Austria

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.

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).