Best ski resorts in Austria for chalet holidays

Our method

How we compared the best ski resorts in Austria

We scored nothing and ranked nothing. Each ski area is described on seven criteria: size, altitude and snow-sureness, terrain for beginners, terrain for experts, families, après, and access from the airport. Size means piste kilometres and lifts as the operator states them. Altitude means the lowest and highest lift-served points, because those two numbers tell you more about snow in March than any slogan.

Each number needs two sources: the lift company or tourist board, and an independent resort database or ski guide. Small differences are rounded and marked about. Large ones, such as the piste total for Sölden or the lift count for Ischgl, leave the number out on purpose. Our page on how we compare ski areas and stays sets out the rules in full.

Après and expert terrain rest on reputation rather than measurement, so we only repeat a judgement when at least two independent ski guides make it. Some resorts therefore get fewer lines here than their regulars would give them; a resort without an après line simply had no agreement between sources. For every resort on the site, start from our chalets by destination.

See:How we compareAll destinations

Altitude and snow

Snow-sure ski resorts in Austria: altitude and glaciers

Height is the best single guide to snow that you can check before you book. Sölden runs from 1,350 to 3,340 m and includes two glaciers, the Rettenbachferner and the Tiefenbachferner. Both the tourist board and an independent database say the glacier area usually opens in early autumn and stays open into spring. For a very early or late week, nothing here beats it.

The Kitzsteinhorn above Kaprun is the other glacier area in this comparison, topping out at 3,029 m, and it sits on the Ski ALPIN CARD with Zell am See and the Skicircus. In the Zillertal, the Hintertux Glacier skis for most of the year, according to the operator and an independent database. If snow decides it, a base in Zell am See, close to the Kitzsteinhorn, or in Sölden keeps a glacier within reach.

Below the glaciers, the high Tyrolean areas stand out. The Silvretta Arena tops out at 2,872 m, Serfaus-Fiss-Ladis at 2,828 m and Ski Arlberg at 2,811 m, with the Serfaus-Fiss-Ladis base at 1,200 m. Those top heights put a large part of the skiing well above the villages. We publish no snow score: snow depends on the winter.

Lower areas need a different reading. The SkiWelt runs from 620 to 1,869 m and KitzSki from 800 to 2,000 m. Both are large, but in a mild winter the lower slopes are the first to be affected, so they read best for January and February weeks. KitzSki plans to open in early November, the SkiWelt in early December, and both to close in early April.

See:Chalets in Tyrol

Experts and après

Austrian ski resorts for expert skiers and après-ski

St Anton is the resort independent guides agree on for strong skiers. Both of the ski guides we checked put it first for expert and off-piste skiing, and both also name it for après. The size of Ski Arlberg backs that up: with about 300 km across seven villages, a strong group can ski hard for six days and still find new ground.

Kitzbühel is home to the Streif, the course of the Hahnenkamm race on the World Cup calendar, which both the regional tourist board and an independent database describe as the classic run of KitzSki. For après, both guides name Ischgl alongside St Anton, and two independent sources single out the Skicircus around Saalbach as well. Sölden is rated highly by two independent sources for its terrain, from 3,340 m down to the village.

Après is the criterion a chalet changes most. A chalet with meals and a sauna makes an early night easy, while an apartment near the centre keeps the bars a short walk away. Our chalets with meals included and the guide to chalets with or without meals set out the difference, and the chalets with a sauna or hot tub list the wellness options.

See:Catered chalets in Austria

Western Tyrol

Sölden, Ischgl and Serfaus-Fiss-Ladis: the high Tyrolean resorts

Sölden is the altitude choice. Size: 31 lifts; the piste total differs between the official and independent counts, so we leave it out. Altitude: 1,350 to 3,340 m, with two glaciers. Access: 83 km from Innsbruck. Two independent sources rate its terrain highly, so it suits intermediates and strong skiers who want long descents and a long season.

The Sölden chalets suit groups who want a bathroom per bedroom. Chalet Alpenheim Simone has six bedrooms and six bathrooms for 16, and Chalet Willi seven of each for 16, with the Gaislachkogelbahn listed 1,000 metres away. Chalet Am Trogwohl gives each of four bedrooms its own bathroom for up to 10, and Chalet Mountain Lodge sleeps up to 14. Chalet Apartment Leiter Sölden is a 27 square metre base by a bus stop, where sources disagree on capacity.

Ischgl's Silvretta Arena, shared with Samnaun, gives 239 km and tops out at 2,872 m, about 100 km from Innsbruck. Two independent guides name it for après, so it suits a group that wants lively evenings and high skiing in the same week. On the site, Apartment Fluchthorn is listed for up to five guests. Ask how the five would sleep and how far the lift is, because neither is confirmed yet.

Serfaus-Fiss-Ladis combines families and altitude: 214 km including ski routes, 38 lifts, 1,200 to 2,828 m, and dedicated children's areas in Serfaus and Fiss. It suits families who want a high base and a large group under one roof. Chalet Kelle has twelve bedrooms and twelve bathrooms for 26 to 35, with meals and a private sauna confirmed, and Chalet Tiroler Hof is listed by the owner for up to 38.

See:Chalets in Sölden

The Zillertal

Zillertal Arena, Mayrhofen and Fügen: one valley, one pass

The Zillertal has several ski areas under one pass, the Zillertal Superskipass. The Zillertal Arena, linking Zell am Ziller, Gerlos, Königsleiten and Hochkrimml, gives 150 km and 52 lifts and plans to run from early December to mid-April. Mayrhofen's MOUNTOPOLIS gives 142 km and 61 lifts on a similar season. Hochzillertal-Hochfügen and Spieljoch lie around Fügen.

Who it suits: families and groups who like to be on the snow quickly. Königsleiten, in the Zillertal Arena, has several chalets with the piste or lift listed 50 metres away. Chalet Pinzgauer Almhütte has six bedrooms and six bathrooms for 12, Chalet Dorferhaus five bedrooms for 10, and Chalet Apartment Bärlerhof two bedrooms for four with skiing on site. Chalet H Königsleiten lists the piste at 25 metres, and Chalet Edelweissalm adds a private sauna and hot tub for up to 12.

In Gerlos, Apartments Johanna is listed for five to twelve and Apartments Lena for two to six. In Wald im Pinzgau, Chalet Schöneben Bauernhaus has a pool and a shared sauna, with the piste 5 km away. Lower in the valley, Chalet Almdorf Fügen sleeps up to 10, Chalet Katharina in Kaltenbach up to eight and Chalet Rocking Home in Aschau up to 20. Browse the Königsleiten chalets, the Zillertal Arena chalets or chalets across the Zillertal.

See:Chalets in Austria with a sauna or hot tub

Salzburgerland

Ski amadé and the Wildkogel-Arena in Salzburgerland

Snow Space Salzburg links Flachau and Wagrain and gives over 210 km, within the wider Ski amadé group, while Großarl sits in its own Großarltal-Dorfgastein area. We leave out a Ski amadé lift total because the sources disagree. Access is the strength: Flachau is about 70 km from Salzburg airport, the shortest confirmed transfer in this guide. More resorts near Salzburg are among our chalets in Salzburgerland.

Stays here are mostly small to mid-sized. In Flachau, Apartments Alpin Apart has two bedrooms for four to six with a bus stop listed at 25 metres, and Aparthotel Panorama is an apartment hotel with little confirmed so far. Chalet Rustika I in Wagrain and Chalet Kleinbretteneben in Großarl are each listed for up to 12, and Chalet Wildberg in Großarl for six. See all of them among the chalets in Ski amadé.

In Mühlbach am Hochkönig, Almchalet Dorfblick sleeps 12 in three bedrooms with a fireplace, and pets are confirmed, as at the other dog-friendly chalets on the site. The Wildkogel-Arena above Neukirchen and Bramberg is the smallest area here at 75 km, with about 47 per cent easy runs and a season from December to Easter, on the national family list. Chalet Apartment Leiter in Bramberg sleeps six, with the lift listed 4.1 km away.

See:Chalets in Neukirchen and BrambergSummer chalet holidays in Austria