Resort in Austria for long Weekend

A snowHead

Howdy

Just looking at options online for a 4 day trip to Austria with the wife. Would like snow, charm and enough varied terrain to keep me busy for a few days. Wife will snowboard with me but probably wont last all day so may need to go to the spa or something. Price wise would like it to be reasonable ie below £1k for both of us I guess plus food and drink. I've looked at Seefeld, Kaprun, Flachau, even Innsbruk but none really hitting the mark. I would be flying in and perhaps hire a car or train transfer otherwise normal transfer will do. I can ride everythng (in my own way) so some challenging runs are essential as are tree lined and off piste. May get a guide for a day when the wife wants to rest. Hmm what else oh apres is nice too Smile

A snowHead

st gallenkirk via zrh

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

@Gainz, when are you going? Are you wanting a snowy village?

You need to Login to know who's really who.

Ideally leaving 29th Feb to 4th Mar but we're flexible though not end of March. Snowy village please. Just watched ski Sunday and I'm buzzing already! Still need to book a boys trip but struggling on that one atm. Cheers

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

@Gainz, You are going to struggle with your budget, a 3 day ski pass is around €200 on its own. For a short trip best airports are Innsbruck or Salzburg as that keeps down transfer time & costs. Assuming you revise your budget up a bit then have a look at the Zillertal or Saalbach Hinterglemm. If Innsbruck both St Anton & Ischgl would work but will completely blow your budget. For a bit more of a traditional feel there is Kitzbühel, transfers a bit longer and if you stay centrally will again be a budget issue

You'll need to Register first of course.

but zrh and muc have much later flights back to london, if thats where you are flying from.

Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...

@munich_irish, sorry I meant without pass too for that price as I'm costing DIY ATM. Just got a price from Heidi under £800 pp to seefeld or lofar including pass and zell am see £845 b&b on all. Just not sure on these resorts.

After all it is free

@Gainz, I wouldn't suggest any of those places given your initial post. Nothing wrong with them just not really matching what you want perhaps there is a reason they are "cheap". No doubt Zürich works well for the west of Austria, the Montafon area might work. Munich can be a bit far once you factor in the faff of getting through the airport but if you are happy to drive then the Zillertal and Kitzbühel are doable, both have some more challenging skiing and have stereotypically "Tirolean" parts to them. As noted on a number of threads skiing in Austria has got significantly more expensive in recent times

For a short 4 day break, i'd be steering clear of Zurich, you want as short a transfer as possible, ideally flying in to Innsbruck or Salzburg.

@Gainz, if I were you, i'd see what flight days/times work well in to either of those airports, and then go from there.

Plenty of places that would be suitable from either airport.

*Ski* the Net with snowHeads

For a long weekend, we look for an airport with an early flight in on the Thurs / Fri and a late flight back on the Sun /Mon,

Then look for a short transfer to a reasonable resort

That way you get 3.5 days skiing in.

Turin and Milan are good options - Via Lattea (T) and Aosta Valley various resorts (both) are good options. I'm not sure Salzburg works flightwise on that front

There is something quite nice about leaving the UK early doors and getting a couple of runs in before a quick lunch.

snowHeads are a friendly bunch.

The one time I’ve done a long weekend with my wife we went to Nauders. Hired a car to get there and it was an easy trip from Innsbruck. Nauders is a small area but has a good variety of pistes, many tree-lined. The village is a short distance from the gondola base, most hotels run their own minibus shuttles.

snow reports

Thanks for all the advice. I booked flights to Salzburg and as both flights are afternoon I made it into a 5 day trip. Flights. a car and parking at Stansted for £400 includes car insurance a 20kg bag and a 10kg bag between us. I haven't added my snowboard bag yet just seeing how much gear we'll both need first. Hiring for 3 or 4 days might prove costly in comparison. We booked pension max in Zell am see for £700 board only. I found an off piste clinic which I'll book just for me 120e in a group 2.5hrs or private 280e for 3 hours. Can't wait as it looks like it's the only trip this winter now. Will let you know how we get on. snowHead

You know it makes sense.

@beano, Yeah thats them, hartweger freeride Monday. I'm guessing its worth paying the extra for private but its also nice being in a group. They said the group would be at a lower level to me though but my fitness has gone down the drain so may still work! If they are beginners completely it could get boring maybe.

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

A snowHead

this is an easy one..... Seefeld ... although I go with my mates, and then with my family on separate occasions, and we don't stay in Seefeld, as we stay in a small village inbetween resorts such as Hochoetz, Ehrwald, Seefeld ,Hochzeiger, Serfaus, we always spend a day in Seefeld and its lovely but you will do the 20 odd miles of skiing in one day, but it's decent and the village is at over 1200 meters upto over 2000 metres , so pretty snow sure,. A beer on the Rosshutte slopes is around 4 euros, spag bol about 9 euros, it's a massive spa town, with swimming pool, cross country skiing etc, a proper ski town. The good news is that the train goes from Innsbruck to Seefeld direct ( the station is right in the middle of Seefeld.) The train fare is about 6 euros and the train station (called Innsbruck Hotting) can be walked to from the airport if you are feeling energetic, but it is about 1km, but a bus from outside the airport terminal of taxi will take you there no problem . You don't need to go to Innsbruck centre to catch the train, as the airport is on the way to Seefeld. There are 25 trains a day, takes about 30 mins from Innsbruck Hotting , it's 10 miles. A taxi from right outside the terminal doors will cost about 40 euros, takes about 25 mins. A classy town indeed, but don't know about the accomodation there , but there seems to be a lot of gasthaus's and a lot of 5 star hotels as well

A snowHead

Montafon - in the Vorarlberg West part of Austria on the Swiss border. Comprises 5 areas - Golm, Brand, Gargellen and the linked core areas of Hoch Joch + Nova. Something like 300 km of Pistes + Ski Routes in total with an enormous variety from easy blues to extremely demanding and serious routes. I'd recommend staying in Schruns which is central and lies directly under the highest part - Hochjoch at ca 2600 meters. Schruns is an easy train ride from Zürich Flughafen with one change at Bludenz. You can then use the excellent (free for skiers) bus service to explore the satellite areas such as Gargellen, Golm Vandans. Eg Sankt Gallenkirch (sic) is a 15 min bus ride away and Gaschurn a little further and both give easy access to the Nova area. You'll only scratch the surface of the skiing in 4 days but, trust me, there is something for every ability. I'm biased, of course, as I've lived in Bludenz for around 10 years and still ski instruct for a few weeks every year locally. All in all, Montafon, despite its relative obscurity, compares well with top resorts such as Lech and Ischgl (Bytw the mountain walking in summer is also outstanding, tho' that is a theme in itself.) The only slight disadvantage for a non German speaker might be that the standard of English is generally fairly rudimentary. (Doesn't bother me as I'm a fluent German speaker - but maybe something to bear in mind when you visit.) If you do visit, via Zürich, don't bother with a car - you won't need it - due to the outstanding public transport connections which are integrated around Schruns as the hub.
.

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

If your budget stretches that far, my second pick would be Lech/Sankt Anton due to the easy rail connection from Zürich (comparable in time to Schruns). Two other recommendations on this thread - Nauders & Seefeld are great (as is Sölden) but the travelling time will be double that to get to Montafon (Schruns) or Sankt Anton. The extra travelling would eat heavily into your skiing time over a 4 day break.

You need to Login to know who's really who.

..final comment- I'm assuming you'll be travelling via Zürich Flughafen. If you could find a reasonable deal to fly to Innsbruck instead (post Covid these have become difficult to find unless you book months in advance), then Seefeld and the satellite ski areas around Innsbruck would certainly come into play for a short break.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

Thanks for the additional advice but we're done now. I have some concerns with the car hire if someone could help. I noticed these points on the website;

"Any driver who has a driving licence that was issued by a non-EU/non-EWR country and is not written in German will also need a valid International Driving Permit or a certified translation."

I have a UK licence is this ok or do I need this extra nonsense?

Collision Damage Waiver (CDW)
Theft Cover
Third-Party Liability (TPL)
Loss or Damage

I have insurance with the hire co do I need this extra?

You'll need to Register first of course.

@Gainz, might be worth validating this somewhere else but I'm fairly sure you're fine with a UK licence (at least I know I've used mine in Germany and Greece since the Brexit shenanigans)

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/driving-in-the-eu

I'd be tempted to buy an "insurance for car hire" policy - typically around £40 for an annual policy

Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...

I would advise getting the extra cover, went 3 times to Innsbruck in 2023 and hired each time , but have been done a few times before for scratches, small dents etc, and recently they are particularly interested in wheel rim damage when you take it back . If the rims are scraped they will do you, but the excess cover will cover that. I have never been asked for an international driving licence, or even the DVLA driving check code, but I always print that off just in case

After all it is free

@Gainz, As long as you have a photo driving licence (not the old paper one) you should be fine. You should take out annual car hire excess insurance it is a lot cheaper than taking the excess insurance from the car hire companies but if you are only planning on a one off hire for a few days it might not be worth it. Any car hire has to come with third party insurance but in some cases that is all and you need to ensure that you are at least covered for theft etc and are only responsible up to the excess amount (which might be €1500!) for any loss or damage.

Thanks guys appreciate it. I think I'll stay as is. My insurance renewal is due soon here in UK so may ask them too about driving abroad.

Help!!

Resort in Austria for long Weekend

snowHeads Forum Index >>> Resort Reviews and Trip Reports