Ski resorts in Austria

The Elfer above Neustift is the local mountain of the Stubai valley, and it sits opposite the glacier at the head of the valley. It is small, sunny and mostly used by people staying in Neustift who want a change from the ice. The mountain is best known for its toboggan run, which is among the longest in the valley and is floodlit on certain evenings, and for a long descent back to the village when the snow is deep enough. The Stubai lift pass covers both this and the glacier, so it works as a day of variety rather than as a week on its own. Innsbruck is half an hour away, and the valley has guesthouses at prices below the Tyrolean average.

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The mountain that held the alpine events of two Winter Olympics, in 1964 and 1976, twenty minutes from the middle of Innsbruck. That proximity is the point, because you can stay in a real Austrian city and be on serious snow before the lifts have warmed up. Axamer Lizum sits in a high bowl that faces north and holds snow well into spring, with steep terrain that reflects its racing history. Muttereralm on the neighbouring hill is gentler and has a good toboggan run. There is almost no accommodation at the ski area itself, so people stay in Innsbruck or the villages below and take the bus. The Innsbruck lift pass covers several mountains around the city, which makes a week here unusually varied.

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Carinthia, in the Nock mountains, with five separate ways into the area so queues rarely build anywhere. The pistes are noticeably wide, which is the first thing most people mention, and they are cut for long unhurried turns rather than short sharp ones. The name tells you what else the place is known for. The thermal baths are as much a part of the week as the skiing, and an afternoon there is something many people plan the day around. There is a snowpark, a funline and a slope kept for children, four ski schools and a ski kindergarten. The UNESCO Nockberge biosphere park surrounds the whole thing, with routes to walk on foot or on snowshoes, and huts and alpine dairies serving Carinthian food and punch.

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One of the snowiest corners of the Allgäu. Snowy enough that the snow cannons largely stand as insurance rather than as the main event, and large modern machines groom the pistes every night. Après ski happens at the umbrella bar beside the Schelpenalp, and the week has its fixtures. Thursday is ladies' day with a reduced day ticket, and every Thursday at half past one you can join a tour of the piste machines and ride along with the people who cut the runs. The Köpfle Cup in March is capped at sixty entrants aged from 8 to 88, and the season closes with a party at the end of the month. A place with a strong local following rather than an international one, which is much of the appeal.

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Tyrol, on the sunny side of the Zugspitze, spread between Berwang and Bichlbach. Thirty five kilometres of piste and twelve lifts, built around families, unhurried skiers and carvers who want wide and well kept snow. The season runs from the middle of December to early April and the lifts turn from ten to nine in the morning. Hundreds of kilometres of walking paths surround the area, and the Almkopfbahn at Bichlbach carries foot passengers too. A quiet corner of Tyrol that has not been built out.

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A sunny area above Dornbirn in Vorarlberg, reached by cable car from the valley, with a view out over the Rhine valley and Lake Constance. The terrain is modest and mostly gentle with a good learning area and a long toboggan run, and it is used mostly by people from Dornbirn and the surrounding towns. Because it faces south the snow depends on the season, and the area is best in midwinter. Dornbirn below is a working Vorarlberg town with good rail connections, and the bigger Vorarlberg resorts are all within an hour.

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A quiet Vorarlberg valley between Bludenz and the Rätikon peaks, with the villages of Brand and Bürserberg sharing one area. The skiing is sunny and largely intermediate with a good vertical and a long descent back to the valley, and it stays noticeably calmer than the Arlberg half an hour away. There are good learning areas and family facilities. Brand is a working village at the head of the valley beneath the Schesaplana, and the Lünersee above it is one of the more striking mountain lakes in Austria. Prices are moderate for Vorarlberg, and Bludenz below has a railway station on the Arlberg line.

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A village in the Salzburger Sportwelt linked by lift to Wagrain and Zauchensee, and part of the Ski amadé pass, which is one of the largest single lift tickets in Europe. The terrain is wide and sunny and mostly intermediate with excellent grooming, and there is a night slalom on the Hermann Maier course, named after the local skier who grew up here and remains the village's best known son. The area is well set up for families with good learning ground and a large ski school. Salzburg sits an hour away, which makes transfers straightforward, and the motorway runs close by.

A mountain above Obertraun in the Salzkammergut with almost no pisted terrain at all, and that is the point. Krippenstein is a freeride mountain, with marked routes rather than groomed runs. The terrain is open limestone plateau with a substantial vertical, and it has a devoted following among Austrian off piste skiers. It is not a place for beginners or for people who want groomed cruising. Avalanche awareness matters here more than at a conventional resort, and a guide is worth arranging. The Dachstein ice caves and the Five Fingers viewing platform are on the same mountain, and Hallstatt is ten minutes away.

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The highest village in the Montafon in Vorarlberg, at the head of a side valley on the Swiss border, and by far the quietest ski area in the region. The terrain climbs to over 2200 metres with a good vertical and mostly intermediate skiing, and the area has a strong reputation for ski touring and for the Schmugglerrunde, a guided route that crosses into Switzerland by the old smuggling paths. The village is tiny with a handful of hotels and very little going on in the evening, which is the point. The rest of the Montafon is on the same pass and gives a bigger day when you want one.

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A mountain above the Ossiacher See in Carinthia with one of the sunniest positions in Austria and a view that takes in lakes, the Julian Alps and the Karawanks. The terrain is wide and mostly intermediate with long descents and a good beginner area, and the mountain is popular with paragliders in summer for the same reasons it works in winter. The lake below freezes in cold winters and is used for skating, which is an unusual combination with a day on the hill. Villach is around half an hour away and the Carinthian thermal spas are close by. Prices are moderate and the crowds are mostly regional.

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Grossarl calls itself the valley of alpine huts, and there are more working mountain farms here than hotels. It and Dorfgastein sit in neighbouring Salzburg valleys, linked over the ridge, both farming villages first and resorts second. The skiing is sunny, quiet and mostly intermediate with good beginner areas and short queues, on the large Ski amadé pass, which opens a great deal more terrain if you have a car. Half board guesthouses and farm accommodation are cheap and genuinely warm. This is a quiet family week rather than a lively one, with hut lunches reached only on skis, a night toboggan run, and the Gastein thermal baths fifteen minutes away.

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Two mountains above Mauterndorf and St Michael in the Lungau, the high plateau in the south of Salzburg province that records some of the coldest temperatures in Austria and holds its snow accordingly. The skiing is quiet, sunny and mostly intermediate, with long descents back to both villages and very little in the way of queues. It is part of the Ski amadé pass, which opens a great deal more terrain if you have a car. Mauterndorf has a genuine medieval castle in the middle of the village that takes visitors, which is unusual in a ski town. Guesthouses and half board hotels are inexpensive, the Lungau has a strong local food tradition, and evenings are quiet.

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A village at the foot of the Grossglockner, the highest mountain in Austria, in Carinthia at the edge of the Hohe Tauern national park. The setting is the reason to come. The pilgrimage church in the village with the peak behind it is one of the most photographed views in the country, and the skiing looks out onto glaciers and three thousand metre summits. The terrain is north facing, which keeps the snow in good order, with a long descent from the top and mostly intermediate runs. It is quiet, because Heiligenblut is a long way from anywhere. The Grossglockner high alpine road, one of the great mountain drives in Europe, starts here and opens in late spring.

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A serious mountain in Upper Austria at the head of the Stodertal, with a World Cup giant slalom on the Hannes Trinkl course and terrain steeper than most of this region. The valley is a dead end surrounded by the limestone walls of the Totes Gebirge, which makes the setting unusually dramatic for this part of the country. The skiing runs from the village up to nearly 2000 metres with a long descent and a good spread of terrain, and it shares a pass with Wurzeralm next door. Both are described locally as insider tips and very few international visitors come. Linz is around ninety minutes away.

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The only Austrian glacier open every day of the year, at the head of the Zillertal. It has reliable snow when nothing else does, and a long sustained descent from the glacier all the way down to the valley that is one of the biggest verticals in the country. This is a resort to use at the very start or the very end of the season. That is when the glacier earns its keep, and race teams train here through autumn for the same reason. The base at Hintertux is a small cluster of hotels rather than a village. Tux and Lanersbach a few kilometres down the valley have more life and the same bus. Hotels with spas, mostly half board, at moderate prices. The Spannagelhöhle ice cave and the natural spa at Hintertux are both worth an afternoon.

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Terrain parkGlacier

A compact area in Lower Austria, around two hours from Vienna, and one of the closest reliable ski mountains to the capital. It sits high for this part of the country at nearly 1800 metres, which gives it a better snow record than the eastern Alps usually manage, and the terrain is largely intermediate with a good learning area. The mountain is exposed, so wind can hold the upper lifts, and weekends fill with Viennese traffic while midweek stays quiet. There is a scenic road up and a good deal of walking in the surrounding Ötscher region. Prices are moderate and the crowds are entirely domestic.

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Three villages in Salzburg province, Maria Alm, Dienten and Mühlbach, linked into one long area beneath the Hochkönig massif. It is part of the Ski amadé pass. The layout means you ski from village to village rather than in laps, which gives a real sense of travelling somewhere across the day. The Königstour is the full traverse and back, and it takes most of a day at a comfortable pace. The terrain is broad and sunny and mostly intermediate, and it suits families and confident intermediates well. The limestone wall of the Hochkönig above it is the view you remember. The villages are working Austrian settlements with half board guesthouses at reasonable prices, and the evenings are quiet.

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A sunny area above Oetz at the entrance to the Ötztal, facing south across the valley, which makes it one of the brighter mountains in Tyrol and a good choice when the weather is cold. The terrain is wide and chiefly intermediate with a strong beginner area and a well regarded children's zone, and the lift pass can be extended to cover Kühtai over the ridge for a bigger week. It is close enough to Innsbruck for a day trip and far enough up the Ötztal that Sölden and the glaciers are within easy reach. Oetz village at the bottom is a working Tyrolean settlement with painted houses and a Baroque church, and prices sit well below the resorts further up the valley.

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Austrians rate the grooming here among the best in the country, and that is the reason to come. Two linked sectors above Kaltenbach in the Zillertal, with the Hochzillertal side offering wide sunny cruising that rewards speed and the Hochfügen side facing differently, holding snow longer and giving access to serious off piste and touring straight from the lifts. Take a guide on a powder day, because the terrain up there is real. The villages are small and unremarkable, so this is a place you come for the skiing and the value rather than the evenings. Guesthouses and mid range hotels are reasonably priced, half board is usual because there is not much else open, and the lift queues are far shorter than at Mayrhofen down the valley. Innsbruck is under an hour away.

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Two villages in East Tyrol joined into one area, in a corner of Austria cut off from the rest of the province by the mountains and reached through Salzburg or Carinthia. That isolation keeps it quiet. The terrain is wide and sunny and mainly intermediate with a good vertical, and it faces the Grossglockner, which is the highest mountain in Austria and stands right there in front of you. Kals is a mountaineering village at the foot of the Glockner and Matrei is a market town in the valley below, and both have kept an ordinary local life. The Hohe Tauern national park surrounds the whole area. Prices are noticeably lower than in North Tyrol.

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A quiet family resort in the Paznaun valley, ten minutes down the road from Ischgl and sharing the same valley pass. That combination is the reason to book here, because you sleep in a working Tyrolean village at village prices and can ski the big area whenever you want to. The mountain itself is sunny, wide and mostly intermediate, with a good children's area and a snowpark, and it stays noticeably quieter than its famous neighbour. Kappl is a real settlement spread across a hillside rather than a resort strip, with guesthouses and family hotels, and the evenings are calm. Anyone wanting the Ischgl nightlife can take the bus and come back on it.

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The Kitzsteinhorn glacier above Kaprun is one of the most reliable places to ski in Austria, reaching over 3000 metres and running from autumn well into spring. A gondola network now links the village directly to the glacier by way of the Maiskogel, so you can travel from the middle of Kaprun to 3000 metres without touching a car. That link also connects to Zell am See on the same pass, which gives a large and varied week. The glacier terrain is mostly intermediate with a well built snowpark and a viewing platform at the top. The Maiskogel below is gentle family ground. Kaprun itself is a working village with a castle and a good spa, and the Zell am See lake is ten minutes away.

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Terrain parkGlacier

A ski area above Grünau im Almtal in Upper Austria, in the Salzkammergut lake district, with a cable car climbing from the valley to around 1600 metres. The terrain is modest and mostly intermediate with a long descent back to the valley and a good learning area, and the mountain is quiet. The Almtal below is a valley of lakes and limestone walls with a wildlife park and the Almsee at its head, and it is one of the less visited corners of the Salzkammergut. Linz is roughly an hour away and Salzburg about the same. Prices are low.

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A resort straddling the Katschberg pass between Salzburg province and Carinthia, with hotels lined along the pass itself and the runs dropping away on both sides. Almost every bed is ski in and ski out, which is the practical argument for coming here, and the two sides give different aspects so there is usually one with better light. The terrain is wide and sunny and chiefly intermediate with a good beginner area. It is part of the Ski amadé pass, which opens a great deal more if you have a car. There is a long floodlit toboggan run, and the Lungau plateau nearby records some of the coldest temperatures in Austria, which helps the snow.

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A glacier at the head of the Kaunertal in Tyrol, reached by a long toll road that climbs past a reservoir, with skiing from 2150 up to over 3100 metres. The altitude makes it one of the more reliable places in Austria for early and late season snow, and there is a well built park that draws freeskiers through autumn and spring. The terrain is mostly intermediate on open glacier ground, and the setting among the Ötztal Alps is dramatic. There is very little at the base and the Kaunertal is a quiet farming valley. The glacier road itself is a scenic drive in its own right.

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Terrain parkGlacier

A medieval walled town with a ski area attached, and the contrast is the whole appeal. Kitzbühel has painted facades, serious restaurants, expensive shops and a social life that carries on whether or not it snows. The Hahnenkamm above it hosts the most feared downhill race in the world every January. Race week is extraordinary and sells out a year ahead, and the Streif is visible from town, which adds something to watching it on television afterwards. The skiing itself is long, well groomed and comfortable rather than demanding, spread across a wide sweep of mountainside with the lift capacity to move everyone. Eleven of the lifts run in summer as well, and the 3S cable car between Pengelstein and Jochberg is worth riding for the view alone. The altitude is modest, so late January and February are safer than trusting December. Grand hotels fill the town, and Kirchberg and Jochberg nearby offer the same skiing for less.

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A mountain in western Styria with a long standing reputation for freestyle. It has hosted Snowboard and Freestyle World Championships and the parks here are among the best equipped in Austria. The rest of the terrain is wide and sunny and mostly intermediate, running from the valley up to over 2100 metres, with a long descent back down and a good snow record for the region. The area sits in the Murau district, a quiet part of Styria known for its beer and its narrow gauge railway. Prices are moderate and the crowds are largely domestic. Salzburg is around an hour and a half away.

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The highest ski village in Austria, on a pass at 2020 metres half an hour from Innsbruck, which gives it one of the more reliable snow records in the country and a season that runs long at both ends. Everything sits above the treeline, so the terrain is wide and open and mostly intermediate, and almost every hotel is on the snow. That makes it straightforward with children, because nothing needs a bus. The pass is exposed, so a whiteout day here gives you nothing to ski by, and it is worth picking somewhere you would be happy to sit for an afternoon. Innsbruck is close enough that the city and its other mountains are easy day trips, and the Kühtai pass covers Hochoetz as well.

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A ski area in the Styrian mountains at a high altitude for this part of Austria, with the base at over 1500 metres and the top approaching 2200. That altitude gives it a better snow record than most areas in the region, and the terrain is wide and largely intermediate with a good vertical and open ground above the treeline. It is quiet and almost entirely domestic, in a part of Styria that sees very few international visitors. Prices are moderate and the surrounding Murau district is known for its beer and its narrow gauge railway. Graz is around ninety minutes away.

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Two villages at the top of the Arlberg pass, and the most discreet money in the Alps. Lech has hosted royalty for generations and does not advertise it, being small, wooden and quietly expensive. Zürs above it is little more than a handful of hotels on the pass itself. The snow record is superb, and the pass covers the whole Arlberg including St Anton over the mountain. The White Ring is a circuit you ski round in a day and finish where you started, and it has a race on the same route every January. There is serious off piste here for anyone with a guide, and arranging one is the right way to use the area. Four and five star hotels with half board that is a real part of the experience, and very little that is cheap. Tables go months ahead. Evenings are civilised rather than loud.

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A busy Zillertal town with a genuine year round life, a lively bar scene and a reputation among British visitors going back decades. The gondola leaves from the middle of town, so everything is walkable. The Harakiri, one of the steepest marked pistes in Europe, drops off the mountain above and everyone talks about it. The rest of the skiing is mostly broad sunny intermediate terrain across two sectors, with a strong park and good ski schools. The valley station is low, so aim for midwinter rather than the shoulder months. The glacier at Hintertux is twenty minutes up the valley as insurance if the snow is late. Hotels and apartments fill the town, and the Erlebnisbad spa is the standard afternoon off.

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Terrain park

A glacier in Carinthia reaching over 3000 metres, and one of the most reliable places in Austria for early and late season snow. National teams train here through the autumn. Access is by an underground funicular from the valley followed by lifts, which takes a while but delivers you into high alpine terrain. The skiing is mostly intermediate with wide open pistes and a long season, and the setting among the Hohe Tauern peaks is superb. There is very little at the base and the Mölltal below is a quiet Carinthian valley. This is a place to come for the certainty of snow in October or May rather than for a midwinter week.

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Terrain parkGlacier

The largest area in Carinthia, on the Italian border at the Nassfeld pass, and one of the snowiest places in Austria because the weather comes up from the Adriatic and drops its load on this ridge. The skiing is wide and sunny and mostly intermediate, with a long descent to the valley and a lift that runs from Sonnenalpe up to the pass. You can ski over the border into Italy for lunch and come back. The Carinthian and Friulian cultures meet here, and the food reflects it more than in most of Austria. Villages in the Gail valley below are inexpensive and quiet, and the Pressegger See nearby is a summer swimming lake that freezes for skating in winter.

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A village at the Reschen pass in the far west of Tyrol, where Austria, Italy and Switzerland meet within a few kilometres of each other. That position gives it three cultures within a short drive and a lift pass shared with resorts on the Italian side. The skiing is high, sunny and mostly intermediate, with a good snow record thanks to the altitude and long descents back to the village. Bergkastel is the main sector and the runs there are wide and well groomed. Nauders itself is a working village rather than a resort, with guesthouses and family hotels at prices below the famous Tyrolean names. The Reschensee just over the Italian border, with the church tower standing out of the water, is the outing everyone does.

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Terrain park

A high valley in Tyrol with four villages spread along it, of which Niederau is the main ski base. It has a long standing British following that goes back to the early package holiday years. The skiing is gentle and wooded and suits families and improvers well, with good learning areas and enough red mileage for a confident skier. The Ski Juwel pass links it to Alpbach over the ridge, which roughly doubles the ground available. The Wildschönau is a working farming valley and the villages have kept that character, with guesthouses and half board hotels at prices below the famous Tyrolean names. Innsbruck is around forty five minutes away and Salzburg an hour and a half.

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The highest parish in Austria, at the head of the Ötztal, with skiing between 1800 and 3000 metres and a snow record that is among the most reliable in the Alps because of it. The two villages are small, expensive and quiet, and the clientele is loyal in a way that suggests people come back for decades. Obergurgl is the larger of the two and Hochgurgl above it is little more than a handful of hotels on the snow. The skiing is sunny and mostly intermediate with wide well groomed pistes and very short queues. It suits families and confident intermediates rather than people looking for steeps, and it is one of the better places in Austria for late season snow. Sölden is twenty minutes down the valley if you want a bigger mountain or a louder evening.

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The pistes form a ring around the village, so you can ski a full circuit in either direction and finish at your own front door. Almost every bed is ski in and ski out, which removes the daily logistics that dominate most ski holidays, and there is no need to plan a route because both directions bring you home. Everything sits above the treeline on a high pass, which gives wide open intermediate skiing in every direction and one of the longest seasons in Austria, often from mid November into May. It is a functional strip of hotels rather than an old village, with an active but manageable après ski scene, half board as the norm and prices in the middle of the Austrian range. Pick a hotel you would be happy to sit in, because on a whiteout day the open ground gives you nothing to ski by.

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Terrain parkSki-in / ski-out

The mountain above Schladming in Styria, and one of the best known race venues in the world. The Planai night slalom in January draws crowds of tens of thousands into a floodlit finish area in the middle of town, and the atmosphere is closer to a football match than a ski race. The skiing is broad and well groomed and mostly intermediate, and the area is part of the four mountain Schladming Dachstein network and the wider Ski amadé pass. Hochwurzen next door has a floodlit toboggan run of seven kilometres that runs into the evening. Schladming is a proper Styrian town with a walkable centre, good places to eat and a railway station, and the Dachstein glacier is half an hour away for near certain snow.

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A mountain in the Schladming Dachstein region of Styria, part of the four mountain network and the wider Ski amadé pass. The terrain is wide and sunny and mostly intermediate with excellent grooming, and the mountain has hosted World Cup races. It is quieter than Planai above Schladming itself. The view across to the Dachstein massif from the upper runs is the memorable part. Schladming is fifteen minutes away with its railway station, shops and evening life, and the Dachstein glacier is close by for near certain snow at the ends of the season.

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A compact area above Fulpmes in the Stubai valley, facing the glacier at the head of the valley, and covered by the same Stubai pass. The terrain is steeper than its size suggests, with a good vertical and a long descent back to the valley, and it has a following among Innsbruck skiers who come for a quick day. There is a well known panorama trail and a via ferrata on the mountain in summer, and the Kalkkögel peaks above it are among the more striking in Tyrol. Fulpmes is a working village known for its tool making, and Innsbruck is around twenty five minutes away by the Stubaitalbahn tram.

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A small resort in the Paznaun valley in Tyrol, the first you reach coming up from Landeck, and part of the same valley pass as Ischgl, Galtür and Kappl. The mountain is steeper than the size suggests, rising to over 2500 metres, with a good vertical and terrain that suits confident skiers. There is a well built snowpark and a children's area at the base. It is much the quietest of the four Paznaun areas, and that is the reason people choose it. You get short queues and low prices, with the option of taking the bus up to Ischgl for a day. See is a working village with guesthouses and half board hotels, and the evenings are quiet.

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Three villages on a sunny terrace high above the Inn valley, running what is probably the most thoroughly family engineered ski area anywhere. Serfaus is car free and served by an underground funicular built specifically so that parents do not have to walk children in ski boots to the lifts. The area counts 214 kilometres of piste across 460 hectares, wide and well groomed, with beginner areas kept separate from the main flow of traffic. Children's facilities and ski schools are exceptional and clearly the design priority, and there are themed pistes built to keep young skiers interested. The plateau sits high enough for a strong snow record, and the sun is a large part of why people come back. Hotels are built around families, with childcare, pools and early dinner sittings, and priced accordingly. Beyond the skiing there are toboggan runs, winter walking trails and adventure playgrounds. Evenings are quiet, which is the point.

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Terrain parkSki-in / ski-out

Home to the largest snowpark in Austria, and that is the reason freeskiers and snowboarders come here. The park is extensive and well maintained through the season, with lines for every level. The rest of the mountain is family friendly with wide sunny runs between Flachauwinkl and Kleinarl, and it links into the wider Ski amadé network so a bigger day is always available. Kleinarl is a small quiet village and Flachauwinkl is more of a base than a settlement. Wagrain and Flachau nearby have more going on in the evening. The area gets a good deal of snow for its altitude, and prices are moderate by Salzburg standards.

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The party capital of the Alps and unapologetic about it. Ischgl is a dense strip of modern hotels and bars in a narrow Tyrolean valley, with open air concerts by international acts opening and closing the season. The skiing is serious enough to justify the reputation. The runs are long and sustained, mostly red and black, with much of the terrain above 2000 metres and snow that holds into May. Confident intermediates and experts get a great deal of vertical here, and there are ski guides in the village for anyone who wants to go off the pistes. A lift crosses the border into Samnaun in Switzerland, which is quieter and duty free, so perfume, watches and alcohol cost noticeably less on that side. The Smugglers' Tour along the frontier is the summer version of the same idea. Four star hotels with spas are the norm and there is very little that is cheap. The Silvretta Therme in the village is the place to spend an afternoon when your legs have had enough.

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Terrain park

A long Vorarlberg valley of working villages, Schruns, Tschagguns, St Gallenkirch and Gaschurn, with a large modern ski area above them. Hemingway wintered in Schruns and wrote about it, and the town still has that ordinary lived in feel. The skiing is wide sunny intermediate terrain across two linked sectors, with a strong park, good beginner areas, reliable snow up high and one genuinely steep descent for anyone who wants it. Guesthouses and half board hotels are reasonably priced, with a ski bus along the valley and no queues to speak of. Quiet evenings, a night toboggan run, and a valley that has kept its own life alongside the tourism.

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Terrain park

A full circuit you can ski all the way round in a day, in either direction, ending where you started. The circuit itself is the main event, and broad sunny cruising dominates the whole way. Après ski here is not a side attraction. Bars fill from three in the afternoon and the noise carries into the night, which makes it superb for groups. Saalbach is a lively main street of hotels and bars, Hinterglemm sits somewhere in the middle, and Leogang and Fieberbrunn on the far sides are quieter and more rural. The Fieberbrunn side holds the serious freeride terrain and has hosted Freeride World Tour events, so strong skiers have somewhere to go when the snow is fresh. Everyone else has an enormous quantity of red and blue mileage. If you want an early evening, book in Leogang. If you do not, book in Saalbach.

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Terrain parkNight skiingSki-in / ski-out

Three small Vorarlberg villages well away from the main Tyrolean circuit, in a corner of the Alps that records some of the heaviest snowfall of any inhabited place in Europe. That single fact is the reason people come. The terrain is more serious than the modest size suggests. There is a high share of black runs, steep open faces, and off piste you can ski straight from the lifts on a storm day. Intermediates get uncrowded reds and a lot of sunshine between the storms. Small guesthouses and half board hotels are cheap by Austrian standards, and most people eat where they sleep. Right for anyone who cares about conditions above everything else. Keep a snowshoe walk in reserve for the days the upper lifts are on hold.

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Terrain park

A mountain above Schoppernau in the Bregenzerwald in Vorarlberg, reached by cable car and rising to over 2000 metres, with a view that takes in a great many alpine peaks on a clear day. The area records some of the heaviest snowfall of any inhabited part of Europe, and the terrain includes serious off piste alongside the marked runs, which gives it a following among freeriders. The Bregenzerwald has a distinctive modern timber architecture and a strong cheese tradition, with a marked cheese road through the valleys. Prices are moderate and the villages are quiet working Austrian settlements.

A quiet corner of the Bregenzerwald in Vorarlberg, sharing lifts and a pass with neighbouring Damüls and Mellau. The villages are plain working Austrian settlements rather than resorts, with farms still operating between the hotels. The reason to come is snow. This corner of the Alps records some of the heaviest snowfall of any inhabited place in Europe, and the terrain is more serious than the size suggests, with steep open faces and off piste you can ski straight from the lifts on a storm day. Guesthouses and small half board hotels cost little by Austrian standards, and most people eat where they sleep. Right for anyone who cares about conditions above everything else and is happy with quiet evenings.

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The main ski area above Garmisch Partenkirchen in Bavaria, on the slopes of the Alpspitze and the Kreuzeck, beneath the Zugspitze which is the highest mountain in Germany. The Kandahar course here holds World Cup downhills and is one of the steepest on the circuit. It is open to the public most of the season, and skiing it gives you a proper sense of what those racers are doing. The rest of the terrain is mostly intermediate with long descents and good tree skiing. The Zugspitze glacier is on the same pass and gives near certain snow at the top of the season. Garmisch is a substantial town with two distinct halves, painted houses, a good food scene and a train from Munich that takes ninety minutes. It works very well without a car.

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A large area on the western side of the Dachstein massif, spread across Gosau, Russbach and Annaberg in the Salzkammergut, and part of the Ski amadé pass. The terrain is wide and mostly intermediate with plenty of easy runs and a long descent between sectors, and it stays quieter than the better known Salzburg areas. Gosau below sits beside one of the most photographed lakes in Austria, with the Dachstein glacier reflected in it, and Hallstatt is half an hour away. The Salzkammergut is lake country with a strong local culture, and prices here are moderate. Salzburg is an hour or so away.

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Nine Tyrolean villages beneath a wall of limestone, sharing one big circuit with eight separate ways into it. This is the postcard version of Austria, all churches, farmhouses and painted shutters, at prices noticeably below Kitzbühel an hour away. The skiing is wide, forgiving and endlessly connected. You can ski village to village all day without ever needing to be brave, which makes it ideal for families and for anyone in their second or third season. Söll is the lively one with a long après ski reputation among British groups, while Ellmau and Scheffau are calmer and Going is quietest of all. It also runs the largest floodlit ski area in Austria, with ten kilometres of piste open after dark. That effectively lengthens the day and gives you something to do on the evenings you are not in a hut. Family run guesthouses and half board hotels are the norm and they are good value. Evenings run to toboggan runs after dark, horse drawn sleighs, and mountain huts that stay open late.

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Terrain parkNight skiing

High and snow sure, with three peaks over three thousand metres reachable by lift and a great deal of long sustained intermediate skiing. Two glaciers sit above the valley and open early, which is why the World Cup season begins here every October. Sölden itself is a busy Tyrolean valley town with a strong Austrian and German clientele and a reputation for loud nights. The bar strip runs along the middle of the village and does not quieten down early. The ice Q restaurant on top of the Gaislachkogl was used for a James Bond film and now has a permanent exhibition built into the mountain beside it. The trip up the glacier road is worth it for the view alone. Hotels and apartments spread along the valley floor with a bus between them. Restaurants fill fast in high season, so half board is the sensible default, and the Aqua Dome spa down the valley is the place for a rest day.

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Terrain parkGlacier

A family mountain above Klösterle in the Klostertal, on the road towards the Arlberg, reached by an eight seat gondola from the valley floor. It sits in almost untouched country and the summit restaurant at close to 2000 metres has a terrace built for the view. The skiing is quiet and sunny and mostly intermediate, with wide well groomed runs and a long descent back to the valley station. It is a great deal cheaper than St Anton twenty minutes up the road and a great deal emptier. There is a children's adventure area at the top called Bärenland, built around the story of the last bears in Vorarlberg, and it is the reason many families come back. Guesthouses in the valley are inexpensive, and the Arlberg is close enough for a day when you want a bigger mountain.

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Terrain park

A working Tyrolean market town at the foot of the Wilder Kaiser, with a ski area on the Kitzbüheler Horn above it. The town has a life outside tourism, with shops and a Saturday market that serve the people who live there. The skiing is sunny, broad and mostly intermediate, with a long descent back to the valley and good beginner areas at the bottom. It is noticeably cheaper than Kitzbühel fifteen minutes down the road, and the same big name resorts are within easy reach by bus for a change of hill. There is a large cross country network in the valley and a well known toboggan run. Guesthouses and family hotels are good value, and the evenings are quiet without being empty.

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The birthplace of alpine ski instruction and still the most serious skiing town in Austria. Steep, sustained and demanding, with a legendary off piste reputation and terrain that punishes people who overestimate themselves. Take a guide if you plan to leave the pistes. Intermediates have plenty of ground, but this is not a gentle mountain and beginners are better served elsewhere in the Arlberg. St Anton is a long main street of hotels and bars where the après ski starts at three and does not let up. If you want to sleep, book away from the strip, or take a quieter bed in St Christoph or Stuben. Arriving by train is easy, because the station sits in the middle of town on the main line between Zurich and Innsbruck.

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Terrain park

A sunny area on the border between Tyrol and Bavaria above Waidring, with a plateau at the top that gives wide open skiing and long views north over the German foothills. The terrain is mostly gentle and intermediate with excellent grooming and a strong beginner area, and the resort is built around families, with themed pistes and children's zones. It is snow sure for its altitude because the plateau catches weather coming from the north, and the season is reliable. Waidring is a working Tyrolean village and prices are moderate. Kitzbühel is around half an hour away and Salzburg an hour.

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The largest glacier ski area in Austria, half an hour from Innsbruck, at the head of a long valley of farming villages that keep their ordinary life while the glacier above runs from autumn into early summer. That makes this the place to come in November or May, when the rest of Austria is between seasons. The skiing is reliable, high and sunny, with a great deal of intermediate cruising and excellent beginner areas at mid mountain. Strong skiers get the Wilde Grub'n, a long unpisted descent, and good touring off the top. There is a panorama platform at the summit for the view across to the Dolomites. Guesthouses and half board hotels line the valley with a ski bus between them. Staying in Innsbruck and commuting out is a genuine option here, and a good one.

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Terrain parkGlacier

A high plateau in Styria above Bad Mitterndorf, with lakes scattered across it and a ski area that spreads over open ground rather than down a single mountainside. The terrain is wide and largely intermediate with a good snow record, and the plateau setting means you cover ground rather than lap the same pitch. Bad Mitterndorf below is a spa town with thermal baths, and the Kulm ski flying hill nearby is one of the largest in the world and holds events every few years. The Ausseerland region around it is lake and mountain country with a strong local identity. Salzburg is around an hour and a half away.

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A high pass between Carinthia and Styria at 1800 metres, described as the most snow sure area in either province, with a lake in the middle of the village that freezes each winter. The terrain is wide and mainly intermediate with a decent range of easy ground, and the altitude means the season is more reliable than most of this part of Austria. The Nockberge national park surrounds it, with rounded grassy summits that look quite different from the limestone Alps further west. The village is a compact cluster of hotels around the lake and almost everything is ski in and ski out. Klagenfurt is roughly an hour away.

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A village in the Salzburger Sportwelt linked by lift to Flachau on one side and Alpendorf and Sankt Johann on the other, which puts a very large area within reach on one pass. The skiing is wide and sunny and mostly intermediate, with good learning areas and long descents between the villages. It is part of Ski amadé, one of the largest single lift tickets in Europe. Wagrain is a working Salzburg village with a settled feel and prices below the better known names, and the whole valley is well set up for families. Salzburg lies about an hour off, which makes transfers straightforward.

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Neukirchen am Großvenediger and Bramberg sit in the Pinzgau valley beneath a broad sunny mountain, both still working Austrian villages rather than resorts, between the Hohe Tauern national park and the Kitzbühel Alps. The area is best known for its floodlit toboggan run, which drops fourteen kilometres from the top and is among the longest in the world. It is the thing people remember afterwards, and it runs into the evening. The skiing is wide, easy and quiet, with a great deal of gentle intermediate terrain and views across to the high Tauern peaks. Families and improvers do well here. Guesthouses and half board hotels are inexpensive by Austrian standards. The Krimml waterfalls are nearby and the Kitzsteinhorn glacier is a day trip away if the valley snow is thin.

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Terrain park

One of the quieter Austrian areas, in the Pyhrn Priel region of Upper Austria, sharing a pass with Hinterstoder next door. Both are described locally as insider tips and the description holds, because very few international visitors come here. The skiing is reached by a funicular from the valley up onto a high plateau, and the terrain is wide and sunny and mostly intermediate with a long descent back down. Hinterstoder on the same ticket has hosted World Cup races and gives a steeper day when you want one. The villages are ordinary Upper Austrian settlements with guesthouses at low prices, and the Kalkalpen national park surrounds the whole area. Linz is around an hour and a half away.

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Part of the Ski amadé pass, which is one of the largest single lift tickets in Europe, and one of the better sectors within it for people who like to ski hard. Zauchensee holds a women's World Cup downhill every January on the Kälberloch course, and the mountain is steeper and more serious than the gentle Salzburg reputation suggests. Flachauwinkl on the other side is broader and sunnier, and the two are joined across the valley. The area sits high for this part of Austria, so the snow record is good, and there is a well known snowpark on the Flachauwinkl side. Accommodation is spread through quiet hamlets rather than a resort village. Half board hotels and guesthouses are the norm, and the Therme Amadé at Altenmarkt is nearby for a rest day.

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A long, strung out area running from Zell am Ziller over Gerlos to Königsleiten and Hochkrimml, which gives a real sense of travelling somewhere across the day. Zell is a working Tyrolean town with a brewery and a life outside tourism. Gerlos and Königsleiten are smaller and sit closer to the snow, and the higher sectors hold conditions better than the Zell end does. The Gerlosstein side has been rebuilt around family attractions in recent years. The skiing is broad, sunny and firmly intermediate, with a well organised lift system and long red runs. Families do well here and it is noticeably cheaper than the Tyrolean names further west. Guesthouses and half board hotels are good value by Austrian standards, and half board is worth taking, because the cooking at the family run houses is a large part of what you are paying for. Après ski exists without dominating, and there is a floodlit toboggan run for the evenings.

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Terrain park