Is Austria worth the extra money?

A snowHead

Hello everyone, first post here so apologies if its already been discussed!

I am looking at planning a skiing holiday for 7-8 of us next year. I have always booked on behalf of our groups (last 15 years), mostly booking independently to save on costs however I have also occasionally booked through an agent.

We have skied mostly France, but also the likes of Italy, Bulgaria. Finland etc however Austria has always been on the bucket list. It's only the last couple of years where I have actually looked into it and the group are also keen.

Im amazed at how much more expensive Austria is for what you get!? For a start there is limited accommodation in the 'top Austrian resorts' and those that come within a reasonable budget (through an agent), you are struggling to find anything based within 400m of the slopes/lifts let a lone ski in out for less than £800-£1000 (incl flights/non peak times) and those that are look extremely dated and old... Ski hire is extortionate, KM of piste is limited compared to France etc.

To get to the point... is the cost of Austria skiing worth it over the convenience and size of French resorts!? I can get a catered ski to door chalet for £1000pp less in the three valleys than i can in the likes of Ischgal or St Anton...

Thanks in advance everyone.

A snowHead

This link is for Neilson's Winter 22 offers page and would suggest that prices are similar to French Resorts. https://www.neilson.co.uk/ski/ski-deals/winter-2022

Austria does have far fewer catered chalets, tending to be more Hotel Based, family run pensions or self-catering. As to other costs, Lift Passes tend to be about 10% more than comparable French Resorts but you get heated seats and modern lifts. Ski Hire usually comes with discounts, especially if you book in advance, or as part of a Ski School package. Depending on resort, transfers tend be shorter and cheaper, and food on the Mountain is about 25% cheaper.

Would recommend you look here: https://www.chaletsdirect.com/search/default.asp?Resort=strCountryName.Austria&Pax=8&Basis=CC&StartDate=&Duration=7

This one looks good: https://www.cateredskichalets.com/skichalets/austria-ski-arlberg-st-anton-am-arlberg-skichalet-aurora/

Personaly I'd look at Self-Catering in our neighbourhood (Ski Amade) and spend the savings on super lunches and evening dinners out.

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

@mikewearden, It's probably worth paying extra just for a different experience, but for £1000 extra per person it may be better to go to Japan and get a totally different experience.

A few years ago we did managng to find a chalet in Solden for not much more than you'd pay for the equivilant in France, but it was much more than 400m from the nearest lift. It is worth spending some more time searching.

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Ischgl and St Anton are expensive compared to many other areas in Austria. What do you want from Austria?

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It would be good to have a better idea of what you have been booking in France and what you are looking for in Austria. I can't comment on agent prices as I have never used one but regularly book independently to Austria, staying in self catering apartments. I try and get a few trips in each year and I don't find it expensive for what you get.

The villages themselves are generally very charming and have usually started out life as a village which then has developed as a ski resort, so the access to the lifts can be less convenient than French purpose built stations which are designed around access to skiing but are pretty brutal in design and lack charm. The bus links in Austria are very good and if you are near a bus stop, treat it as another lift which you only need to take at the beginning and end of the day.

Accommodation can be trickier in Austria as there are a lot of double rooms compared to French apartments where you will find bunks and sofa beds, alpine corners etc. so you will often be paying for spare spaces in double rooms if you are organising a 'sausage-fest' boys only trip. Suitable apartments are out there but you will need to look for them and they will get repeat bookings from regular guests at peak times.

Austrian ski areas tend to be smaller than the French mega-resorts, although there are some huge areas (Ski Circus, Kitzbuhel, Ski Welt, St Anton etc..). The smaller areas tend to be cheaper and quieter than the bigger ones and can be surprisingly well developed in terms of infrastructure. The lift pass options are also geared up to covering multiple areas and represent excellent value when you consider the km's of piste on offer.

Lift infrastructure is better in Austria and you don't get the queues that you find in France. The pistes are generally less bumpy for some reason - I suspect that the skiing style has something to do with it?? The mountain restaurants are excellent and great value. Skiing is very much seen as an every-man pastime rather than a luxury holiday or super-gnarly danger-filled extreme sport and it tends to be more about fun and relaxing/partying. The apres is great and a lot of places on the mountain are open after the lifts have shut for sun-downers and partying before skiing down and carrying on in town. There is a friendly vibe on the mountain in general.

I have three weeks booked for Austria next year:
January to Hochkonig for 6 of us. Flights £100 return. Nice 3 bedroom apartment in the centre of the village £280 each. Lift pass for 8 days ~£330 (although a season pass is ~£700 and the break even point is around 18 days). I don't hire but I think that it is around £120 for a mid range boot/ski package. Transfers are £200 return for all of us.

Feb half term to Ellmau x 4. Flights ~£200 return, ski in/out apartment £1100. Passes the same and a hire car is £180.

March to Zell am See area x 4. Flights ~£100 return. Hire car ~£230. Apartment in town £180 each. Passes the same. We use this trip to ski different areas in the vicinity. So day trips to Gasteins, Kitzbuhel, Ski Amade, Ski Circus, Hochkonig etc etc.. Which is a great way to see lot's of places and not repeat areas during the week.

I don't think that these are expensive and they have taken a bit of finessing over the years in terms of when to go and where to stay and how to approach Austrian skiing in general but I wouldn't choose France over Austria when planning a trip these days.

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I've always thought Austria to be better value than France, particularly when it comes to food and drink. The exceptions are probably the two resorts you highlight but there is so much more to skiing in Austria than just Ischgl and St Anton! I tend to make independent arrangements and by using resort website accommodation services have found some fantastic, high-quality, accommodation in the likes of Solden, Saalbach-Hinterglemm and the Ski Juwel. As mentioned previously, chalet board is not common outside of St Anton and Ischgl but some of the small hotels and guests houses we have stayed in have been utterly superb (and great value!). The Ski Amade region is next on my radar.
I think it's worth doing the leg-work outside the normal tour operator resorts, you might pleasantly surprise yourself with what you come up with!

After all it is free

@mikewearden, Austria and France seem to be orientated around different markets and depending on what suits your group either can feel more expensive if you are going outside of that main market. E.g. Austria seems have a lot of 4* half-board spa hotels for which you have both a lot more choice and are much cheaper than the French equivalent, similarly for „pensions“ aka B&Bs. Self-catered apartments are much harder to come by in Austria and more expensive, though are usually bigger than their French equivalents. Catered chalets are nearly non-existent in Austria. Ski-in/out is also not so common in Austria with most resorts having grown from an existing settlement at valley level rather than having been purpose built halfway up a mountain as in France. Base price ski hire in Austria is more expensive than France but better quality - if you‘re used to paying bargain basement prices in France you won‘t find that in Austria but high-end to high-end are not dissimilar. You can get really cheap on-mountain food in Austria (cheaper than France) but of the sausage/schnitzel/pizza/chips/goulash soup variety.

I like the skiing in both countries and I don‘t think either is better or worse than the other but if you‘re looking for a cheap and cheerful s/c slope-side apartment with cheap flights/transfers and access to a big linked ski area, I don‘t think you‘ll be able to do that as cheaply in Austria as compared to France.

@LOTA, Happy to help you sort out your Ski Amade trip if you need a hand. Just PM when you know what you're looking for.

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@Klamm Franzer, your three trips would all be covered by the Salzburg Super Pass. Check to see if it is cheaper to buy a season pass rather than three separate passes.

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Yes. It is. And i say that as an owner in a french ski resort. St Anton & Saalbach areas are just bloody brilliant.

@mikewearden, Hi Mike. France really is the UK destination isn't it.

But Austria can be good too. In summary;

Shorter transfers- especially from Innsbruck.
Modern faster lifts (usually).
Cheaper faster and better food and beer (by a lot). Very difficult / impossible to get rubbish self service slop as you can stumble upon in France. We were astonished in Obergurgul when we sat down- as if by magic a waiter appeared (a waiter) took our order and returned within a minute or two with frothy beers and hot chocolate mit zahne and strudle (for cheap). Where I've been it is hard to find somewhere bad (either quality / price or both) to eat in Austria whereas in French resorts it is the other way round (but if you look / know where to go you can have great food for a reasonable price in many French resorts on and off the slopes- but this requires effort / knowledge / planning and booking).

Ski in ski out is different- lots of places will have ski buses (as is also the case in other ski destinations- other parts of France, Italy) as most of the villages are- villages as opposed to purpose built resorts.

The villages- are mostly villages and nice in terms of character / architecture, quality for food and beer. Woodcarving, painted exteriors etc. There may well be cows in sheds. Because they are mostly villages which have become ski resorts they are significantly lower in terms of the snow than the French purpose built places. Hence the ski in ski out differences. (I like cows in sheds). You can also get cows in sheds in some places in France but they won't be ski in ski out.

Apres usually more vigourous- lots of French resorts can be a bit dead and those that do have nightlife can be super expensive. If you like air guitar / 1970's rock and singalongs then you are in luck.

Price wise- I think you are looking in the wrong places regards accommodation.

Accommodation- I'd suggest less likely to be tired than France, two to three times the size (if not more). A loo you can sit on without bruising your knees and more than enough piping hot water.

Resort size- yes smaller at individual ski resorts- but there are lots of places in which you can ski up and down the same valley- via bus- e.g. the Zillertal.

Skiing- pistes well maintained (although they do piste bash during the day- be careful). Slopes much more likely to be tree lined- which is good in bad weather / pretty.

Ski passes probably more, ski hire- have a look (we don't rent).

Clientele- far fewer Brits usually. Staff very unlikely to be Brits. More pissed people on the pistes at going home time.

Ski schools- many more British/ native English speaking instructors at least pre Brexit.

Historically Austria was the budget option and that is where I usually skied as a student in the 1990's- by coach from Euston / Gower Street. At that time being brown in Austria was uncomfortable. When we went back with kids more recently this was not an issue.

France is clearly more convenient in terms of booking logistics; English run places, frequency and cost of flights, ease of sorting out a cheap English transfer, cheap accommodation. We usually ski in France as that is where we go (we go there because we go there if you see what I mean), usually to Chamonix- which has a small pisted ski area that is a pain in the back bottom to get around.

Eldest son has skied in Austria recently, race training- which was v cheap.

Have a look at B&B's / pensions.

I think that you will be able to find something in budget somewhere good- it might be more in terms of fixed costs but think about beers / incidentals. It is probably worth looking at something different.

We'd not look at km of piste as a meaningful indicator of resort quality.

You know it makes sense.

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

@mikewearden, You seem to have chosen two of the most expensive resorts (though with some of the best skiing) in Europe for your comparison. There are many far cheaper resorts in Austria. Personally I only really want to go to the Arlberg these days but I accept that I could ski (a lot) cheaper elsewhere. There are plenty a resorts nearer to Munich which would involve less travelling and cost less.

Long time since I skied in France but I would say there are generally some things France is good for and some things Austria is good for (generalisations are always a bit dodgy).

France is ideal if you want ski in / ski out accommodation (though often on the small side), with large interlinked areas. The resorts can be rather soulless and eating & drinking out is expensive. Lift passes can be expensive and some of the lifts have seen better days.

Austria generally has little ski in / ski out accommodation (I know many brits seem to have a thing about ski buses but it works well in Austria) and few catered chalets. There are plenty of apartments if you want to self cater (book through the resort Tourist office) plus a lot of half board hotel accommodation (very popular with German, Dutch & Scandinavian guests). The traditional pension (bed & breakfast to brits) is beginning to fade away (bit of a shame because I prefer it, cheapest way to stay in the resorts) as I guess there is more money to be made from other accommodation types with less effort. Whilst the stereotype is of a village with a small ski area, that is no longer true. Many places are part of large interlinked areas with modern fast lifts and extensive snow making, Montafon, Arlberg, Ischgl, Serfaus, Sölden/Obergurgl, Zillertal, Ski Welt/Kitzbühel, Saalbach Hinterglemm, Ski Amade to name a few. Where Austria really scores is the "atmosphere" of the place, the apres is justifiably well known and there are plenty of "gemütlich" places for those who want something quieter. Yes you can find high end places (especially in St Anton, Ischgl, Kitzbühel etc) which charge high end prices but many places still offer decent food & drink at reasonable prices. Access is generally easy too. Innsbruck & Salzburg offer very quick transfers to nearby resorts, Zürich and good train connections work well for western Austria, Munich is a little further away and gets busy peak season but no worse (if not better) than Geneva.

It is worth getting hold of the Austrian version of https://www.wheretoskiandsnowboard.com/the-book/ for lots more info.

Much of this is down to personal preference, if your main criteria is ski in / ski out in a catered chalet (possibly a dying breed) then France is the obvious place. If you want a better all around ski holiday away from a collection of towers block in a bleak spot (my memory of Tignes!) then Austria is a good choice.

A snowHead

A snowHead

@RedandWhiteFlachau, Thanks, looking at 2022 now as we're booked for Ski Juwel in January (cheap and cheerful) and Nendaz (very high-end expensive!) for March.

Forgot to add that an hour in Goatstall in Hinterglemm after skiing and you will probably never want to go anywhere else! Very Happy

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@Scarlet,

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

@mikewearden, What @munich_irish, says.

All our skiing done in the 90's was in F, much of it in the 3V/ EK/ Cham, we also broadened out to CH and I, and with a fair amount of AT thrown in for good measure. During the 00's and since we've skied predominantly in AT, and 90% of that in the Arlberg (plus others like Kitzbuhel, Montafon, Bregenzerwald etc). We never pay over the odds for the quality of service we receive, we enjoy the Austrian ski experience much more, it doesn't have to be expensive.....have been on lads weekends and odd weeks to other areas in recent times etc, but my suggestion is do your homework, avoid tour operators and chalets, go independently and you'll get a much more rounded experience than via TO's, and don't discount AT it's a great experience and the infrastructure investment is much higher imv than F. I personally don't know why people use tour operators - they frequently choose tired accommodation where they can get a deal before renovation, they provide basic food and service, herd their punters around flight times and transfers that suit them and not the customer, alternatively top end 4/5 star HB, and do you need that? So, overall imv they operate a bygone business model. Research is my suggestion, you won't get it right first time, but it's not that hard.

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@Alastair Pink, i got it! I finally understand some german!!

Do you have the ‘its always Latte Macchiato not a latte’ rule too in AU/ DE?

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@Scarlet, I suppose it could be slang for hot chocolate with Stroh rum Very Happy

After all it is free

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I've skied plenty of times in France and also more recently Austria. I've not found Austria to be £1,000pp more expensive than France, in fact quite the opposite. Take a look at this, for example, in Stuben (linked to the whole Arlberg inc St Anton ski area).

If you look at their packages they often include two adult lift passes, as well as swimming pool, wellness areas and an elevator to/from the piste. We always went at Easter and prices here were always comparable to French catered chalets for a higher quality experience. I'd expect them to release 21/22 packages, this one below is/was based on March gone, but will give you an idea.

https://www.hubertushof-arlberg.at/en/packages/mountain-spring-special-days/

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Wow thank you everyone, blown away by the number and quality of responses!

I will certainly look into the links and info provided so thank you.

To answer the questions around what we are looking for... we are a relatively young bunch (mainly early 30's) so we like to clock up a lot of mileage, for example in 2020 we went back to VT and challenged ourselves to ski down to every village across the 3 valleys in one day, challenging but good fun and sense of achievement - I get bored skiing the same slopes multiple times! Also the Apres ski is a big factor we love. So I guess this was the reason I have initially been looking at St Anton and Ischgal as these are considered two of the top places considered for size and especially apres!

Will broaden my horizons - thank you for the enlightenment and time taken to reply everyone!

You know it makes sense.

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

£1,000 per person per week MORE for a trip to Austria, than France?

I’ve pretty much only been to Austria over the past 6-7 years at least. In all those trips I can’t remember paying £1,000 per person in total and that mostly includes lift passes too.

A snowHead

A snowHead

I much prefer austria.
Meat and potato v cheese and bread
Better beer and usually cheaper as mountain prices are similar to town.

I am not sure how your prices are so high though.

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

Take a look at Sunweb - prices include lift passes. Look around the the Salzburg side and resorts accessible form that airport.

Is ski in ski out a must? as this limits where you can go. One place we love is Mayrhofen but that certainly isn’t ski in ski out.

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@mikewearden, There are few catered chalet operators in Austria, as generally they don't need them. The quality and price of accommodation, and also restaurants, in Austria is generally so good that no one needs to stay in a catered chalet, with indifferent standards and services provided by gap year students. The Austrian economy relies heavily on winter tourism. Two thirds of winter visitors to Austrian ski resorts are from other countries, whereas in France two thirds of visitors are French. The atmosphere is totally different. The Austrians work very hard to ensure a positive and welcoming holiday experience for their guests and seem to really value repeat bookings and regular guests.

Although ski-in ski-out accommodation may not be the norm in Austria, owing to the lack of purpose-built ski stations, it is nonetheless possible to find such accommodation if you do your research. At the very least it should be possible to find accommodation that is so close to the slopes and the nearest lift station that you would never need to use a ski bus. In some cases you might need to walk only a few yards. Choose your resort carefully, and do your research on exactly where your accommodation is located.

Flights to Salzburg, Innsbruck and Munich are invariably cheap with the usual budget operators, and many resorts are only an hour or so away from the first two of those airports, making a private taxi transfer for four or more people very affordable.

If you're contemplating visiting my neck of the Alps, drop me a PM, and I'll email you tons of useful information.

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@LOTA, Children U-18 Ski free in the Ski Amade after Mid-March if Adults purchase a full pass. As @NickyJ, says, Sunweb have a lot of good stuff and as they are a Dutch Company, all their staff speak English Very Happy

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We’ve skiid in Austria a few times but one thing that’s put us off is the “Austrian bed” situation. As our son and daughter became a teens they objected to sharing a bed, albeit a big one. Just a little thing I know, but it’s something to think about if you have a large group. I’m not sure what the Austrians don’t like about twin beds; I think they’re great.

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@bambionskiis, the Austrian twin beds are the same size as British twins (about 6’ total in width), except that they are stuck together on a single frame. They have separate mattresses and separate duvets.
If necessary a barrier can be constructed down the middle to prevent any accidental, nocturnal bodily contact. I’ve never really understood the problem. It’s not as if they are like standard 4’ 6” double beds. Perhaps it’s just a psychologically intuitive (i.e. not especially rational) reaction.

After all it is free

The Austrian style twin beds to me are seen as an advantage. Both couples and two singles can sleep in them. How often do married couples complain that one is either colder or warmer than the other. What a great idea to have your own duvet with whatever tog you chose.

Twin beds and bunk beds are definitely available, but they probably get booked up quickly. If that's what you need, email the hotel directly and ask them what they have available.

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Is Austria worth the extra money?

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