Zell Am See or soll

hellfireie

I guys im looking to head to austria second week in jan. Zell Am See or Soll or even another resort in austria? im looking for some great skiing some where with a decent enough nightlife. ive seen a few all in deals on crystalski.ie seam fairly alright deal

loobylou

Zell for me, its early season, Zell has a better snow record, plus a nearby glacier.
Difficult choice though.

Fattes

Zell, much better resort and will tick all the boxes.

Soll is a not the greatest resort in the world and the area it is part of is very spread out and can be awkward to get around.

Zell is much more central and has the Glacier just up the road.

I would also have a look at Mayrhofen - Cracking resort with everything you will need

Mmmm_Lemony

I went to both spots last year. And both were awesome. I went to soll with my brother and Zell with my gf.

The Skiwelt (which Soll is part of) has 250km of runs but if the weather is ropey half that will be in pretty bad shape. Plus there are alot of narrow blues that will annoy you if you are on a board. Having said that you won't get bored if conditions are good as there is plenty of runs to chiose from. Unfortunately in soll you have a bit of a treck from the village which can be a nightware when you have been tearing it up on the slopes or the bar at the bottom of the home run.

The fact that zell has a glacier so close is probably the best part thing about it. The views are stunning from the top and there are some really interesting spots. Its hard to say where the best skiing is. Beginners will also have to take the gondola home as the home run is pretty tricky.

In short, good forecast and ski's, and some beginners in your group I would probably go with soll. Otherwise stick with Zell.

bcirl03

I've been to both and Soll would be slightly ahead of Zell Am See, only slightly mind you.

Main reason would be area \ choice of runs in Soll is huge.

However agree with previous poster(s) that the glacier in Zell Am See is fabulous and whilst I didn’t attend ski school my little guy did and he liked Zell Am See better.

Did both resorts independently and worked out a lot cheaper, there was a large group of us so it helped. PM me if you want details on accommodation etc. Enjoy.

I_luv_2_ski!

I'd say Zell, I loved the ski region, and its a lovely town, even if the ski school is a fair bit out of the town, up hill so its better to get a bus, there is a lift in the town as well but seen as the main slope down to it is a black, and the blue is flat for the most part, they cant have the ski school there! the one thing i loved when we stayed in the Hotel Stadwein there, was we literally skied to the hotel door, and our pool was out in the snow!!! It was lovely!!!

Also your ski pass in Zell covers the Glacier as well which you can get the bus to and it has snow all year round!!!

I've been to Zell and the near by town Kaprun (also a lovely spot...and if you want a place to stay theres a lovely place called Haus Patrica, ran by an english couple, they are absoubtly lovely, great breakfast in the morning and theres always a bit of fun in the evenings if your up for it.) three times and a few other places but now I want to go back to Kaprun or Zell again!!!

also I agree with above bcirl03, much cheaper to book all separate, and when you arrive in Salzburg airport, there never seems to be a problem getting a bus to Zell from the tour operators counter and you can sort out your return journey when you get to the town.

hope you get sorted and have a good trip!!!!!!

stephencaso

if i only had a week or 2 this season in Austria I would pick Mayrhofen, has best galcier in Austria Hintertux 40 mins away by bus. Night life is crazy.

For me Zell am See is too far inland from airports.

Soll is linked to nearby resorts of Westendorf and kitzbuhel.

All star ski pass covers lots of mountains in the area. google all star ski pass

Forget crystalski.ie or any travel agent. It is easy to sort out youself for cheaper.

Aerlingus to Munich ( Salzberg only do flights once a week ( Saturday ) and is costly)
Db web site will get u a train from Munich airport to most resorts in Austria for 20 euro
E mail local tourist office for accommodation

Easy and cheaper

hellfireie

thx for the info guys, how much would the transfer to zell am see from salzburg cost?

Fattes

Arrive at airport find a tour operator rep from crystal/ topflight/ thompson and hand him a few euro to let you bail on his weekly transfer bus.

loobylou

One way train fare Salzburg - Zell is €20.10.
You have to get a bus from the airport to the train station though.

olaola

It all depends on the snow really. You could be snookered in Soll if the snow isn't great. And in Zell you'll always have Kaprun no matter what happens.

Fattes

Oh Ok I will biteSoll is a hole with a shockingly bad snow record adn even with the money they have spent on snow cannons it is so low it is a big risk.Its highest lift is 1900 Meters (There are resorts in the Alps where the village is that high) and it runs all the way back to a villge at 700 m or so. You have to get a bus everywhere from what I remember and it gets busy! I would only reccomend it to begineers looking for somwhere with good night life. There is a reason Soll is so cheap! Brought a friend skiing to Switzerland last year who had only ever been to Soll he couldnt beleive what a real resort was like His words

d2ww

Have to agree with Fattes on this one, Mayorhofen/Ziller valley or Bad Gastein are better options. Both have glaciers, and huge ski areas that will keep even the most avid skier busy for the week.

loobylou

Whatever about Solls lack of altitude, the one thing it does not lack is ski area.
It's own area has about 200 km of piste, its now linked by a new lift to WEstendorf, which is in turn linked (with one 5 min bus journey) to Kitzbuhel.
I doubt there is a bigger ski area in Austria and probably gets close to the biggest in France.

Fattes

Saalbach & Ziller valley both have larger ski areas than soll and a huge ski area is bugger all use if there is no snow most expensive ski holiday I ever had was westendorf one feb spent the first day skiing in a mix of cow poo and snow and the rest of the week in the bar

Oh and in comparison to the 3 valleys, paradise ski or pot du soleau the soll area is about 50% smaller with less variety and I hate France Mega Resorts.

loobylou

Saalbach has 200km piste.
Soll (Skiwelt) has 279km.
Kitzbuhel has 170km.
My comparison with France was based, as I stated, on the fact that the Skiwelt and Kitzbuhel are now effectively connected, giving about 450km piste.
Indeed there are plans to further connect up the valley to St. Johann which, the Austrians claim, will make it the largest interconnected ski area in the world.

Fattes

Ziller Valley has 600km all withing lift access or less than a 10 min transfer by train and a Glacier!

As I said I hate French mega resorts as most people wont cover the entire area in a week and any one that could normally spends their time in the Pow not on the slope.

Slope Millage is one of the great farces used by TO to sell holidays to people.

In SOll you have to take a bus to the slope unless they have finished that underpass thing? The connections between westendorf and the ski welt is time you could be spending on snow and will be the same if and when they link st joh

Unlike Saalbach/Zillertal, French Mega resorts where the uptime is realativley small in comparison to the time you get on snow. there’s no linking bus service to rescue you if you stray too far on the lifts or get lost in Skiwelt.

Resorts are all about lift time v slope time the less time spent on the lift / Bus the more time spend on the slope.

Le Grave is rated as one of the greatest resorts in the world and has 3 lifts and about 5 slopes! Kicking Horse has 2 lifts and about 10 slopes that are groomed but is legendary.

Good Snow and varied terrain and a nice village with good night life is what makes a resort worth visiting.

loobylou

Fattes wrote: »

Ziller Valley has 600km all withing lift access or less than a 10 min transfer by train and a Glacier!

As I said I hate French mega resorts as most people wont cover the entire area in a week and any one that could normally spends their time in the Pow not on the slope.

Slope Millage is one of the great farces used by TO to sell holidays to people.

In SOll you have to take a bus to the slope unless they have finished that underpass thing? The connections between westendorf and the ski welt is time you could be spending on snow and will be the same if and when they link st joh

Unlike Saalbach/Zillertal, French Mega resorts where the uptime is realativley small in comparison to the time you get on snow. there’s no linking bus service to rescue you if you stray too far on the lifts or get lost in Skiwelt.

Resorts are all about lift time v slope time the less time spent on the lift / Bus the more time spend on the slope.

Le Grave is rated as one of the greatest resorts in the world and has 3 lifts and about 5 slopes! Kicking Horse has 2 lifts and about 10 slopes that are groomed but is legendary.

Good Snow and varied terrain and a nice village with good night life is what makes a resort worth visiting.

The OP asked for peoples views between Soll and Zell. Most (including me) seemed to prefer Zell.
Soll has many disadvantages, mostly altitude related, but it is simply not true to say that its ski area is limited.
It sounds to me like it has been some time since you visited. There is now a lift/piste connection between Brixen and Westendorf and another lift/piste connection to Kitzbuhel.
I'm not altogether sure what you mean by the underpass in Soll, unless its the one under the main road. Yes, its a 5-10 min walk from the village to the lift, enough to be a nuisance but for me, on balance,better than waiting for a
bus.
Just checked "Where to Ski and Snowboard" about Ziller valley. You are being somewhat disingenuous quoting 600km, that is for the entire length of the valley and is in no way inter connected.

Fattes

It has been a fair aul time but still the snow sucks the resort is overly busy

Ziller Valley has 600km all withing lift access or less than a 10 min transfer by train and a Glacier!

Not really I did say there was a train transfer! and I even gave the time

Ski area is Limited = That allot of the terrain is similar there is very little for advanced skiers tons of similar runs etc.

There is allot of time spent on lifts v skiing to get to the interconnected areas.

hellfireie

so whats my best bet in Austria then guys?? both myself and the mrs are handy enough at skiing and thats what we're there for SKIING!cost is important but you cant put a price on good skiing its only something we get to do once a year so i want somewhere that ticks most of the boxes ( snow, ski area, decent runs, decent night life, reasonable prices for food, etc)

flikflak

If I had to choose right now between the two I would choose Zell. If I had to choose when I arrived at Salzburg airport and the snow was great I would choose Ski Welt (although not Soll). Wouldnt it be great if these things could be predicted

I stayed in Zell in January and was about 200m from the City Express gondola. Was so handy I popped back to the apartment for lunch a few times. Didnt make it over to Kaprun but have been there before and its great that its snow sure.

I_luv_2_ski!

ZELL ZELL ZELL ZELL ZELL ZELL ZELL...I LOVE Zell and Kaprun, hoping to go back this season (but not till after christmas) my mission last time I was there was to ski everyrun between Zell Kaprun and the glacier, I managed to ski them all!!! But I was up on the mountain on the earliest lift, and not down till it was dark!!!!


It was amazing!!!

peggie

i have a bit of interest in this question, i'm getting married in soll and thinking of spending second week in zee am see!

i love soll- i have been there many times a year over last 6 or 7 years, i have always had a great time and the skiing gets better every year as new lifts are added so anyone that hasn't been there in over 4 years is not reviewing it as it is now, it is friendly, relatively cheap and to add to my love of the place i met my hubbie to be there! so it will always be a place i love to visit.

i don't like package holidays so i always book myself
i fly to munich, get the train from the airport to kufstein (will have to change trains at least once so make sure you can carry your bags!)and a taxi from kufstein (20 euro approx) you can find accommodation through many sites- i use www.soell.at, as for budget you can get as little as 25/30 a night pps up to hotel rates of 100, as a rough guide if address has dorf in it its central enough,
as for the walk to the gondla, i'm extremely lazy and i do it - there are lockers up at the middle station so leave the skis and boots there for about a euro a day- short walk then in shoes!!
if you choose there i hope the info helps

if i may ask a question of all the zell lovers- any recommendations for somewhere to stay that is cheap but central in zell?

peg

I_luv_2_ski!

we stayed in a hotel in Zell called Hotel Stadwein which you can literally ski to the door, but apparently there is a huge guest house at the bottom of the City Xpress which is one of the main lifts, owned by an Irish man and his partner...my mam and dad were given a tour and said it is lovely...not sure of the name but i will ask her later when i see her and let you know then as I'm going to look into it for my group as well.

Alternatively if you want to stay in neighboring town Kaprun, your ski pass covers both, I would recommend Haus Patrica, owned by an English couple. They make breakfast in the morning, and they also so evening activities free of charge to the people staying, They are a lovely couple!

Their contact details are:

Haus Patricia
Trish and Steve Barnes
Kellnerfeldstrasse 599
A - 5710 kaprun
Austria
t. 0043 (0) 6547 20083
m: 0043 (0) 664 5169246
fax: 0043 (0) 6547 20178
email: info@hauspatricia.co.uk
www.hauspatricia.co.uk

They are very central, 2mins walk to a ski bus and only bout 5mins to the main lift the Maiskogel. Also very handy to get to Zell or the glacier. Also if you stay here you get a discount in the ski rental around the corner if you need to rent!!!

Hope this helps!!!

I_luv_2_ski!

I_luv_2_ski! wrote: »

my mam and dad were given a tour and said it is lovely...not sure of the name but i will ask her later when i see her and let you know then as I'm going to look into it for my group as well.

The name of it is Haus Aisling and the website is http://www.aislinghouse-austria.com/englishHome.html

seems quite expensive tho, €45 to €50pps per night and a full Irish is extra!!! Cheaper to get a hotel nearly!!!

hellfireie

theres 6 of us now going, im thinking a apartment might be cheaper, anyone recommend one????

I_luv_2_ski!

try zellamsee-kaprun.com you can even put up an ad with what size apartment u want etc and different places will email u an offer!!! its really good!!!

ludermor

Looking to book Soll in feburay, anyone know decent accomodation near the skischool/lifts side of the town?

ownsel

Zell...Definitely Zell. My wife and I have stayed in Haus Aisling for the last 2 years and what a place. The location is fantastic at the bottom of the slope and a 10 sec ski in the morning to get the city express up the mountain. I think it is excellent value for what you get and the couple that run it are fantastic. So helpful and can't do enough to make sure you have a great holiday.
A sessun in "Gunthers" with Eugene is a must followed by a little night skiing but prob not such a good idea for beginners!!!;)
And having the Glacier only a stones throw down the road is fantastic. It's like skiing in a new world over there, 2 completely different experiences in the one holiday.
And the nightlife in Zell is very good, plenty of different restaurants to choose from and all pretty good value.
I couldn't recommend it highly enough as a resort.

Ski in Zell am See

hellfireie wrote: »

I guys im looking to head to austria second week in jan. Zell Am See or Soll or even another resort in austria? im looking for some great skiing some where with a decent enough nightlife. ive seen a few all in deals on crystalski.ie seam fairly alright deal

Hello from Haus Ashling, We have a small guesthouse in Zell am See located 8 minutes walk from the town centre. It is possible to ski in and ski out as we are beside the "piste". We have availability from 8th January for a week in a large family room with a large balcony overlooking the lake. If you are interested please contact us at our Irish number 087-2851216 or you can view our website www.aislinghouse-austria.com Regards, Eugene and Margaret:D

bcirl03

Ski in Zell am See wrote: »

Hello from Haus Ashling, We have a small guesthouse in Zell am See located 8 minutes walk from the town centre. It is possible to ski in and ski out as we are beside the "piste". We have availability from 8th January for a week in a large family room with a large balcony overlooking the lake. If you are interested please contact us at our Irish number 087-2851216 or you can view our website www.aislinghouse-austria.com Regards, Eugene and Margaret:D

Whilst I never stayed in Haus Ashling Eugene has to be one of the most helpful people I have ever met.

Some years ago we stayed in Zell. Unfortunately Haus Ashling was full at the time when we contacted them. However Eugene got us sorted elsewhere, picked us up at the airport, dropped us back, got my son sorted (FOC) for ski's/boots, got us a locker etc etc etc I could go on.

loobylou

Just back from a short break in Zell and we stayed in Haus Ashling after reading about it here.
Just want to add my recommendation to the above. The location is fantastic and Margaret, Eugene and Nell are really excellent hosts. They could'nt do enough for us, including lifts to the skihire shop and the train station.
We'll be back!!