7 nts in Bad Gastein, Austria - Family offer

Bad Gastein ski holidays

With hot springs and grand hotels, this isn’t your typical Austrian ski resort.

• Lots of long, wide pistes and tree-lined trails to keep you cruising all week.
• Unwind in the mineral-rich waters of the Felsentherme spa.
• Dramatic setting with a gorge and tumbling waterfall.

There’s 198km of top-notch intermediate terrain in the Gasteinertal area. Explore tree-lined valley runs, head higher up for wide-open pistes and work those thigh muscles on long descents, like the 10.5km red from the Hohe Scharte summit. Here on your first ski trip? Get going on the nursery slopes by the gondola, before tackling the nearby blues.

People came to Bad Gastein for the thermal springs long before the ski lifts were built, and the place is packed with spa town charm. Surrounded by snow-covered pines, a deep gorge runs through the middle of town and elegant, Viennese buildings dot the streets. There’s a bustling atmosphere, with everything from cocktail bars to traditional Tyrolean taverns. And as for accommodation, expect high-quality hotels with spacious bedrooms, rather than chalet-style guesthouses.

If you like to mix slope time with spa time, Bad Gastein’s hard to beat – but there’s more to the place than saunas and steam rooms. Whizz over the gorge on a giant zipline and grab your ice picks to scale a frozen waterfall. Over at the rink, you can try ice stock – Austria’s take on curling.

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Skiing in Bad Gastein

Bad Gastein’s in the heart of the 198km Gasteinertal ski area, which is linked by excellent public transport, so getting around is easy. Head to the nursery area at Angertal to find your ski legs. Or if you’re more experienced, long runs like the 10.5km red from the top of the Hohe Scharte are ideal for some high-speed cruising. And on powder days, check out Kreuzkogel for the best snow.

Beginners

Bad Gastein’s got an easy-to-reach nursery slope next to the gondola valley station, but lots of ski school groups skip this and take the free bus to Angertal instead. The beginner area here’s bigger and there’s a better choice of runs to practise on up the mountain – try the gentle blue that snakes through the trees from the top of the chairlift back to the valley.

Intermediates

There’s lots on the menu here for intermediates, with long, sweeping slopes where you can really find your rhythm. Start off with a few laps on the blue above the village, then for afters tackle the run from the Graukogel peak – a tasty, tree-lined descent of over 1,000m. And if you’re feeling adventurous, the black over on the nearby Kreuzkogel mountain is wide, smooth and not too tricky.

Advanced

Make tracks to the Graukogel or Kreuzkokel to test yourself on the toughest terrain in the area. As well as carving down freshly prepared black pistes, you can also tackle a couple of ski routes. These marked runs are left ungroomed all winter long, so get set for bumps, powder and everything in between.

Snowboarding

Boarders can get their freestyle kicks in the small snow park on the Stubnerkogel mountain. And there’s some decent off-piste on days after fresh snowfall too – head for the Kreuzkogel peak to surf through the snowfields near the summit.

Off-piste

On days after fresh snowfall, hire a local guide and head up the Kreuzkogel peak in the Sportgastein area to bag some powder lines. The wide-open slopes below the summit are a great place to build your confidence in the soft stuff.