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Best resort within 2 hours drive of Munich for early season long weekend?

 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
I have a chance of taking a long weekend from Thursday 18th December to Sunday 21st inclusive. I can't get suitable flights to make it worthwhile going to my apartment in La Tania so I've been looking at other international airports that are close to ski resorts. Intention is to fly in early Thursday morning, drive directly to a resort and ski all day Thursday/Friday/Saturday, maybe Sunday morning.

At a push I can get flights to Zurich but with 1 stop; best option seems to be direct to Munich which lands at 6:15am. With a 2 hour drive to a ski-in/ski-out hotel, I could be on the hill for 10am. It's several years since I skied in Austria so I wouldn't mind going back but where would people recommend that will be snowsure on those dates? 3/4 star hotel recommendations are also welcome.

I fancy going to Kitzbuhel but am not sure it will be reliable then - anyone got any experience at that time of year?

Thanks Very Happy
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 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Kitzbuhel you will be lucky. garmisch closest snow sure option but limited otherwise head up to Zillertal e.g. Kaltenbach is the local favourite from Munich and always glacier option if no snow or fly to Innsbruck and go for Stubai. Hotels best to just use the local tourist agency web sities.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Three hours from Munich gives you all of Salzburgerland and Eastern Tyrol - 2 hours is a bit tight. So you have Kitzbuhel, Bad Gastein, Saalbach-Hinterglemm, Zell am See, Maria Alm and Ski Amade in Austria, plus Garmish-Partenkirchen in Germany amongst others.

There will be snow somewhere, it is just a question of where. There's already plenty on Kitzsteinhorn in Kaprun, and I would make that (or Mayrhofen/Hintertux) the back-up option. Otherwise, just choose closer to the date. Watch the webcams, weather forecasts and the resort snow reports on Snowheads. Accommodation should not be too difficult - Pre-Christmas is quiet in Austria, so the hotels and Pensions should have availability.
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@Raceplate, travelling out of the Thursday will not be a bother traffic-wise wherever you choose. But returning on the Sunday could be problematic as the weekenders and day trippers will be making their way back home. Bavarian schools don't break up until the 23rd December and the official holidays start for those in work start at midday on the 24th. This means traffic back via Munich could be quite bad on the Sunday, especially between the Inntal junction and Munich-South. It usually jams up between Holzkirchen and Munich-South most Sundays regardless of the season.

Accommodation should not be difficult to find if you use the Tourist Office sites, go for a 3*type Gasthof with HB for the best value for money.

As for snow, yes either Kaprun/Zell having the back up of the Kitzsteinhorn or somewhere along the Zillertal for Hinterux, but lots of people think that way. But better options are available and a lot can happen between now and the 18th. Despite the gloom and doom merchants, it is cold out here and the resorts have started preparing the bases using extensive and very effective snow-making systems, even Schladming started right down in town yesterday. It is only going to take a couple of good snow days/nights to change the whole picture.
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What about taking the underground from munich airport into munich then catch a train to garmisch changing at passing.Plenty of hotels walkable from garmisch station .Its just a short walk back to the station and your lift pass gets you on the train that stops at all the gondolas or if you want you can stay on and go up to the glacier depending on the snow.
This way you don't have to worry about traffic on sunday.You could also have a day at seefeld if conditions are good as train takes only 30 mins .
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Thanks all for replies.

TTT wrote:
Kitzbuhel you will be lucky.
Yes that's what I thought Sad Pity as I think an ex ski-guide colleague of mine is a Red Devil there. Looks like Zillertal might be the safe option. Can't get flights to Innsbruck.

quinton wrote:
Three hours from Munich gives you all of Salzburgerland and Eastern Tyrol - 2 hours is a bit tight.
Google maps suggests the Zillertal is about half an hour quicker to drive to than Salzburgerland even though the distance is similar? I've been to Zell the week before Xmas before, beautiful town/atmosphere but distinctly remember it raining for two days...

@Samerberg Sue, thanks, some good inside info there. My flight back is at 2.50pm so a slightly longer journey time shouldn't really be an issue. How much longer should I allow?

A HB Gasthof is the sort of thing I had in mind so I'll look for that. You say there are better options than the Zillertal - what would you suggest?

Am I right in thinking that a German hire car will have winter tyres fitted as standard? Do the routes to the Zillertal include motorways so l'll need to buy an Austrian vignette?

@Angus og, if there was a direct train from Munich airport I'd consider it but otherwise it sounds like too much hassle. I'm very independent so I rather like having a car plus it gives me the option to drive directly to a glacier if the resort's not good.
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@Raceplate, Beware the curse of Googlemaps - sometimes the routes are over tracks that are only accessible to goats in the summer and totally inaccessible in the winter wink

As I say, max. 3 hours will get you to anywhere in Salzburgerland and you can add Zillertal to that as well. If you drive on any Austrian motorways, you'll need to buy a vignette. This will not be included in your car hire from Munich. Neither do all Munich rentals include winter tyres as standard, so check with the companies (Avis, Hertz, Europcar, Buchbinder etc). You can buy the vignette at any service station on the autobahn - 4 days costs a few Euro. If you drive to Saalbach, Zell am See or Ski Amade around Maria Alm, you can drive via Siegsdorf and Insell, a route that does not use the Austrian autobahn so doesn't require a vignette.

As for snow. If you were booking 6 months in advance, then you might not want to commit that far out to a specific resort. As you have the luxury that you can land at Munich and simply drive to wherever, you can go to Kitzbuhel if that has sufficient snow, or you can go to Kitzsteinhorn or Hintertux where there definitely is snow.
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@Raceplate, If you're looking at Zillertal, I'd probably look in the area around Kaltenbach/Stumm for accommodation. Kaltenbach (Hochzillertal) is the first good sized ski area that you will come to. Of course, you could always ski there on your first day then drive further up the Zillertal after skiing if you want to stay closer to Mayrhofen or Hintertux. Look on www.zillertal.at for accommodation. Kaltenbach is in the Erste Ferienregion if you use the Accommodation Search on the website.
If you find something that you like the look of but are not sure how convenient it would be, give me a shout. I'll be able to figure out if it's halfway up the valley side or not.

You'll need a Vignette to get to Zillertal if you use the Austrian motorway. You can buy them at service stations on the motorway. There is a route that leaves the German motorway at Holzkirchen and goes via Tegernsee and Achensee and brings you down into the Inn valley directly opposite Zillertal. You wouldn't need a Vignette if you took that route. On a good day with no traffic problems on the motorway it takes 20 minutes longer than using the motorway.
When the motorway is busy but moving at a good speed it takes about 1hr 45mins on the motorway from the airport to Kaltenbach. When I regularly drove to the airport for a travel company I used to leave 4hrs before the flight - 2hrs for driving and 2hrs for check in. Now, if I'm going to the airport for myself I usually reckon on leaving 3hrs before departure.
Hope that helps Smile
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@quinton, all the roads I'm looking at are 'E' roads so I don't think I'm in danger of driving up a goat track wink

I'm not trying to save the cost of a vignette; it's just an admin issue. The whole weekend idea is ludicrously expensive for 3 days' skiing (because of the flight cost) but it might be my only chance this year so that's why I'm looking at it. A quick search on Autoeurope says all the hire companies include winter tyres in the quotation which is what I expected. They're cheap too - £59 for a Golf for 4 days is nothing, relatively.

You're right that I should probably leave booking the accommodation till the last minute depending where the snow is.
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@SaraJ, thanks for the info and the offer of checking out the accommodation. TTT also mentioned Kaltenbach which I'd never heard of.

I'm probably being thick and/or lazy but you're obviously a local so I'm going to ask stupid questions... :

I can't find a piste map of the whole Zillertal. Is it possible to ski between different areas or do you always have to go back down to the valley floor and take a bus to the next area? Are the buses between areas free and regular? Looking at zillertal.at it says the service is limited until 21st December? If that's the case I'd rather drive a bit further on the first day (to Mayrhofen, perhaps) and have no hassle for the next 2 days. What do you think? Leaving 3-4 hours before departure will be fine for my flight time without getting up too early so that works.
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@Raceplate, Beware of the new speed limit in Tirol on the A12, came into force on Thursday 20th November. It is now 100kph fixed, not the variable one it used to be. The fines are significantly increased as a result. Currently the choices for buying a vignette are limited due to rebuilding work at Holzkirchen, they may still be doing them, only 8,50 Euro for the cheapest. If you don't get one at Holzkirchen or Irschenberg, then you have to buy one at the services on the border at Kiefersfelden, do not try and use the A12 without one.
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Raceplate wrote:
@SaraJ, thanks for the info and the offer of checking out the accommodation. TTT also mentioned Kaltenbach which I'd never heard of.


Quite a few people haven't heard of Kaltenbach, but a few years back it was linked with Hochfügen, and now the combined area is excellent, with 181 km of runs. More info here: http://www.best-of-zillertal.at/en/winter/skiing/skiing-area-hochfuegen-hochzillertal/
Piste map: https://www.j2ski.com/ski_resorts/Austria/Kaltenbach_Piste_Map.html There's also a ski route (itinerary) which goes down to the small village of Aschau, at the end of that they run a free ski bus back to the kaltenbach base station.

Raceplate wrote:
I can't find a piste map of the whole Zillertal.

Here you go: http://www.zillertal.at/en/winter/ski-board/skiareas/interactive-panorama/

Raceplate wrote:
Is it possible to ski between different areas or do you always have to go back down to the valley floor and take a bus to the next area? Are the buses between areas free and regular?

You can't ski between the seperate areas in the Zillertal, but there are frequent ski busses (and the Zillertalbahn narrow gauge railway) which are free with your skipass. Here's the current timetable, the winter timetable from 13th Dec onwards should be very similar: http://www.zillertalbahn.at/dataarchive/data55/fahrplan_2015_a3_web.pdf

I would expect that you should be able to find accommodation near to Kaltenbach, and as it's at the lower end of the valley closer to the motorway turnoff at Jenbach it won't take you quite so long in driving time from/to Munich. I've stayed at several places in or near Kaltenbach over the years, one place I can recommend is the Hotel Alpina in the adjacent village of Ried, excellent food and it has a wellness facility with pool etc. There's also a skibus stop right in front of the hotel that goes to the Kaltenbach base station, so if you don't fancy driving and want some apres ski drinks that is very handy.


Last edited by And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports. on Sun 23-11-14 9:15; edited 2 times in total
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Thanks @Alastair Pink, saved me from finding all those links wink
I'll just add that the train runs every half hour all year round.

I'd be happy spending the whole three days skiing in Hochzillertal, but if you wanted to see some variety then I'd suggest a day in Hochzillertal, a day in Zell am Ziller (skiing over to Gerlos and back) and a day in Mayrhofen. If the weather was amazing and the snow lower down the valley was a bit rubbish then I'd suggest driving to Hintertux. It's about 45mins. drive up to Hintertux from Kaltenbach.
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There is some great info there. I'm just an amateur. I know there is some good skiing to be had at the start of valley but never stayed. Sorry to hijack but can you stay up at hochfuegen and is there any decent apres in the lower part of the valley.
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 Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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Skied Kaltenbach last year, recommended, there and Hochfugen have good skiing and nice atmosphere, good off piste culture if you get the conditions, Mayerhofen about 15 minute drive also highly recommended, didn't make it to Zillertal Arena or Hintertux. If you're worried about snow Hintertux is open during Summer so is likely to have the best chance of the best conditions at that time of year. I like the fact that its not well known and you won't hear other English speakers there.

The one problem with Kaltenbach is the lack of atmosphere at the bottom. If I went again I'd prob stay in one of the hotels either at the very bottom of the slopes in Kaltenbach or more likley Hochfugen, I remember seeing the names of some of them that I'd come across on line and thinking I should have stayed there! Otherwise there's no town centre at all in Kaltenbach and its just a sprawl of one off hotels.
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@TTT, Yes you can stay up at Hochfügen (so you can get first tracks up there when the lifts open), but it's a very small place (basically the car parking area for the day visitors, plus one or two hotels, so I would expect the evenings to be very quiet after the day visitors have gone. Probably SaraJ can give more info.

As regards decent apres ski in the lower part of the valley - most certainly! In Kaltenbach at the bottom of the Stephan Eberharter GoldPiste (that's the run all the way down to the bottom, which is named after the local skier and also has illuminated night skiing on certain days) there's the renowned Postalm. Here's a video from YouTube:


http://youtube.com/v/CV8D5vg9fYI



When I visited it with some younger friends of mine I believe one of them described the apres ski there as "banging" - I presume that's good? Toofy Grin

Apart from the Postalm, within a few yards there are at least two other outside apres ski places. One is the VIP Bar in front of the SkiSchule Hochzillertal building, and if you want a quieter drink with a local atmosphere then upstairs is the Wedelstube, see this. The Skischule Hochzillertal and the VIP bar and Wedelstube are run by a good friend of mine, Gerhard Wildauer. His ski instructors usually call into the Wedelstube for a drink after skiing, and very occasionally one of them may bring along an accordion and you get some authentic local music. Madeye-Smiley
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There are a few hotels and some apartments in Hochfügen. The list from the website is here http://hochfuegenski.com/content/area/accomodation though a couple of the places on the list aren't actually in Hochfügen. I guess they're on it because they're related to the ski area owners. There are a couple of apres bars in Hochfügen too but it gets pretty quiet up there once the last bus leaves at 1800.
There's an apres ski bar that opened in Fügen last winter called Herzalm https://en-gb.facebook.com/herzalm which can be fun. And, as @Alastair Pink, said Postalm in Kaltenbach is great.
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Sounds absolutely classic for a few days. I feel a plan coming on. Many thanks. Very helpful.
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Why not just take the train from Munich, driving down on Thursday is likely to be easy enough but weekends are always a gamble?
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@Alastair Pink, @SaraJ, thanks for all your input on this. In the end I decided to stay closer to Hintertux as the snow report for Hochfugen was a bit hit and miss. Quiet hotel in Finkenberg that I got a good deal on half board off booking.com. They get very few English guests but the owner was fluent and very helpful. Would normally prefer a more lively place but as it might be my only skiing this year it was probably better not to get smashed every night. Did half a day at Mayrhofen/Penken/Finkenberg which was ok and 2 days on the Hintertux which was excellent. Will certainly consider Kaltenbach/Hochfugen for a return visit and Hintertux again for very early season.
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On no account use the Stephan eberharter piste to the bottom of kaltenbach at the end of the day! It is narrow, tree-lined and populated by too many après-fueled and testosterone loaded men skiing too fast. After 2 nasty rear-endings, our group of friends would always download. That's based on 6 years living in Munich and skiing zillertal more times than I can possibly count. Otherwise, it's a very good ski area and I wish I'd lived there for another year to see the connection with hochfugen open.
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