Destination
Austria
The warmest welcome in the Alps. Hearty food, proper apres, ski schools that have been teaching for generations, and villages that feel genuinely lived-in.
Austria gets less attention than France or Switzerland for family ski holidays, and we have never quite understood why. The transfers from Innsbruck or Salzburg are often shorter than from Geneva, and the experience on the ground is, in our view, more relaxing. Austrian ski resorts deliver the warmest welcome in the Alps: hearty food, properly run ski schools, and villages that genuinely feel lived-in rather than purpose-built.
The resorts
Where to ski in Austria
Our selected resorts in Austria, each with their own character and pace.
Lech
The most refined ski village in Austria. Our top pick for families with younger children: discreet luxury, immaculate slopes, exceptional ski school.
St Anton
The cradle of Alpine skiing, with serious terrain and a ski school heritage going back to Hannes Schneider in the 1920s. Far more family-friendly than its reputation suggests.
Why Austria works for family ski holidays
Villages like Lech, Alpbach, and Söll are properly old (some of them medieval), the architecture is uniformly attractive, and the local food culture is alive in a way that some of the bigger French resorts have lost. The ski schools in particular deserve their international reputation: Austria was effectively the birthplace of modern ski instruction in the 1920s, and the techniques developed by Hannes Schneider at St Anton are still taught in resorts around the world today.
For families with younger children, Austria's ski schools are arguably its biggest single asset. Lessons start at slightly more civilised times than the French equivalents, instructors typically have more years of experience, and the pace is gentler. The Austrian approach to après-ski is also genuinely different from the French version: families and groups mix easily, the atmosphere is sociable rather than rowdy, and most resorts wind down by mid-evening.
The Arlberg: One of the great ski areas in Europe
The Arlberg lift pass covers Lech, St Anton, St Christoph, Zürs, Stuben, and Warth-Schröcken: 305km of linked pistes shared across one of the most snowsure areas in the Alps. You can ski between Lech and St Anton in a day via the Flexen chairlift, taking in 30km of terrain in a single route known as the "Run of Fame". For families with mixed abilities, this scale is a massive bonus: confident skiers can range widely while beginners stay closer to base.
The Arlberg also has the best on-mountain dining in Austria. Lunches at the Goldener Berg in Oberlech, the Verwallstube above St Anton, or the Rud-Alpe near Lech are properly cooked, properly served, and the kind of meal you'd plan a day around.
The best ski resorts in Austria for families: Our picks
Our two starting recommendations offer the quintessential Austrian ski holiday experience:
- Lech as the most refined ski village in Austria, and probably our top pick for families with younger children. Discreet luxury, immaculate slopes, and the Skischule Lech, which has been teaching since the 1920s.
- St Anton for slightly older or more confident families who want serious terrain and the most legendary après scene in the Alps. More family-friendly than its reputation suggests, and still home to one of Europe's best ski schools.
Each resort guide goes into detail on the ski area, the hotels we recommend, the dining highlights, and the practical considerations (transfers, season dates, what to know before you go).
Common questions
Austria: the questions families ask
Is Austria good for families and beginners?
Austria is one of the most family-friendly skiing nations in the Alps, and it's a particularly strong choice for first-timers. It's known for outstanding ski schools, patient and encouraging instruction, and a warm village welcome that puts nervous children, and nervous parents, at ease. Many resorts have excellent nursery areas and gentle progression slopes, so families finding their feet on snow are in good hands.
When is the best time for a family ski holiday in Austria?
December to April, with January and the non-peak weeks of March offering the happiest balance of good snow, manageable crowds and gentler prices. The high-altitude Arlberg resorts, St. Anton among them, are some of the snowier spots in the Alps and hold up well into late winter, so a March family trip is rarely a gamble on conditions.
Does Austria offer good value for families?
It's one of the strongest-value options in the Alps, comparing well with France and considerably less than Switzerland, particularly on dining and the famously generous Austrian hospitality. The half-board hotel tradition, where evening meals are included, makes family budgeting refreshingly straightforward and removes the nightly question of where to feed everyone. For families wanting quality without Swiss-level prices, Austria is often the sweet spot.
Is the après-ski a problem if we're travelling with children?
Not at all, though it's worth understanding. Austria has the liveliest après reputation in the Alps, and St. Anton's slope-side bars are legendary, but it spans the full range, and families easily enjoy the warmth and atmosphere while steering around the rowdier corners. Plenty of Austrian resorts are quiet, gentle and entirely focused on families; we can point you to those if a boisterous scene isn't what you're after.
How do we get to the Austrian Alps with children?
Innsbruck is the gateway to the Arlberg, with St. Anton little over an hour away by road; Zurich and Munich are larger alternatives with wider flight choice. A particular Austrian advantage for families is the rail network: St. Anton's station is a short walk from the village centre, which can make the train a genuinely relaxing way to arrive without a long mountain-road transfer at the end of a travel day.