There are lots of different factors that can make any particular ski holiday truly great, or just merely pretty good. Some of them it’s tricky to plan for in advance – perfect weather, for example – but you can definitely increase your chance of having that best-ever ski holiday by taking certain aspects of your trip into consideration. Is the ski area suitable for you? Are you travelling with people you’re going to have fun with? (If it’s family and the answer is “No” you may have bigger problems…) Is it the right accommodation close to the slopes? And how long is your airport transfer?
That last one can be quite an issue if you know you’ll be exhausted by a long transfer and tempers frayed before you even arrive in resort, your week in the mountains tainted by the knowledge that another long drag awaits on the return leg.
But one area where this is never a problem is the Austrian Tirol. Most resorts are within 90 minutes of Innsbruck Airport, many even closer, and some are just a short distance from other major airports like Salzburg and Munich too. Better news still, there are more flights this season from UK airports, so the trip to and from the airport at the UK end could be shorter too.
So, where’s close to Innsbruck Airport?
Innsbruck
Innsbruck itself is not only a fantastic city but also the base for one of Austria’s biggest ski regions, the Olympia SkiWorld, which brings together nine resorts offering a combined 300km of piste served by 90 lifts on one very reasonably priced ticket. As an added bonus, the pass covers transfers from the city centre to the ski slopes, so you can enjoy a unique combination of an excellent ski destination with a cultural city break.
Credit – Tommy Bause
The nine areas include the Kühtai ski area, which was the location of infamous Channel 4 TV series The Jump, and is Austria’s highest skiing village located just 34km from the airport. There’s also the Axamer Lizum and Patscherkofel ski areas, which staged Winter Olympic ski races.
Credit – 2016_144 Christof Lackner
You can also invest in the Innsbruck Card, which gives access to 19 museums, all seven cable cars and public transport in the city – great if you have non-skiers in your party. And visiting before 6 January 2018 means you can discover the city’s fabulous Christmas markets innsbruck.info/en/
Ski Juwel Alpbachtal Wildshönau
The Ski Juwel area, which links the skiing of Alpbach (which has been voted the most picturesque in Austria) with that of the neighbouring valley of Wildschönau, home to pretty villages like Auffach, Niederau and Oberau, is one of the largest ski areas in Tirol with more than 109km of pistes, served by 46 lifts and with 25 mountain huts and restaurants to stop off in. It’s all just 45 minutes from Innsbruck or 90 minutes from Munich.
Credit – Alpbachtal Seenland Tourismus
Most visitors love the human scale and traditional values of the Ski Juwel villages, as well as the beautiful, family-friendly slopes which make it a great place for families to learn to ski or snowboard together. There are dedicated children’s areas on the slopes and local valley lifts so you can ski close to home if you wish in Alpbach and Reith as well as in Auffach and Niederau. Good-humoured English-speaking instructors and Bobo the Penguin and the Dragon Club are ready to teach little ones, and there are family lift pass discounts offered.
Credit – Alpbachtal Seenland Tourismus
But there is also plenty of skiing and snowboarding for all abilities here on wide, open slopes through beautiful Alpine scenery, and freestylers will enjoy the action in three snow parks. skijuwel.com/en
Ötztal
The Ötztal region is home to world-renowned resorts like Sölden – which famously featured in the last James Bond movie Spectre and is particularly well known in ski-racing circles for staging the first races of the new season in late October each winter – as well as Obergurgl-Hochgurgl and Hochoetz, which are just 70 minutes from Innsbruck Airport.
This internationally recognised ski area with absolute snow reliability has more than 300km of slopes in total, with several stretching up above 3,000m, with more than 70 lifts serving it all including some of the most advanced, fast and comfortable queue gobblers on earth. A multi-resort pass covers it all.
Sölden’s twin glaciers are open for up to nine months a year and the resort has a cool reputation, even without that James Bond connection, as world-class DJs play at the monthly Electric Mountain Parties, while the 9 Knights + Queens event is one of the highlights of the freestyle calendar.
Obergurgl-Hochgurgl is a little quieter and more family-oriented with its compact but very varied lift network, friendly ski schools and kindergartens and fine dining at excellent gourmet restaurants and hotels. There’s a vibrant but sophisticated après-ski atmosphere helped by no fewer than 22 4★ hotels, and two 5★ hotels – all with spa facilities – along with doorstep skiing.
Sign up for First Line Obergurgl to be one of 50 people to enjoy beautiful freshly groomed slopes before all the crowds. oetztal.com/en
SkiWelt Wilder Kaiser-Brixental
The SkiWelt, one of Austria’s largest and most modern ski areas, is just a one-hour drive from Innsbruck Airport. Nine resorts, ranging from lively Söll to picturesque Westendorf, all interconnected by 90 fast modern ski lifts, make up the ski area of 284km of beautifully groomed rolling slopes, with stunning views of medieval villages and towns in the valley below.
Credit – Felbert Reiter
It’s a perfect family resort: wide, gentle slopes with many blue runs and valley descents; childcare facilities at the valley or top stations; and unique winter activities for the family. There are also three floodlit toboggan runs and four fun parks as well as the Funny Bird Slope for freestylers.
The historic town of Kufstein is worth a visit, with a pretty medieval fortress reached by funicular. The Hartkaiserbahn gondola in Ellmau is particularly family friendly with an extra-long access point. The Hartkaiser Adventure Eldorado at the mountain station has its own children’s eateries, childcare facilities and kids’ adventure ski school. www.skiwelt.tirol/en/
Kitzbühel
Kitzbühel, 90 minutes from Innsbruck Airport, has been a winter-sports Mecca for 120 years and today combines sporting tradition with modern lifestyle. It’s a cosmopolitan resort with a wonderful ancient pedestrianised centre lined with enticing shops, bars, cafés and restaurants.
Credit – Michael Werlberger
The first ski area without a glacier to open for the ski season each autumn, Kitzbühel lies at the heart of one of the world’s largest ski pass regions and is host to some of the biggest annual international events in the ski world, including the famous Hahnenkamm World Cup races. You can ski the famous Streif Run, where the downhill is staged after the race itself.
There are 78 beautiful slopes locally extending to 215km of runs with something for all difficulty levels. The slopes include 13 marked and secured ski-routes covering a total distance of 36km. www.kitzski.uk
Getting To Tirol
In the main ski season, Innsbruck Airport is served by daily scheduled flights and numerous charter flights from UK airports. easyJet flies directly from London Gatwick, Bristol and Liverpool to Innsbruck. British Airways has direct routes from London Heathrow and London Gatwick to Innsbruck. From December onwards, easyJet runs daily flights from Gatwick starting at just £28 one-way, while British Airways flies six times a week from Heathrow, alongside its regular Gatwick service.
The airports in Salzburg, Munich, Friedrichshafen, Memmingen and Zurich are an alternative to get to the Austrian Tirol. Exclusive or shared transfers operated by “Taxi Tirol”, as well as car hire companies, are available to make the final journey to your destination.
It’s also perfectly possible to take the train to Tirol or to drive there.
To keep updated, follow the Tirol Tourist Board on Facebook via facebook.com/visittirol or follow @VisitTirol on Twitter and Instagram or visit visittirol.co.uk
Main image credit – Christian Vorhofer Neu