Where in Austria for first time skiing?

R0C

Looking for your recommendations.

Looking at flying to Salzburg on 24th Dec, returning to Ireland January 2nd.

Two people. Haven't been skiing before so would need somewhere with beginner's slopes and lessons. Will also have to rent the equipment.

Looking to spend total max of 2,000 euro for the two of us, everything included, if possible. Is that doable in Austria?

Not very into nightclubs but wouldn't mind somewhere with a bit of life, a few pubs and restaurants would be great.

I was looking at crystalski website, but all of their package deals are working out very expensive, with transfers to the resort working out at 300 to 400 euro on a lot of destinations! We never normally do the package thing, preferring to arrange it ourselves.

What do you recommend when it comes to a first time ski holiday? The package deals only last for a max of 7 nights also where I'd like to do 10 days minimum.

What resort/destination would you recommend?

Thanks

Kmc123

R0C wrote: »

Looking for your recommendations.

Looking at flying to Salzburg on 24th Dec, returning to Ireland January 2nd.

Two people. Haven't been skiing before so would need somewhere with beginner's slopes and lessons. Will also have to rent the equipment.

Looking to spend total max of 2,000 euro for the two of us, everything included, if possible. Is that doable in Austria?

Not very into nightclubs but wouldn't mind somewhere with a bit of life, a few pubs and restaurants would be great.

I was looking at crystalski website, but all of their package deals are working out very expensive, with transfers to the resort working out at 300 to 400 euro on a lot of destinations! We never normally do the package thing, preferring to arrange it ourselves.

What do you recommend when it comes to a first time ski holiday? The package deals only last for a max of 7 nights also where I'd like to do 10 days minimum.

What resort/destination would you recommend?

Thanks

I would recommend Soll for beginners anytime we went we had great fun and snow was always good however I have heard of it being hit and miss, especially around Xmas time!! The runs in soll are well catered towards beginners/ intermediates IMO so you should have no problems and the teaching is excellent!!

Doing the DIY route I find time consuming but you will find some really good deals!! Best of luck!!

dylbert

I'm going to Soll with a group of freinds this year. We booked it through Crystal Ski, a few are doing the First Time Snowboarder Package which costs 369 euro, it includes lift pass, equipment and 5 days of lessons, I'd say the First Time Skier package is around the same price.

trashcan

I've been to Westendorf for the past three years and would recommend it highly, great for beginners and the option to go to red and blue slopes as you progress. Lovely little village too. Hoping to head there again in February.

R0C

Thanks guys. I'm going to look into Soll and Westendorf and may come back with further questions. I had been researching St. Anton to find that pretty much every single form of accommodation is fully booked out! Apart from renting a chalet 26km outside the town, there are no rooms left anywhere.

Might have better luck with one of these other destinations.

Overflow

R0C wrote: »

Thanks guy. I'm going to look into Soll and Westendorf and may come back with further questions. I had been researching St. Anton to find that pretty much every single form of accommodation is fully booked out! Apart from renting a chalet 26km outside the town, there are no rooms left anywhere.

Might have better luck with one of these other destinations.

I'm not surprised at all that everything is booked out, its pretty late in the year to be booking a ski holiday. You'll find that most places are booked out now, well the best spots anyway, close to the ski lifts/town center, but I'm sure you will find a place somewhere. I usually book my holiday in July/Aug.

Anyway with that said, I can highly recommend Saalbach as i always do on here. 1hr 30mins from Salzburg airport. Huge resort where you can ski straight from the mountain down into the town. The town itself is lovely, lots of great lively bars and restaurants. You will love the place, perfect for beginners too.

R0C

Thanks for your recommendation, I'll check that one out too.

I am finding some accommodation in Westendorf. I notice that a lot of the hotels aren't using hotels.com to list their accommodation.

This was a very last minute decision, we travel regularly and due to our jobs we usually can't plan more than a week or two ahead. We were about to book a trip to Egypt but the events of the weekend made that a little less appealing.

Hopefully we'll find a room somewhere in Austria!

R0C

There are some accommodation options in Westendorf, Soll and Saalbach, which is great. But looking at webcams, I'm not seeing any snow! Just lots of green rolling valleys.

I'm finding it hard to go ahead and book anything without being sure of snow.

I know it's early yet, but... for those of you who've been before, what do you reckon? I know some places have snow making facilities, but I'll have to do more research to see which resorts they are.

cailinoBAC

We went to Kitzbuehel a few years ago (flew into Salzburg and out of Munich), it was a really busy week but we managed to find accommodation. If you contact the tourist office they will send you all the info, a lot of places don't advertise online and some didn't even have email addresses. If you're prepared to call around you'll find something.

Fattes

Avoid the ski welt there is no snow. It is a really bad snow year SO FAR an the Christmas season is going to be really badly hit. I twill get better but the high temps at low altitudes will cause problems

However watch the price of lessons and ski related stuff hotels rentals plummet and great deals appear.

Look at Solden, Mayrhofen (Hintertux), and Zell em Zee (Kaprun) All of them have skiing starting above 1,000 meters and have glaciers as back ups if you are stuck.

Snow is forecast across europe from the middle of this week but, it will take a solid 4 weeks to get the resorts up to scratch.

As a beginner you wont need allot of snow, but in the ski welt (Soll,Westendorf) the beginner slopes are lower down the resort.

R0C

Thanks for the advice!

I'll contact the tourist office today, and start making calls. I noticed on other forums that there was accommodation recommended that didn't have websites.

I see 8cm of snow forecast for Lech and St Anton for Friday, with 1cm for the following days. Hopefully it starts snowing fast!

Got cheap flights out booked now, so hoping to get the rest sorted out in the next day or two.

sheesh

Westendorf if only for its very good beginner slope which is practically in the town they also have a very long blue slope that would be nice if you get snow.

Transfers slazburg? have a look at getting a train to worgl and then getting a taxi from there.