Best austrian resort?

davmol

I know everyone is going ot have their own opinion on this but id like to hear what people think.Ive been skiing every year for the past 6 years to OZ,france,italy andorra and for the last 4 years my mates and I said 'right this year its gona be austria' but for one reason or another we veered off course and ended up somewhere else.

I know its early for next year but we wanted to gets ideas and stick to a resort in Austria.

The most important factors are nightlife,Cost and ski conditions so if anyone can provide a few sentences on their choice of ski resort and their opinions that'd be just great.

Overflow

As I've done many times here before I highly recommended Saalbach, it's an amazing resort, tons of great slopes, great town with a fantastic nightlife, lots of pubs and clubs to visit, really nice friendly atmosphere everywhere, good restaurants, i can't fault it anywhere.

I hear St.Anton is also amazing but maybe slightly more pricey, im not sure about this, there is a guy from Austria on here who would know best.

av8rirl

I posted this on another forum before last winter... so prices may be out by a euro here or there... but pretty accurate!

_________________________________________
Ever think of Soll (Familienregion WILDER KAISER - Skifahren Tirol - Österreich) in Austria? I'm going out on 17 Jan. You can fly into Salzburg (1hour from Soll, fly with Ryanair) or Munich (1.5hours from Soll, fly with Aer Lingus).

Costs are as follows:
Flight (Salzburg): €83 return
Transfer: Approx €30 each way
Accom: €34pppn B&B in the Mirabell (Mirabell) Its basic but clean and is right in the centre of town. I've stayed there the last 5 years.
Lift Pass: €181.50 (Skiing area: SkiWelt Wilder Kaiser - Brixental - WILDER KAISER - ski resorts Austria, Tyrol) You may be able to get a 10% discount depending on where you stay.
Ski/Boot Hire: €72.50 (SKI, BOARDS & BOOTS BY SKICENTER STOLL) You may get cheaper elsewhere but these have the best range of gear.
Insurance: Approx €15 (JustCover.ie Travel Insurance)

Conditions - I've never had a bad year in the last 6 years that I've been going there... (Livecam - WILDER KAISER - ski resorts Austria, Tyrol)

Nightlife is pretty good and eating out pretty cheap.

Now thats all your homework done for you!
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Hope that was of use to you?? The nightlife really is good altho the bars closed at 3am this year... previous years Buffalos nightclub stayed open till 8am... and yes... there were several days over the years that we pretty much left Buffalos and headed straight for the slopes... not recommended tho!!!

Fattes

davmol St Anton, St Anton, St Anton Not a resort for the faint hearted but an awsome all round place with plenty of challanging slopes Animal night life and close to a few other prety epic resortsSaalbach is awsome but is lacking enought challanging slopes and off piste for the seriously hardcore out there. Great town with amazing nightlife and plenty of variery and slope choice. Super parks if you are into that kind of thing and night skiinkMayrhofen Cheap, cheerful plenty of slopes for everyone and a glacier up the road. Only problem at peak times gondala q's can be a pain in the ass. Great night life (Its Ibiza in the snow) and great locals to show you around again one of the best and well known snow parks in europe.I hear good things about soll but I have never been.

ntlbell

I didn't think ryanair flew to Salzburg i don't see it as an option anymore

Fattes

ntlbell : Ryanair Flights to Salzburg/Innsbruck will start around the second week of December well thats when they normally start

Imposter

Here's my 2c:

Saalbach:
A year or 2 ago I would have no problem recommending this place. However I was there for 3 weekends last year, all out of main season - 1 before christmas and 2 in March/April. Found the attitude in the town bizarre on all 3 weekends! In 2 different bars that i've enjoyed previously, I found the attitudes of the staff less than endearing. A lot of restaurants were closed and any that were open were either packed or empty. In main season they'll all be packed. Accomodation seems to be expensive enough but there are bargains to be found once you know the area (otherwise you might have a long walk to the town). Skiing is super though.

Söll/Westendorf/Skiwelt:
I was there about 5 years ago. The place is full of Irish and English. I don't think i've met an Austrian here who knows of the resort. Apres ski is in bars which is ok and a bit of craic but not typical Austrian apres ski. Skiing is mediocre - runs are a bit short for my liking and I get the feeling i'm on lifts or waiting for lifts all day!

St. Anton:
Not been there but supposed to be excellent if a little pricey.
International crowd - a lot like Saalbach from what I hear.

Obertauern:
Again international crowd. Runs are shortish (not as short as Skiwelt). Snow is almost guaranteed here. Is not cheap either but I suppose similar to Saalbach.

Other resorts to consider:
Iscghl (International), Mayrhofen (lot of irish but international too I think), Sölden (glacier), Zell am See (skiing isn't great)

Other than that you can go to small resorts. Here things will be a lot cheaper and you'll generally have the pistes to yourselves outside of xmas/new year, febuary and weekends. Problem is apres ski and nightlife will also be dead.

loobylou

would echo a lot of above, with some reservations. Soll is quite low altitude so snow conditions can be a bit dodgy. Ditto Westendorf, Kitzbuhel etc.
St Anton ticks all your boxes, bit expensive though. Obertauern also good and snowsure but maybe a bit limited sizewise for a week.
Zell am See would be my recommendation for you, reasonable prices, wide variety of accom. types, accessible (on train line), good nightlife.
Not very high, lifts go up to about 2000m but I have always had good conditions and runs open back to the town on 4/5 visits.
If not, the glacier at Kaprun is a short busride away, included in the lift pass.
Saalbach is also within reasonable distance by local bus, daytrips are no problem, (you,ll need to get a slightly more expensive liftpass for Zell that will also cover here if you want it).
Another not mentioned here but which is next on my list is Ischgl. Not been there yet but am told it's one of Austria's best.

davmol

Thanks alot everyone,excellent descriptions there.I found myself through reading some of the travel agents brochures and visiting resorts previously that they dont give a true reflection of nightlife etc but the above gives me a much clearer idea.

HAve to say st anton sounds like the sh1t so too does soll,the thoughts of falling out of a night club at 8am,putting on the snowboard and hitting the park sounds deadly:pac:, that negates the need for an early morning after a hard night on the tiles....of course its irresponsible and dangerous and i wouldnt entertain that thought;)

thanks again and if anyone has any more suggestions please keep them coming

sarmer

I loved St. Johann, was there a couple of times and it's the best ski resort I've ever been to. Great skiing conditions when I was there, it's quite affordable and good nightlife too.

loobylou

davmol wrote: »

thanks again and if anyone has any more suggestions please keep them coming

Have a look here http://www.wtss.co.uk/index.jsp
The book version is definitely better, well worth the money as you seem to ski a good variety of places.

Another good site http://snowheads.com/ski-forum/

das_uber_thingy

Ischgl all the way....been there twice and no other resort I've visited comes close in any regard.
Very international crowd, pretty expensive, crazy nightlife (The Shatzi bar at the Elisabeth hotel is great).

There are endless slopes and the length of some of them is staggering.

Hands down the best Austrian resort...

olaola

Went to Saalbach last year, and we're just looking to book it again for this year. Great skiing, great apres ski. Can't wait!

Gone Fishin

Hi there,
I've been to Austria 10 times in the last 10 years, so here's my ten pence worth.
St. Johann - Great resort for beginners and families, if you are experienced you could ski it in one day. Good bars though.
Soll - Great Skiing because of the skiwelt but altitude can affect it. Great bars and night life.
St. Anton - Fantastic resort, definitely the priciest in Austria. Great bars, wild night life. Superb skiing, not affected by altitude so much.
Kitzbuhel - Super skiing. Lots and lots of runs. Great bars and night life. Nice restaurants.
Saalbach/Hinterglemm - Wild nightlife, I mean wild! The London Pub in Hinterglemm has pictures of us hanging upside down from a tree which is growing in the bar, drinking pints through straws! Great skiing, plenty of runs. Nice restaurants.
I have been to Andorra, Italy and France too but Austria for me is the number 1 because of the flights and transfers - 2 hour flight and two hour transfer (max), you can't beat that!

moorele

Looking into doing a DIY trip to Austria this year & after looking up a few bits reckon Saalbach will properly cater best to us as we have a few total noobs & a few intermediates. Plus we're all mid 20's so want somewhere with a bit of nightlife.

Looking to find a nice, cheap & cheerful apartment or chalet for 4-6 people in Saalbach. Somewhere central enough. Any suggestions? Looking to go around christmas/new yr which i know will mean it'll be a tad pricey!

daosulli

If you decide on Soll, you defo have to do the Tobogganing at night . . they have a 5K run . . & you gotta get pi$$ed beforehand

olaola

moorele wrote: »

Looking into doing a DIY trip to Austria this year & after looking up a few bits reckon Saalbach will properly cater best to us as we have a few total noobs & a few intermediates. Plus we're all mid 20's so want somewhere with a bit of nightlife.

Looking to find a nice, cheap & cheerful apartment or chalet for 4-6 people in Saalbach. Somewhere central enough. Any suggestions? Looking to go around christmas/new yr which i know will mean it'll be a tad pricey!

http://www.skischule-saalbach.at/appartements/html/en/frameset_en.htm

We nearly booked this last year, looks nice. And good location. They own the skischool too, and do a good deal with the Intersports around town (school + rental is €224 for the week)

petethedrummer

My Austrian Experiences.

Soll: Low altitude ruined or holiday. When we got there the place was green, nearly cried. Confined to a few runs. It opened up on the last day and it looked good. Apres ski was good. LOADS of Irish and English.

Sallbaach: Good resort, Good runs, Night-life was very dull.

St. Anton: Went last year. There was an abundance of snow, maybe even too much. Difficult runs, not for the beginner. Great night life. Probably the best apres-ski I've experienced (well joint top with Val' D'isere). Easy to organise your own holiday. Probably expensive, but I try not to track my spending on holidays.

av8rirl

daosulli wrote: »

If you decide on Soll, you defo have to do the Tobogganing at night . . they have a 5K run . . & you gotta get pi$$ed beforehand

To add to that... if you decide to go to Soll and then decide to do the tobogaganing at night and decide to get pi$$ed beforehand...

THEN

YOU HAVE TO bring a few small bottles of jagermeister AND do the red run beside the toboggan run... wait till the last minute to do it so they can't chuck you off the slopes! You'll have the best craic ever!

av8rirl

petethedrummer wrote: »

My Austrian Experiences.

Soll: Low altitude ruined or holiday. When we got there the place was green, nearly cried. Confined to a few runs. It opened up on the last day and it looked good. Apres ski was good. LOADS of Irish and English.

Were you there in early 2007? If so then thats not a good representative of Soll. All of Europe suffered with lack of snow then... not just Soll. I was there that year and it wasn't great... but I've been there about 4 times before that and twice since and its been A1

RoadRunner

Went to St Anton for two weeks in Jan '08. Nightlife was great. Off piste was great. But flatlight for most of the two weeks was a pain. The slopes got very choppy everywhere and weren't fun. Also we had to catch a bus to the slopes which I hated. The beginner in the group had a very difficult time.

Epic off piste and great nightlife is what I'll remember it for.

I'm thinking of going to Sallbach from between the 9th -15th Jan this year. Any opinions on how packed it will be at that time of year?

olaola

Hey Roadrunner!

We've just booked Saalbach for the 9-16th Jan. (got some great prices with Ryanair) We were there the same week last year. Apres ski is busy, but later on in the night is quiet enough. We stay in hotel with half board, so we usually head out for a few (or maybe more…) after the grub.
Some places busier than others (a few were jammers, others had tumbleweed), and we're away with a group so we make our own fun as such!

karmapolly

hi av8ril,
could u let me know where u booked transfers for soll please

Nemeziss

Pension Enzian in Saalbach www.pensionenzian.com

I have booked it for March. Haven't been there before but if you look on trip adviser it has some amazing reviews. Contact them for the quote
We paid 716 euros per room (£320 per person). It's double ensuit, half-board, possible ski in and out. 3 min to the center


Anyone know what the snow is usually like in the second week of March in Saalbach?

RoadRunner

Hi Olaola. I'll be on the same flights as you I'm going to Saalbach 9-16th (Staying in Hotel Panther). Maybe I'll run into you out there.

Fattes

RoadRunner,
Great choice of hotel. We stayed there a few years ago barman is a young German guy really cool and as long as you are drinking he will serve you.

Great options in the morning to you can either start in front of (My personal fav) or behind the hotel and it is so close to everyhting

av8rirl

karmapolly wrote: »

hi av8ril,
could u let me know where u booked transfers for soll please

I used www.bahn.de for the transfers... good ol' german trains! I haven't booked the tickets yet as I'm waiting on two more friends to make up their mind on whether or not they are going... if they are, we'll book a car which will make it a good bit cheaper!

You can always email or phone the place you are staying and they are normally happy to organise transfers for you... generally its only worthwhile if there are more than 4 people.

The train from Munich to Kufstein (about 10mins Soll) is only about 90mins and it is thru some nice countryside.

olaola

RoadRunner wrote: »

Hi Olaola. I'll be on the same flights as you I'm going to Saalbach 9-16th (Staying in Hotel Panther). Maybe I'll run into you out there.

MICK you twat. It's Orla.

RoadRunner

olaola wrote: »

MICK you twat. It's Orla.

ORLA you spa. Dammit I gotta figure out what people's names are on this thing. Well I guess I will see you over there after all :rolleyes:

GSpoon

Really want to go to Austria in Feb/March (My first ski trip;))... Sallbach sounds great but the package prices are insane... Would really like to do a DIY ski trip... checked out flights with ryanair (€270 for 2 to Salzbourg) and Hotel Panther sounds good ... Would really appreciate if anyone has any recommendations/info re travelling to the resort, booking ski gear, lift passes ??

Nemeziss

It's really straight forward to book lift passes and transfer.

It's good to check flight prices from different airports with Skyscanner
We booked a ticket with easy jet from Gatwick for 2 for total of £213

Here is the link to book the lift passes and here the link for the transfers from Salzburg or Munich airport.

If you are on a budget there is a public bus going from Salzburg to Saalbach - postbus. The journey is a little bit over two hours.

As for the ski gear there is plenty of online shop rentals.
Check the skiset website. They are the cheapest I have found so far.

35190

Was in saalbach this year - dig trip. Aer lingus 200 (ryanair are greedy f*ckers), shuttle to resort (50), and stayed in haus eder Steiner (350 pp) - these are really quality, spacious 2 bed apts With a bar downstairs - about 50 mtrs from town. Would recommend for the diy'rs.

olaola

GSpoon wrote: »

Really want to go to Austria in Feb/March (My first ski trip;))... Sallbach sounds great but the package prices are insane... Would really like to do a DIY ski trip... checked out flights with ryanair (€270 for 2 to Salzbourg) and Hotel Panther sounds good ... Would really appreciate if anyone has any recommendations/info re travelling to the resort, booking ski gear, lift passes ??

You can get the train to Zell am See (www.oebb.at or www.bahn.de) and then there is a bus (postbus) twice an hour from Zell to Saalbach - takes about 30 mins. You can get your skipasses there in most ski shops. Prices are all the same, so it doesn't matter where/when you buy them.
Some skischools have deals with the rental places - http://www.saalbach.com/en/winter/skicircus/ski-snowboardschools/ski-snowboardschools.html These are very good value. You usually have to pay cash to get the deals.

Fattes

For rentals there are 2 intersport shops in the village both with great service and they also sell lift passes one stop shop and all that. They both open late on Sat so you can get set up. Intersport Bauer is right across from the Panther aswell

http://secure.intersportrent.at/buchung/quickinfo.php?lang=en&season=w&shop_id=7

olaola

This skischool http://www.skischule-saalbach.at/skischule2/html/en/index.asp
And this
http://www.schischule-hinterholzer.at/en/frameset_en.htm

Do their deals with Intersport Bauer.