Where to Ski in Austria This Season

Traditionally, Europe’s best all-rounder, Austria looks set to give France a run for its money this season as the favourite destination — certainly among British skiers who love its reliably beautiful pistes and oodles of old-school Alpine charm.

Austria’s sky-scraping corner of the Alps has a diverse offering. It’s home to some of the region’s highest peaks and most challenging slopes, along with expertly maintained beginners’ pistes and family-friendly hamlets set in postcard-perfect mountain villages where winter sports have been woven into local culture for centuries.

Whether you’re skiing, partying or enjoying one of Austria’s many mountain festivals, those with summit gleams in their eyes can easily experience a winter break where serious powder highs and oompah-pop-fuelled apres is the norm.

Here’s where to hit the slopes in Austria this season.

1. Zell am See-Kaprun

Best for: Scenic Skiing

Zell suits most skiers, and the new Kapellenbahn lift makes it easier to get around the slopes. There are 77km of pistes, while the same ski pass covers 61km on the Kitzsteinhorn glacier at Kaprun. You can also ski to Zell from Saalbach-Hinterglemm’s 270km of pistes, with a six-minute bus connection. The Ski Club of Great Britain offers seven nights’ half board at Sporthotel Alpin from £2,275 per person, including a single room, flights and transfers.

2. Ischgl

Best for: Apres & Advanced Skiers

Tyrol’s resorts are easier to reach this winter, with a new Jet2 route from Stansted to Innsbruck. Just over an hour’s drive away, high-altitude Ischgl is good for advanced intermediates. A new chairlift is opening and the double-decker cable-car has been upgraded, improving access to the slopes — and its lively piste-side apres-ski. Crystal Ski offers seven nights’ B&B at Garni Litzner from £1,093 per person, including flights and transfers.

3. Montafon

Best for: Book Worms

Before the days of his travels in Florida, East Africa and Cuba, Ernest Hemingway spent two seasons ski touring in Vorarlberg, with its powder stirring him to write The Snows of Kilimanjaro. These days, it’s equally motivating, if less hard work, with 79 cable-cars and lifts connecting 185 miles of ski routes and prize-winning pistes.

4. SkiWelt

Best for: Never Skiing the Same Slope Twice

SkiWelt’s vast network of slopes, many of them tree-lined, offers day-long adventures with barely a need to repeat the same run. There’s also talk of a new lift linking SkiWelt directly with neighbouring Kitzbühel, which would create the world’s largest interconnected ski area. Ski Solutions offers seven nights’ half-board at Landhotel Schermer in Westendorf from £1,359 per person, including flights and transfers.

(A Winter Guide to Austria, From Cities to Mountains.)

5. Sölden

Best for: Valley Runs

Sölden’s slopes stretch from 1,350 metres up to the glaciers at 3,340 metres, making for epic blasts down the mountain, while new runs and lifts make it easier to switch between sectors. The spa is an antidote to aching legs, and this winter, Hotel Bergland is upgrading its 2,200sq-metre Sky Spa by adding a new onsen pool and a relaxation room. Inghams offers seven nights’ B&B at Hotel Sölderhof from £1,140 per person, including flights and transfers.

(Why This Austrian Alpine Town is Forever Linked to James Bond.)

6. Obergurgl

Best for: Beginners

While Sölden, further down the Ötztal Valley, has the James Bond theatrics, Obergurgl is for novices yet to pull the trigger. The terrain, mostly blue- and red-graded runs, is covered by heavily discounted lift passes, a hallmark of the so-called ‘Diamond of the Alps’. Kids can ski from around £25 a day.

7. St Anton

Best for: Off-Piste Adventure

The popularity of Arlberg’s star resort is founded on its off-piste terrain and legendary apres-ski — the word that springs to mind is wild (surviving nights out at Mooserwirt and Krazy Kanguruh is a badge of honour). Rising early is mandatory though, as is ripping round the Run of Fame, the Alps’ longest continuous ski circuit.  

8. Bad Kleinkirchheim

Best for: Downhill Racers

Franz Klammer, Austria’s most famous racer, earned his stripes in Carinthia, a region that’s opening up, with new flights between London and Klagenfurt. For the first season, SkiWeekends, Flexiski and Ski Club Freshtracks now offer package trips here and, so far, few British accents echo along its tree-lined pistes.

9. Lech

Best for: Luxury

Lech is the sort of place where you won’t get much change from €10,000 for a few nights’ ski and sleep. The ultra-luxe pads by Arula Chalets and Pepper Collection are among the Alps’ swankiest, with cinemas, concierges and chefs. But there are more sensibly priced stays, too, so thrilling runs like the legendary White Ring connecting to Zürs can be enjoyed by all.

(Explore Austria’s Legendary Arlberg Ski Region.)

10. Bad Gastein

Best for: Culture

Bad Gastein’s currency is high culture, from classical concerts to the largest art festival in the Alps (February), when the slopes are carpeted in ice sculpture. Snow Jazz (March), brings a degree of melody to the mountains rarely seen elsewhere. Between piano solos, run your skis down some 125 miles of ivory pistes.

(For Centuries, Locals Have Been Taking the Waters Of Bad Gastein — Here's Why.)

11. Salzburger Sportwelt

Best for: Going Under the Radar

Still relatively unknown to the British, this multi-village resort now offers what is effectively 165km of linked slopes thanks to its new lifts. This season, its Wagrain village welcomes the new Grafenbergbahn, a 10-person gondola replacing three lifts and whisking skiers up to 1,700 metres in one journey. Iglu offers seven nights’ B&B at Kia Ora in Wagrain from £1,077 per person, including flights from Gatwick and transfers.