to the freewheeling off-piste of Hochfugen. Then, when your legs have turned to jelly, you can head to the terrace at the Kristalhutte, in the Hochzillertal ski area, for city-slicker DJ sets and lazy afternoons on its sun loungers, sipping something fizzy.
11. Innsbruck
Best for skiing and culture — the Ferdinandeum art gallery is incredible
Innsbruck is unique. A proper city, with deep historical roots, it’s set right in the middle of the Alps. Walk out of a plane at its international airport and you can see mountains in every direction; on one — the Patscherkofel — Franz Klammer won Downhill gold in 1976, in what’s still the most famous ski race in Winter Olympic history.
In fact, it’s so tightly ringed by peaks that its Ski plus City pass provides access to 13 separate ski areas and a near-infinite variety of terrain and slopes. That’s far too much skiing for a single holiday, of course — and too much commuting. Plan a long weekend instead and pick one or two of the plums. The Patscherkofel is the obvious target for intermediate-level skiers and can be reached by a quick suburban bus service. Meanwhile the Nordkette is a must-ski for anyone who likes their slopes steep. To reach it, a combination of cutting-edge funicular railway and two cable cars whisk you from the city centre to the edge of a plunging snow field that’s avalanche-protected but never groomed. The first five turns, with the city laid out beneath you like a map, are sure to rank among the most memorable of your skiing career.
12. Galtur
Best for families with pre-teen kids
There aren’t many ski resorts that are small and cute as well as being modern and well-equipped. Galtur is one of the rarities. Set at the far end of the Paznaun valley, beneath two magnificent pyramid peaks, it has both a relaxing, end-of-the-line atmosphere and a ski area that’s been tweaked and sculpted to extract maximum skiing pleasure from its modest 27 miles of pistes.
As well as a good mix of steep and gentle slopes, the lift company has laid out all sorts of extras, including a dual slalom race track, a kids’ adventure trail, two terrain parks, a ski cross course and a floodlit piste for night skiing. Meanwhile, the village clusters around its church steeple a mile back from slopes. Mixed in among its traditional hotels and spacious low-rise apartment blocks, you’ll find an indoor pool, bowling alley, toboggan run and climbing wall. Socialites and mileage-hungry intermediates will wish they’d booked into big, buzzing Ischgl, six miles down the valley. Parents, meanwhile, will be over the moon.
13. Obertauern
Best for intermediate skiers who are confident enough to handle the steeper reds
Little Obertauern’s star is rising. With 62 miles of pistes, its ski area may be modest by modern standards and its layout, scattered along the Tauern pass, rather diffuse, but it has one priceless advantage in an era of climate change: altitude. Here, at the eastern end of the Alps — where the winter climate is generally cooler than it is in France — Obertauern’s 1,600m to 2,300m skiing range is high enough to offer reliable conditions into spring. The resort has also installed snow cannons on 95 per cent of its slopes to be absolutely sure. Another bonus is the fact that the pistes run around or through its three main clusters of hotels. Many are genuinely ski-in, ski-out — a rarity in resorts in Austria. Add in a short transfer time from Salzburg airport (70 minutes) and you’ve got the makings of a snowsure and convenient ski spot.
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Take me there
Inspired to visit Austria but yet to book your trip? Here are the best ski packages from Crystal Ski and Expedia.
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