Bad Gastein

De_man

anyone got opinions on Bad Gastein? it's one of the few places i haven't
been?
don't mind about onpiste, really interested in off-piste (nice spots);)

restaurants etc

tks in advance

EileenG

I will be following this thread with interest, my sister is going there next month.

Do you have accommodation sorted out?

searay

I was in the neighbouring resort bad hofgastein and the skiing was great, but the nightlife was probably quieter than bad gastein. Only an hour for Salzburg though. The today fm crew went to Bad Gastein for their last 2 annual trips so it must be good. There are some great youtube clips of the trip particularly one of the "rossie lads" which is a must see. Mario rosenstock also did some clips so check them out.

sheesh

Was there a couple of years ago there is a fancy restaurant, a mexican, and italian and then a pretty good kebap shop one or 2 apres ski places that were pretty busy the silver bullet served good burger and chip if you are the level of the elizabeth park hotel (lower level) you can get up to the level of the ski lift by using the lift in the multi story car park.
Easy to get a train from Salzburg.

EileenG

Can you recommend anywhere to stay? My sister is looking for a B&B sort of place.

The hostel there called Eurohostel has rooms that would give you a b+b experience.
Otherwise ring the local tourist office and see what is available - best way to do it. I stayed in a place called Orangein or something like that which was right across from the train station and skilift - very handy. Make sure that you are staying near the skilift as it's very hilly in the town.
The skiing down at Dorfgastein is brilliant (take the skibus).

There's a nice swedish run resto in the town. couple of good austrian ones too. casino is worth a visit - good cocktails. Really good hot baths / sauna place in the middle of the town too.
Also check out the tobogganing - really good craic.

pubs - silver bullet (ok), club across the road from it too. other bar near there was the main apres ski bar - can't rem the name of it. worth going to the plush hotel in the centre of the town for a relaxed drink too.

EileenG

Thanks, I'll tell her all you've said.

EileenG

Well, my sister just got back last night, had a good time, excellent snow. However, she said that Val Cenis looked really good in comparison. There was a lot of bussing, and some of her group had children in ski school, so they barely got in a decent run before they had to rush back to collect them.

Being Irish, she didn't take advantage of the naked saunas and thermal spas, but enjoyed the stories about the guy who roasted his balls every time. The drink was cheap and the food was excellent.

She had high praise for the tourist office. After looking on the Internet and not finding accommodation, she sent one e-mail to the tourist office and got back relies from ten different hotets and pensions. She got a four star hotel with a massive room for 65 euro a night.

loobylou

Nothing wrong with naked saunas, when in Rome etc. Not sure about roasted balls though.
Seriously though, a lot (most?) Austrian resort tourist office's have a facility whereby you give them your requirements and email and they post them amongst them their members. The accomodation providers will contact you direct with their offer for your business.

EileenG

No problem with naked saunas myself, but I do understand why she doesn't want to get naked in front of her next door neighbour who also happens to be her doctor.

MadsL

I do understand why she doesn't want to get naked in front of her next door neighbour who also happens to be her doctor.

???

...baffled...

he's her DOCTOR ffs, I'm sure he's seen most of her..:rolleyes:

Back on Topic ... The sauna complex in Bad Hofgastein is amazing, great ski area - tons of off-piste opportunities, relatively cheap, not a bad snow-park (finally!) and lots of variety in the types of pistes. There's a bit of busing around, but two of the four ski areas are interconnected and sportgastien is well worth the longish bus ride (15-20 min from Bad Hofgastein, 10min from Bad Gastien) if you catch it with a decent powder dump - the off-piste there is sublime.

I had the pleasure this time last year of thigh-deep powder tree runs at Graugogel where I think I saw about six people in an afternoon.

Regarding resorts.

Bad Gastein - busiest, more of a town than a ski village. Very hilly, bit of a kerfuffle to get on the slopes, but the free skibus service is good

Bad Hofgastein - very quiet, fundamentally a 'Kur' (cure) town. The Alpentherme is this big attraction and is amazing. Great connections for lifts and the skibus network, 5-10 minute walk from the centre of town to the funicular to the slopes, or skibuses to other resorts. However do not come if you want to party as this part of Gastein is very, very, very quiet in the evenings.

Dorfgastein - pretty, small, fairly quiet ski village. Furtherest from rest of resorts, but ski area is very good and the off-piste here is great fun.


A hint on transfers, it's possible to take the train from Salzburg to Bad Gastein/Bad Hofgastein/Dorfgastein - worth getting a taxi to Salzburg Railway station and then just booking a taxi to meet the train at the other end.

Private transfers are expensive and a taxi from Salzburg airport will easily run over €100. There's also a bus service (Postbus) from the airport directly-ish (2 hours) to the centre of the ski resorts.

www.OBB.at has details of both.

me... I'll be in Bad Hof in six days!!

EileenG

MadsL wrote: »

???

...baffled...

he's her DOCTOR ffs, I'm sure he's seen most of her..:rolleyes:

Nah, he gets to see her ingrowing toenail and prescribe her migraine tablets, he does not get to see anything embarrassing. That's what Well Women clinics are for.