Flights to Munich Skiing Austria

A snowHead

Feb half term 2016 we have flights into Munich and are looking to ski for a week in Austria. We are a mixed family group good intermediate through to 1 week experience. I have skied Soll, St johann in Tirol and Fieberbrunn before and really enjoyed it but I'm after some suggestions of where to go preferably only 2 hours drive from Munich. We would like a traditional Austrian village with runs to suit all and don't need mega kilometres of piste. Off piste not important, a nice bit of après to include teenage kids would be good.
Haven't decided whether to hire a car or get transfer or train yet either. Any suggestions for accommodation for 8 people (4 bedrooms) welcome. Thanks in advance of any and all replies Smile

A snowHead

@jirac18, why not take a look at Fieberbrunn again, very much off the radar for most people hence quiet but not for too long I think. The new link to the Saalbach-Hinterglemm-Leogang Ski circus will make it an excellent entry point and demand will go up.

Everything is relative, but the weekend you are intending to arrive MAY coincide with the German, Dutch, Czech, etc Half Terms and the roads around Munich can make even the shortest of journies a nightmare many hours longer than anticipated. If it does, then choosing a resort with a rail connection (or one nearby) has many advantages not least of which is beating the traffic jams. The S-Bahn from the airport to the Ostbahnhof (no point in going to the Hauptbahnhof as you pass through the Ost one any way), then switch platforms (sometimes only involves crossing the platform) and on to a train heading somewhere into Austria.A taxi from the station to your accommodation will be way less and many hotels will pick you up from the nearest station anyway. For 8 people I'd be looking for either B&B or Half-board accommodation in a hotel/Gasthof; way less hassle and more skiing and Après for everyone. Lots of resorts offer a Pauschal Angebote which includes accmmodation in a hotel/Gasthof AND ski pass.

German Railways do a special cheap ticket called a Länderkarte - the Munich one is called a Bayern Ticket and it will get you to Salzburg or Kufstein for a maximum of 38 Euro for up to 5 people on one ticket (remember to add the names of each person to the back of the ticket). A Europa-Spezial Ticket will get you from the airport to any Austrian rail terminus for silly money and children under 15 travel for free - e.g. Munich to Innsbruck 19 Euro pp (kids under 15 free). All the German Railways now have mobile phone tickets as well (called a Handy-Ticket). Very Happy

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@jirac18, Have you thought about the Zillertal? Easy to get to by road or rail from Munich airport. There are several threads on the area e.g http://snowheads.com/ski-forum/viewtopic.php?p=2411371&highlight=zillertal#2411371

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@jirac18, on a good day, 2 hours from Munich will get you into Austria. Not far in, but within another 45 minutes of a decent ski area.

On a bad day, 2 hours will get you about 4 miles down the autobahn. At that time of year and on a Saturday, bad days are more common than good days.

Go with the train suggestion, and definitely look at the Zillertal - with a requirement to find 4 rooms in a peak week, you'll need to move quickly. Zell im Ziller is overlooked by a lot of British people, but is worth a visit. Much quieter than Mayrhofen, and none of the lift queues at peak times.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

@ousekjarr, @jirac18, the traffic can be bad yes but, it entirely depends on flight times. Very early morning and post 3pm the roads seemed fine to me. 9am - 2/3pm will be bad through sheer weight of traffic, road works and accidents. There are shortcuts and rat runs etc that will save time. Transfer drivers will know these as well as enlightened Snowheads(not me unfortunately).

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@AthersT, I have experience of the Munich ring road from several years of driving from here to Austria, and know several of the back routes and alternatives - I've even gone straight through the south-west of the centre on occasion as it was quicker than Google's estimate for going around. Even with these, it is more than 2 hours to the border from the airport unless you get very lucky. Friends of ours flew into Munich to save themselves the long drive from the UK or high cost of flying into Salzburg at half term, and while we drove from Augsburg via Munich to Saalbach in 4 hours, it took them 8 to get from Munich airport to Saalbach on the same day, leaving 3 hours later than us.

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@ousekjarr, as I say provided you pass Munich very early or late the traffic should be less. Accidents can't be accounted for unfortunately but by travelling during off peak hours you lower the risk of being caught up in serious traffic. I managed to get from Zell am See to just past Munich in around 1hr 40 via Siegsdorf by leaving Zell at 5-30am. The prior journey from Munich took me around 3hrs.
So for me it depends when @jirac18 lands in Munich whether driving/public transport is better. Having your own vehicle is always handy especially if the hotel your staying at has parking.

After all it is free

Wow thanks for great response. Didn't realise feiberbrunn linked into ski circus so that is defo one to think about. Re Munich our flight lands at 1355 local time so sounds a bit grim traffic wise! I will look into trains for sure as that sounds pretty cheap.

@jirac18, by the time you have collected your luggage and sorted the car it probably wouldn't be too bad. The convenience of your own transport is not to be underestimated as opposed to the combo of bus and train, which I believe you have to change along the way and then get a pricey taxi or a time consuming post bus from Zell am See to Saalbach.

I don't believe the prices would be too different for a family and the length of journey (timewise)with all the waiting around not much different either.

I don't have an issue with getting the train especially when travelling solo but I wouldn't write off getting a car just because of traffic during the transfer.

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@jirac18, I live between Munich Airport and the Tirol and commute to and from Munich all year round for work. I can give you work arounds that really work because they are the ones we have to use to get anywhere for about 10 months of the year! The A92/A9/A99/A8 route is definitely one to avoid most weekends in winter as the sheer volume of traffic travelling along this means that even a simple shunt-type accident cause it to back up big time. Currently the A92 is restricted to 80kmh due to serious surface damage as a result of the heatwave, whether a temporary patch will be made in the Autumn or a full resurfacing remains to be seen. When similar damage occurred to the A93 Rosenheim to Kufstein a couple of years ago, they had to relay the entire section which was completed over about 3 years in stages (they are just finishing the last section this summer). Listening to the radio last night I was surprised to here that the A8 was jammed in the direction of Salzburg at 11 o'clock at night and a delay of 45 minutes was mentioned! I have to travel along this section twice in the coming days at around that time, so I'm thinking of alternatives as a result. The jam was/is being caused by road repairs being carried out at night by the way, and some idiot driving into another vehicle and blocking one of the 2 remaining lanes.

If you can organise it, a through train from the Ostbahnhof to Wörgl and one of the shuttles onwards to Fieberbrunn would probably be your best option. The taxi services are not a rip off and from stations such as Kufstein or Wörgl they do not carry a premium simply because you are a tourist going skiing, they are the same regulated prices for everyne. The best person to ask if you do go back to Fieberbrunn is espri as he lives there. If you end up somewhere else then come back and ask for advice about the transfers, there is enough experience around on snowHeads both from regular visitors as well as those of us who have chosen to live here permanently. I think Alastair Pink's suggestion of the Zillertal is also a good one, basing yourself in either Zell am Ziller or Kaltenbach as opposed to the ubiquitous suggestion of Mayrhofen (which is nicer in summer or low season). Trains all the way and you can enjoy the scenary with your children, especially the zillertalbahn which is a narrow gauge one! If you manage to get the steam engine one, it is always a bonus with children of any age! Toofy Grin

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Zillertal Arena looks good, I take it you can access all the different resorts/villages on the area pass? If we have a car is there reasonable parking at the lift stations rather than relying on the ski bus? Just looking at the piste map there seems to be very few blue or easy runs, is that correct or am I misreading it. The family we are going with are one and two week skiers and will need some runs of an easy nature.

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@jirac18, yes the Zillertal Superski pass (€237 for 6 days) is for the whole valley, from Hochfugen all the way to Hintertux and includes the glacier. You can get passes for under 2 days for each of the areas, but as soon as you buy a pass of 2 days or more, it covers the whole valley. The pass also gives you free use of the train and the ski buses in the valley. Parking is good at all of the lift stations except Penken in Mayrhofen where you have to park elsewhere and get a bus to it as it is in a pedestrianized area, but to be honest you'd have to be mad to use that lift when you could use the Horbergbahn or upload from Finkenberg instead to get to the same slopes without a queue.

Zell im Ziller is a good central base and has some excellent skiing around the Zillertal Arena area where it is possible to ski to the furthest reach of the lifts and back to Zell in a day if you're a confident skier, or of course you can ski out and get the bus back. Hochfugen is overlooked by many, but I gather it has some excellent areas. Mayrhofen is the most popular area, with queues to match at peak times - see above for alternative entries. The exception is the Ahorn, which is mainly a beginner area but has an epic run to the valley which is one of my favourites. Eggalm is OK but exposed at times, and Hintertux is an excellent glacier area but of course can be very cold and windy at the wrong time.

Driving time from Fugen to Hintertux is about 30 minutes, and the valley has a huge range of runs - 500Km in total, with 181 lifts (see http://www.zillertal.at/en/winter/ski-board/ for details)

@jirac18, there are passes that cover all the areas. I usually have the season pass called Tirol Snow Card which is pretty well all inclusive in Tirol, so I'm not too au fait with what's available. Some of the Zillertal regulars can tell you more. The whole area is connected using trains and buses and it is very easy to get around quickly and with minimal fuss. There are free car parks at the base stations of all the major chair and cable car lifts; a lot of the valley base stations also have multistorey car parks as well that are also free of charge.

You know it makes sense.

On the question of blue runs, they're not as numerous as you might expect from the size of the area, but they are there if you look. Some are little more than roadways, but the higher slopes on the summits tend to be less steep than those on the valley sides and there are good options on Penken, Ahorn, Rastkogel, and above Gerlos. After a couple of days, they may be comfortable enough to take advantage of the reds wink

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

A snowHead

Again thanks for great detail. Next important thing is ski school for our friends. Any recommendations for a particular school as that might also be a factor in where we look for accommodation.

A snowHead

@jirac18, As regards ski schools it obviously depends which resort your friends intend mainly skiing at. If you decide to be based mainly at the Kaltenbach/Hochfugen area then a good friend of mine Gerhard Wildauer runs the Hochzillertal skischule. Alternatively I know that snowhead SaraJ works for a skischool based at Hochfugen.

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@jirac18, As regards accommodation in the Zillertal, you can download a pdf file of the entire accommodation in the valley (also includes detailed town maps etc) from here

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@Alastair Pink, many thanks I'm trawling the web as we type. all looks good. Very Happy

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

@Alastair Pink, I've found a nice little shortlist of self catering chalets in Kaltenbach but before we book I've just one last question please. Myself and family are all intermediate skiers and can easily make use of the links to other areas from Kaltenbach and will likely hop in the car or bus to Zell Krimml etc too, our friends being beginners will want lessons each day which will restrict them to the local area somewhat. Will there be sufficient easy (ish) runs around there to keep them happy for the week? We are happy to all go off and do our own thing sometimes as well as spending good times together when and where we can. Cheers

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@jirac18, Writing on my phone, so will be brief.
Kaltenbach has enough to keep your friends happy. If/when they're feeling braver and more confident they can also go over to the Hochfügen side. If they don't like the look of the red piste down into Hochfügen they can download in the gondola.
If you have any questions about the area give me a shout. As @Alastair Pink, said, I teach in Hochfügen, I know the area well.

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@jirac18, As SaraJ said, your beginner friends will have plenty of runs at Kaltenbach (or later on over at the Hochfugen side which is linked) to keep them happy. As it looks as if you've decided to base yourself in Kaltenbach (good choice wink

) here's a few few more tips about the area:

1. The link I'd given above to the Hochzillertal ski area actually truncates the left and right hand edges of the piste map, here's a link to the full Hochzillertal area piste map. You'll see that from the Kaltenbach base station there's the original gondola lift called Hochzillertal I and Hochzillertal II (the gondola goes through a mid-station which you stay on going up but skiers who've skied down to there can also get on) and to the right of it there's a newer parallel gondola Hochzillertal III which doesn't have a mid-station. Having two high speed gondolas means that even though there may be a lot of people going up in the morning any waiting time is very short. Very Happy

When you get out at the top then for your friends taking lessons there are two ski school meeting areas, depending on which ski school they use. For my friend Gerhard Wildauer's Hochzillertal skischule he has an office/meeting place/kid's ski area on the mountain just to the right of the top of the newer Hochzillertal III lift (his main skischool office is down at the base station just to the left of the gondola building). The other skischool is skischule optimal, and their meeting place is just to the left of the original Hochzillertal II lift.

2. Looking at the whole piste map you'll see that from the top of the gondola lifts if you ski off to the left down blue 14 it passes some gentle beginner drag lifts till you reach a restaurant called the Marendalm. From just by there the Sonnenjet chair takes you up to two nice reds 4 and 5, and also is the departure point for the route across to Hochfugen. From the Marendalm if you continue on down blue 14 you pass a number of other lifts, ending up at the 8 seater Schnee Express chairlift (with heated seats Laughing

). If the snow conditions down to valley level are good there's a nice skiroute/itinerary run 17 down to the small village of Aschau. From the end point they run a free shuttle bus from there back to the main Kaltenbach base station.

3. There's a lot of interesting good places to eat on the mountain. On the top of the left hand side of the map you'll see the
Kristalhutte is marked. It's a fairly recent building built in modern style and it has some great views, including some interesting bits of modern sculpture nearby (giant insects!) and a giant chair. Smile

. I'd definitely recommend calling in for a hot chocolate or coffee to see the building and views, but the food whilst very good tends to be a bit more expensive than some of the other eating places. For eating on the Kaltenbach side I'd recommend the Platzalm, the Zirmstadl or the cosy Kaltenbacher Skihutte (which you can reach by following a short track off to the left as you ski down red 3. It has a marmot theme as its logo and you can even buy marmot souvenir mugs there Laughing

). Over on the Hochfugen side as you go down red 13 back towards the Kaltenbach side be sure to check out the Wedelhutte.

4. You'll see that there's a piste called the Stephan Eberharter Goldpiste (he's a local so they named it after him) which goes all the way down back to the base station. It has snow cannon all the way down, but this can mean that in some places the snow is a bit icy. I'd recommend that you ski it during the day and not as the final run, since at that time you get lots of people coming down it and some of them have little control wink

, it's better imv to take the gondola down. Once you are down though as I said previously the nearby Postalm has rocking apres ski. If you fancy a quieter place for an apres ski drink though my friend Gerhard Wildauer's ski school office by the base station has the cafe wedelstube on the first floor. You'll usually find a few of his ski school instructors in there at the end of the day, and on rare occasions I've known one of them to bring along an accordion for some traditional music.

5. You'll see that on the right hand side of the piste map it shows a separate smaller ski area called the Spieljoch which is accessed from Fugen town. It's quite small and if you're based in Kaltenbach it's probably not worth your while going there as I expect that once the more experienced skiers amongst you want to check out somewhere else away from Kaltenbach/Hochfugen you'll want to go to Zell am Ziller and Mayrhofen.

Hope all this helps. snowHead

After all it is free

@Alastair Pink, fair play you've provided some of the most thorough info I've received on SH. Just goes to prove what a great forum it is and the helpfulness of its members. Thank you!

@jirac18, You're welcome! snowHead

If you have any further questions about the area please ask.

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@Alastair Pink, is there a ski and boot garage at the main valley station Kaltenbach?

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@jirac18, I know that my friend Gerhard Wildauer's Hochzillertal skischule main office building next to the base station has ski and boot storage as I've used it when some friends and I stayed in his apartment (it was included but normally you'd have to pay a charge). He also rents equipment and has a ski servicing facility. I know that in the main base station building there is another servicing facility, and there may well be storage facilities there, but I can't say for sure.

By the way, you said you would probably have a rental car from Munich airport. You probably know this already but to use a vehicle on the Austrian motorways you need to buy a vignette which you fix to the inside of the windscreen. For up to 10 days it's 8.70 Euros. You can buy them from motorway service stations in Germany as you approach the Austrian border, or if you prefer to get beforehand you can have it delivered to your UK address from tolltickets.

Also if you are self catering then there is a supermarket right near to the base station multi storey car park. I think there may be some other smaller grocery stores in the village as well. Apart from several restaurants in the hotels there's also a good value pizza and pasta restaurant called 12 Apostel (12 Apostles) and I'm pretty certain they do take away pizza as well.

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I've just booked an apartment in St Johann in Tirol after all. I really struggled to find suitable accommodation in the recommended places above but thanks so much to everyone who offered advice. I then looked at Westendorf and again really struggled to find what we were after. Anyhoo now got a ski in out place at the bottom of the blue at St Johann which is a place I know from previous trip.

Ive been really surprised by the amount of places booked up already. Nearly every search throws up around 85% fully booked in Wilder Kaiser, Zillertal and Ski Welt.

Now all that's left to decide and plan is whether to get a car from Munich or take the train. Can't find train timetables or prices just yet for Feb next year so if anyone does have a link that would be great.

thought train timetables should have gone live on bahn.de for december onwards. if not, then it should be any time now.

You know it makes sense.

@andy, just checked again they will be available for feb after 14th Nov so I'll look again then. Can anyone suggest ballpark cost for two adults two children?

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

@jirac18, many German and Dutch families book the same accommodation year in, year out, thus benefiting from loyalty discounts or simply the Kudos attributed to being a Stamgast. If I like a place and want to return, I now book as I pay at the end of the current trip. Done that for the past 4 Christmas/New Year as well as my February and March trips as it works out better and I get the rooms I want. This is particularly true if you are stuck with school holidays as nobody takes their child out of school for a holiday here in Germany or Austria. The grounds for doing so are so limited it is not worth risking the wrath of the authorities.

Help!!

Flights to Munich Skiing Austria

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