A medieval town under the most famous downhill in the world. Four ski days and one town day, with the snow question answered honestly.
Kitzbühel got its city rights from a Bavarian duke in 1271 and belonged to Bavaria until 1504, a border town on the trade road to the south. It was a summer resort first. In the early 1890s the hotel pioneer Franz Reisch skied down the Kitzbüheler Horn (the year is given as both 1892 and 1893), and the town went on to become one of the first winter sports destinations in Austria. The Hahnenkammbahn opened in 1928, the first ski race on the Hahnenkamm was held in 1931, and since 1967 the Hahnenkamm Races have been part of the World Cup, on the Streif, a course the organizers call one of the hardest downhills in the world.
What the Streif doesn't tell you is that Kitzbühel is a small, old and walkable town of 8,284 people, with a pedestrian old town, a church tower of 48 m, a good Alpine painter's museum and a lake you can skate on. It is also low. The ski area runs from about 800 to 2,000 m, and a plan has to be honest about it: snow is made and managed here, the Horn runs for less of the winter than the rest, and the best snow is on the far side at Resterhöhe. That is why this guide has four ski days on four different mountains, and a town day that doesn't need snow at all.
Day one is the Hahnenkamm and the Streif, day two the Fleckalm and Pengelstein side with a toboggan run at night, day three the 3S cable car to Jochberg and Resterhöhe, day four the separate Kitzbüheler Horn, and day five the old town, the museum and the Schwarzsee. Start on a Monday, arriving Sunday evening: the museum is open on Friday afternoon, and the restaurants named here were open on the evenings they are given in autumn, so confirm their winter hours. For the country as a whole see Austria, and for the big cities you may fly into, 5 Days in Innsbruck and 5 Days in Salzburg.
Every stop from the plan below, colored by day. Pick a day to see its route.
Lift pass and the Hahnenkammbahn, the Streif from the start house to the finish, lunch on the course and a farmhouse dinner under the mountain.
The Fleckalmbahn, the sunny runs to Pengelstein, lunch at the Sonnenrast, the free train from Kirchberg and an evening on the Gaisberg toboggan run.
Across the valley on the 3S cable car, the Wagstätt and Resterhöhe slopes with the best snow, a view of the Hohe Tauern and dinner at Das Reisch.
The separate Horn mountain, with the gondolas, the sunrise start, the summit and the Alpenhaus, and dinner in the old town.
A walk through the medieval gate, the street of the two churches, a painter's museum in a city-wall tower, a lake that freezes and dinner above it.
Kitzbühel is a wooded, mostly easy-to-medium ski area at a low altitude, with one very famous exception. The runs lie between about 800 and 2,000 m, so snow is not guaranteed by height. In return you get 233 km of pistes and marked ski routes, 58 lifts, more than 40 huts, free practice lifts in the valley and a medieval town at the foot of the lifts. It suits intermediates best, beginners are well looked after, and good skiers have 20 km of black runs plus the Streif. For a higher and bigger area, see 5 Days in St. Anton am Arlberg, or the best ski resorts in Europe.
| 1 day, adult, 20 Dec to 13 Mar | 83 EUR |
|---|---|
| 1 day, adult, 6-19 Dec and 14-29 Mar | 76 EUR |
| 1 day, adult, to 5 Dec and from 30 Mar | 69 EUR |
| 1 day from 12:00, adult, 20 Dec to 13 Mar | 73 EUR |
| 4 days in a row, adult, 20 Dec to 13 Mar (this plan) | 307 EUR |
| 5 days in a row, adult, 20 Dec to 13 Mar | 366 EUR |
| 1 day, youth born 2008-2010, 20 Dec to 13 Mar | 62.50 EUR |
| 1 day, child born 2011-2020, 20 Dec to 13 Mar | 41.50 EUR |
Operator prices for 2026/27, subject to change. A 4-day pass costs 255 EUR to 5 Dec and from 30 Mar, and 281 EUR in the weeks between. Children born 2021 or later ski free. The card costs 5 EUR.
Source: Dates, 2026/27 prices, practice lifts and schools are from KitzSki, the operator. The 233 km and 58 lifts are from the tourist board; the split by difficulty and the 800 to 2,000 m range are from skiresort.info. Checked 2026-10-12
A first day on the home mountain, with the Streif as the thread. Order your lift card online before you travel, because a personalised card comes by post. Then spend the day on and around the most famous race course in skiing.
Everything starts at Kitzbühel Hahnenkamm, the small station beside the valley station of the Hahnenkammbahn. The old town is a few minutes away on foot.
KitzSki sells three price bands for 2026/27. A day costs 83 EUR from 20 December to 13 March, 76 EUR in the weeks around it and 69 EUR at the start and end of the season; four days in a row cost 307 EUR in the dearest weeks. The lift company lists seven rental shops at the Hahnenkammbahn, among them Intersport Kitzsport, Sport Pepi and Hervis.
The Hahnenkammbahn is older than the resort's fame. It opened quietly in March 1928 as a pendulum cable car with two cabins for 18 people and a 12-minute ride, and the lift company, Bergbahn AG Kitzbühel, was founded the same year to run it. The painter Alfons Walde designed its station buildings.
Today it is a gondola with six-seat cabins, rebuilt in 1996 inside the old stations. The cabins carry the names and flags of Hahnenkamm winners, and one of the old cabins hangs in the valley station.
From the top station it's a short walk to the Streif start house. Racers launch from 1,665 m and finish 860 m lower and 3,312 m later, on a course that averages 27% and reaches 85% at the Mausefalle (the "mousetrap"), which they hit after 8.5 seconds. The course record is 1 minute 51.58 seconds, set by Fritz Strobl in 1997.
For skiers there is the Streif Family Run, Run 21, which runs beside the course and gives views of the Mausefalle, the Alte Schneise and the Hausbergkante. The Steilhang has had a bypass for ordinary skiers since 1974. In summer the same ground is the Streif Hike.
The Hocheckhütte stands right on the Streif course, in the middle of the Hahnenkamm ski area, and you reach it with the Hahnenkammbahn. Order what the Tyrol eats on a mountain: a Tiroler Gröstl, a pan of fried potato, beef or pork, bacon and onion, usually with a fried egg, or Kaspressknödel, flat cheese dumplings fried in butter. For a farmhouse inn instead, the Melkalm on the Hahnenkamm is a family business in its fourth generation.
Ski the Streif Family Run down to the finish area. Run 21 is also called the Parallel Streif, and the sections it runs beside are the ones you'll hear in every Saturday broadcast: the Hausbergkante, the Zielschuss, where racers reach up to 140 km/h, and the Zielsprung. You are on the same hill at a different speed.
The finish area, with the Zielhaus, looks completely different in January, when it becomes a stadium. Beside it, children can try the Kitz Ministreif, a kids' race course with its own Mausefalle and Steilhang, reached with the free Rasmusleiten or Ministreif practice lifts.
The 87th Hahnenkamm Races run from 18 to 24 January 2027. Training is Tuesday to Thursday and free, the Super-G is on Friday 22 January, the downhill on Saturday 23 January at 11:30 and the slalom on Sunday 24 January. Standing tickets cost 35 EUR on Friday and Sunday and 45 EUR on Saturday, children born 2009 or later get in free, and nothing is sold on site.
For a visitor that means: park at the free lots in Oberndorf or Kirchberg and take the shuttle train, because the Hahnenkammbahn and Ganslern car parks are closed, and be parked by 9:00 on Saturday. Skiing goes on in the whole area, with waiting times at the Hahnenkammbahn.
Verdict: go for the Saturday downhill if the spectacle is the point and book lodging and tickets early. If you came to ski, pick another week, because the Streif, the Ganslern and the main lift are the worst-hit parts of day one.
The Wirtshaus zum Rehkitz is a farmhouse more than 200 years old on the Bichlalm, with a terrace that looks across at the Hahnenkamm, so you can see what you skied. Chef Horst Holzer cooks regional dishes, and in autumn it was open every day from 10:00 to midnight. Winter hours are not published yet, so phone before you go up.
City bus 1 runs from the Hahnenkamm station to Am Rehbühel, the stop at the inn, but the 2025/26 timetable has its last bus up in the late afternoon, so plan a taxi for the evening.
Today you cross the Hahnenkamm ridge to the Kirchberg side and ride the train home. The day ends on the Gaisberg toboggan run, so check its operating days on the lift company's page before you plan dinner.
The Fleckalmbahn is the second way into the ski area, about 4 km west of the old town, near Reith. It's a gondola with ten-seat cabins and an underground car park at the valley station, and the organizers recommend it in race week. A local bus goes from Reith to the valley station.
The Fleckalm has a place in the story, too. In the first Hahnenkamm race, on 28 and 29 March 1931, the downhill came down this side, from the Ehrenbachhöhe over the upper and lower Fleckalm to Klausen, and Ferdinand Friedensbacher won it. The race was held in late March on purpose, to show that skiing was still possible when spring had come to the other resorts.
From the Fleckalm, ski south to the Steinbergkogel chairlift. The Griesalm, Run 23, is one of the runs the resort lists for athletic and very good skiers. If it is too much, the piste map shows alternatives: 54% of the piste kilometers are blue.
The Sonnenrast stands at the top station of the Fleckalmbahn, and the resort calls it a central meeting place with a large sun terrace, handy for groups with different levels. A group that splits in the morning can meet here at noon.
Order Käsespätzle (soft egg noodles layered with mountain cheese and fried onions) or a dumpling soup, then Apfelstrudel. If the wind is cold, finish with a Jagertee, a hot drink of black tea and Austrian rum.
Pengelstein is the southern end of the Kitzbühel and Kirchberg side, where the 3S cable car starts tomorrow. Run 27a, Brunn, is on the resort's list of runs popular with advanced skiers, and the Brunn chair brings you back up. Run 66, the JagaWurz, is on the same list.
Leave time to get down; the lift company lists a bus, line 4826, between Pengelstein and the KiWest gondola on the Kirchberg side.
Kirchberg in Tirol is the neighbor village on the Hahnenkamm's other side, and the resort lists the Maierlbahn gondola as one of its feeder lifts. Ski down to the valley on the last run of the day and walk to the station.
Here the train does the work for you. With a valid ticket, the local train is free in ski clothes until 18:00, so you ride back to the Hahnenkamm station, 6 km east, without a bus or a taxi.
The Gaisberg toboggan run is 3,500 m long, with 435 m of vertical, and carries the seal of quality for natural toboggan runs. A chairlift takes you up and you slide down.
The evening ticket is valid from 6:00 to 8:30 pm and costs 29 EUR for an adult. The KitzSki Card, the SuperSkiCard Premium and the Snow Card Tirol include the daytime lift,. Toboggans can be rented at the valley station in Kirchberg, and two huts, the Gasthaus Obergaisberg and the Gaisbergstüberl, are on the mountain.
The big day: you ski from the Hahnenkamm to Pengelstein, cross the Saukasergraben on the 3S and spend the afternoon on the far side. This works only while the full connection is open, from 11 December to 29 March; outside those dates swap today for another Hahnenkamm-Fleckalm-Pengelstein day. Watch the clock: the last ride back over the 3S decides the end of the afternoon.
Before the 3S opened in January 2005, only a bus joined the two ski areas. The cable car now crosses the Saukasergraben in one jump: 3,642 m in nine minutes, with cabins up to 400 m above the ground and a single 80 m pylon, 2,507 m from the station. Doppelmayr built it, it cost 13.5 million EUR, and each cabin holds 30 people.
It looks more dramatic than it feels, because the change in height is only 137 m. Cabin 1 has a glass floor over the drop. It is a 3S system, a three-rope design that needs just that one pylon.
On the Jochberg side the Wagstättbahn is the valley gondola, and the Wagstätt restaurant stands at its mid-station, where, in the resort's words, you experience the mountain atmosphere with ease. Down in the village there is a free practice lift at Hausleiten.
This stretch links the 3S with the higher runs above Pass Thurn.
Resterhöhe above Pass Thurn is the snow-safe corner of Kitzbühel, according to an independent British ski guide, which says it nearly always has the best snow of the area and comprehensive snowmaking. The lift company's plan fits: the Resterkogel slope opens first, on 6 November 2026, with training on weekdays and the public on weekends. If the Hahnenkamm is thin, come here.
The resort lists Run 75, the Zweitausender, and Run 62, the Bärenbadkogel I, for athletic and very good skiers, and Run 73, the Hartkaser, among the runs popular with advanced skiers; the lifts of those names are on this side. Pass Thurn has a free T-bar practice lift.
The Pinzgablick restaurant at the mountain station of the Panoramabahn looks toward the high mountains of the Hohe Tauern, the range that holds Austria's highest peak, the Grossglockner. It's the best view of the day.
Keep it plain: a Knödel soup, Kasspatzln (the Tyrol's spelling of cheese noodles) or a schnitzel. If the sun is out, a coffee on the terrace is reason enough.
The afternoon ends at the Jochberg station of the 3S, and the clock rules. Lift hours are listed as 8:30 to 16:00 but vary with the day and the season, so find out the real last ride in the morning and be at the station well before it. Then ride back to Pengelstein and ski down to the valley.
If the day went long, bus 850 along the Pass Thurn road is the fallback. The clocks go forward on 28 March 2027, a day before the full connection is planned to end.
Franz Reisch was the hotel pioneer who skied down the Horn in the early 1890s, founded the winter sports association in 1902 and opened the Grand Hotel in 1903, and his portrait hangs on the town hall. The street and the hotel bar Das Reisch carry his name, at Franz-Reisch-Straße 3.
The bar serves a regional menu and café and cake. In autumn it was open on Wednesday from 11:00 to midnight, with a business lunch Tuesday to Friday and a Weisswurst breakfast on Saturdays. Dinner here is the quiet end of a long ski day.
The Horn is its own ski area, and it is not linked to the Hahnenkamm by lifts or runs. To get between the two you go through the valley, so today you stay on one mountain. It's the first area to close: its season is planned for 28 November 2026 to 21 March 2027, eight days before the rest. An independent British guide also calls it the sector that loses its snow first, because it faces south.
The Hornbahn starts about 500 m from the old town. Hornbahn I takes you to the middle station, from where Hornbahn II goes on to the Alpenhaus and the Horngipfelbahn cable car to the summit.
This is where Kitzbühel skiing began. One spring in the early 1890s, Franz Reisch skied down the Horn and found his friend Josef Herold waiting at the edge of a field after hours of worry. Reisch said he ought to give him a clip round the ear for how good it had been. Within a few years more locals and visitors were doing the same.
Early Bird Skiing is the best reason to be on the Horn: on a few set days the Hornbahn sets off before sunrise. The ticket office opens at 6:15, the first gondola leaves at 6:30, and you ski freshly groomed pistes long before regular opening, on the five lifts H1 to H5.
Two huts are open early: the Alpenhaus and the Horn Gipfelhaus, which serves a breakfast buffet for 20 EUR for adults and 10 EUR for children. The dates in winter 2025/26 were three Saturdays, 31 January, 28 February and 14 March. The 2027 dates were not published yet, so check before you plan around them.
The Kitzbüheler Horn is 1,996 m, just short of 2,000, and its summit carries a 102 m broadcasting tower. The lift company sells it as the panorama mountain of the area, and the Horngipfelbahn is the lift that takes you there.
In summer the Alpine Flower Garden at the top of the Horn, reached with Hornbahn I and the Horngipfelbahn, is the best reason to come back without skis. In winter the summit is for a view and a pause.
The Alpenhaus is one of the two huts that open for Early Bird breakfast, and it stands at the top station of Hornbahn II. Eat plainly: soup, a Gröstl, or a Kaiserschmarrn for two.
The Horn also has the Family Park, a fun slope with a magic carpet and drag lifts for first turns. Horn 2000 is the ski school based at the Hornbahnen.
The five lifts are Hornbahn I and II, the Horngipfelbahn, the Raintal gondola and the Brunelle chair. Follow the piste map, and plan a stop at the Alpenhaus.
Be realistic about the snow: in warm weather or late March, spend today on the Hahnenkamm side instead.
The Huberbräu-Stüberl at Vorderstadt 18 is a Tyrolean pub in the middle of the pedestrian street, the kind of place with a regulars' table. The tourist board describes it as unpretentious, lively and regional, and says it takes no reservations and sells food to take away.
In autumn it was open Tuesday to Saturday from 9:00 to 23:00 and closed on Sunday and Monday; winter hours aren't published yet. Beer in this part of Tyrol means Huber Bräu from St. Johann in Tirol, a family brewery that has been in the same family since 1883, so ask for a local one after a day on the Horn.
Today you leave the skis. It's Friday, so the museum is open in winter from 2 pm, and the Seebichl was open daily in autumn. The old town takes a morning, the museum an hour and the Schwarzsee the rest of the afternoon. If you want a last half day on the slopes, a ticket valid from 12:00 costs 73 EUR in the dearest weeks.
The Jochberger Tor, the Jochberg Gate, is the entrance to the old town and its oldest part. A castle with a living wing and a watch tower stood here around 1120, and only the Pfleghof tower remains, five floors high, beside the wall. From the gate you see the whole walking street.
At the other end the two church towers close the view, and behind them, on a clear day, the Wilder Kaiser.
The two streets of the old town are the Vorderstadt and the Hinterstadt, now a pedestrian zone. Kitzbühel got city rights on 6 June 1271 from Duke Ludwig II of Bavaria and belonged to Bavaria until 1504. The walls came down to the first floor and became houses. The Goldener Greif, an inn first mentioned in 1270, is still a hotel, and the town hall at Hinterstadt 20 carries a picture of Franz Reisch.
One chapter is less pretty. From 1938 to 1945 the town was a holiday place for Nazi leaders, among them Albert Speer, Hermann Göring and Leni Riefenstahl, while a communist resistance group of five was arrested in 1942 and murdered. The town's history records both.
The 48 m tower of the Liebfrauenkirche is the town's landmark. It was built in 1566-69 because the big bell bought in 1518 was too large for the slender tower of the parish church next door. The tower now holds the Kaiserglocke, 6,374 kg, cast in 1845 for Innsbruck cathedral, where it was refused over a dent and a note a little too high. Kitzbühel bought it, it has hung here since 1847, and it earned its name when the emperor spared it from being melted down in the First World War.
The Andreaskirche beside it was built in 1435-1506 and made baroque inside, with frescoes by Simon Benedikt Faistenberger, and carved pews that recall the town's mining past.
The Goldene Gams at Vorderstadt 1 has a covered, heated terrace in the middle of the walking street and a regional menu, with fondue as a specialty. The chamois, the Gams, is the town's animal, and Kitzbühel is known as the Gamsstadt. tip: "In autumn it was open 9:00 to 18:00 daily. Check the winter schedule."
The museum at Hinterstadt 32 holds the collection of Alfons Walde (1891-1958), the painter whose winter pictures shaped how the world sees Tyrol. On 250 square meters it shows about 60 paintings and 100 prints, among them Aufstieg and Auracher Kirchl. Walde also designed the Hahnenkammbahn station buildings.
The museum also tells the story of winter sport, and the medieval town is shown in the southwest tower of the city wall, the oldest secular building in Kitzbühel, from the 13th century. From 21 November 2026 to 27 March 2027 it's open Tuesday to Sunday from 14:00 to 18:00 and Saturday from 10:00 to 18:00, and closed on Monday.
The Schwarzsee is a small bog lake 2 km from the center, at 762 m, and the warmest bog lake in Tyrol. It is 7 m deep at most, about 2 km around, and it has its own railway stop on the Salzburg-Tyrol line. In summer it's the town's swimming lake.
In winter, when the ice is thick enough, you can walk on it, skate or play Eisstockschießen, a Tyrolean game of sliding a stick across the ice. If the ice is not thick enough, the shore path is the plan.
The Restaurant Seebichl stands by the Schwarzsee and describes its cooking as plain and authentic, without background music. It uses milk, yogurt and cheese from a nearby farm, young beef and game from the region, and runs a Schnitzel Sunday.
In autumn it was open daily from 18:00 to 21:00. It's a last-night dinner on the quiet side of town; finish with a Kaiserschmarrn to share if it is on the card.
Kitzbühel is a base for the whole region. The best extra days are a ski circuit, a brewery and three towns or cities.
A town on the Inn with a fortress on a 90 m rock above it. Its Heldenorgel, installed in 1931 as a war memorial, rebuilt in 1971 and expanded in 2009, was the largest open-air organ in the world from 2009 until a bigger one in San Diego took the record in 2015.
Getting there: 34 km northwest, 43 minutes by car, or by train, usually with a change in Wörgl
A lake town where Empress Elisabeth stayed for a few days in 1885 and climbed the mountain behind it. The Schmittenhöhe, 1,965 m, has had a cable car since 1927 and a view of more than 30 three-thousanders.
Getting there: 55 km south, 55 minutes by car, or by train on the line through Saalfelden and Hochfilzen
Mozart's baroque city, with a fortress above the old town and a cathedral. It has its own plan in 5 Days in Salzburg, and its airport is 81 km from Kitzbühel.
Getting there: 84 km northeast, about 1.5 hours by car, or by train on the Salzburg-Tyrol line
The Tyrolean capital, twice the host of the Winter Olympics, with the Golden Roof and a mountain wall behind the old town. It has its own plan in 5 Days in Innsbruck.
Getting there: 93 km west, 1 hour 10 minutes by train from Innsbruck central station with a change in Wörgl
An 88 km ski circuit that links KitzSki with the SkiWelt Wilder Kaiser-Brixental area over 58 slopes (30 blue, 27 red and 1 black), with 17,232 m of climbing. It starts from 14 villages. A day costs 85 EUR in peak weeks (19 December to 12 March) and 79 EUR at the edges.
Getting there: Starts on skis from Kitzbühel, Kirchberg, Jochberg or Pass Thurn, no transport needed
Official websiteThe nearest town, and the home of the Huber Bräu brewery, which dates back to 1727 and has been run by the Huber family since 1883. It has its own restaurant, the Turmstüberl, and a shop. The train between St. Johann and the Hahnenkamm station is free in ski clothes with a KitzSki ticket.
Getting there: 11 km north, 16 minutes by car, or by ÖBB regional train from Kitzbühel Hahnenkamm
Kitzbühel eats mountain food: dumplings, cheese, fried potato and sweet pancakes, with a hot drink in the hut and a beer in town. These are the dishes and drinks to look for.
A pan dish of boiled potato, beef or pork, bacon and onion fried in clarified butter, seasoned with marjoram and caraway and usually topped with a fried egg. It began as the Monday way to finish Sunday's roast.
Where to try it: Mountain huts and Tyrolean inns. Ask if it is on the day's card.
Flat dumplings of dry bread and cheese, made in Tyrol with mountain cheese or grey cheese, pressed and fried in butter. They come in a clear soup or as a main dish with sauerkraut.
Where to try it: Huts and Wirtshäuser, as a soup or a main.
Dumplings of bread, potato, semolina or flour, the staple of Alpine Austria, served as a side, in soup or as a main dish.
Where to try it: Any Wirtshaus or hut. A dumpling soup is the plainest start.
Soft egg noodles layered with melted mountain cheese and topped with fried onions, spelled Kasspatzln in Tyrol. It is the après-ski dish that fills you up.
Where to try it: Mountain huts and Wirtshäuser.
A torn pancake, light and golden, with raisins and powdered sugar and a spoon of plum compote. The name points to Emperor Franz Joseph, and the portion is meant to be shared.
Where to try it: Every hut and most Wirtshäuser. Order it at the start of the meal.
Thin pastry rolled around spiced apples, raisins and breadcrumbs, served warm. A national dish in Austria and the standard hut dessert.
Where to try it: Huts and cafés. Ask for it warm.
A thin breaded cutlet of veal, fried in fat. In Austrian restaurants a schnitzel of pork has to be labeled as such, as Wiener Schnitzel vom Schwein.
Where to try it: Austrian inns. The Gasthof Jodlbühel in Jochberg, in the same family since 1913, lists it with mayonnaise potato salad as a classic.
Obstler is the typical Austrian fruit spirit, made from apples and pears and sometimes plums, with a record of brandy in Tyrol going back to 1322. Enzian, gentian schnapps, is bitter and rarer, because the plant takes about ten years to flower and wild gentian is protected.
Where to try it: After a meal in any Wirtshaus or hut. Ask for the house schnapps.
Vienna's coffeehouse culture is on the UNESCO list of intangible heritage, and coffee with a slice of cake is an afternoon habit across the country. A Melange is a coffee with steamed milk and milk foam, similar to a cappuccino.
Where to try it: Das Reisch has a café and cake menu, and the bakeries in town open early for rolls.
A hot drink of black tea and Austrian rum, with 12-15% alcohol and a hut classic. The name is protected, and it may only be made in Austria.
Where to try it: Any hut on a cold day.
The local brewery is Huber Bräu in St. Johann in Tirol, 11 km north, run by the Huber family since 1883 and dating back to 1727. It is the beer of this part of Tyrol.
Where to try it: Tyrolean inns in town, or at the brewery's own Turmstüberl in St. Johann.
Austria's most planted grape, a white wine variety grown mostly in the northeast, along the Danube in Lower Austria, and not in the Alps. It is the safe order on an Austrian wine list.
Where to try it: Restaurant wine lists, by the glass. Ask for one from the Wachau, Kremstal or Kamptal.
Where you sleep decides your first lift and your last bus. For this plan, sleep in the old town or by the Hahnenkamm station: the lifts, the museum and the restaurants are then a walk away.
Best for: Walkers who want the town, the restaurants and two lifts within a short walk
The Hahnenkammbahn and the Hornbahn are each about 500 m from the Vorderstadt by the map, so you can walk to either. It's the right base for this plan. The catch: the main streets are pedestrian, so with a car you park at a public lot such as the Pfarrau or the Voglfeld and walk with your bags.
Best for: Skiers who want the first gondola and the train at their door
The railway stop is next to the valley station of the Hahnenkammbahn, and the tourist board calls it the fastest way in from Munich, Innsbruck and Salzburg. The catch: in race week this area is the event ground.
Best for: Quiet stays by the lake, with a railway stop of their own
The Schwarzsee is 2 km from the center, with its own station, a 2-minute drive from the Hahnenkamm stop. It is good for summer swimming, and the Seebichl restaurant is here. The catch: the lifts are in town, a train ride or a taxi away.
Best for: Skiers who want the Kirchberg side and the free train to the Hahnenkamm
Kirchberg lies about 6 km west on the same railway line, and the ride to the Hahnenkamm station is free in ski clothes with a KitzSki ticket. The Gaisberg toboggan run is here. The catch: the free ride ends at 18:00, so evenings in the old town cost a fare.
Best for: Skiers who want the Wagstätt and Resterhöhe side
Jochberg has the Wagstättbahn, a free practice lift at Hausleiten and the Bärenland for children, and bus 850 links it to Kitzbühel and Pass Thurn. The catch: the Hahnenkamm is a long way off, and you reach it across the 3S.
The practical stuff that makes the first day in Kitzbühel easier.
The KitzSki card costs 5 EUR, and a personalised card is posted in 5-7 working days, so buy online before you go. A smartphone ticket is the alternative. Years of birth decide the price: children 2011-2020, youth 2008-2010, adults 2007 and earlier, and children born 2021 or later ski free.
The full connection is open only from 11 December to 29 March, and the Horn closes on 21 March. A 2018 report on the resort's published snowfall data describes less snow in autumn and spring but heavier falls in midwinter, and the races were cancelled for lack of snow in 1964, 1988 and 1993. Check lift and slope status each morning.
With a valid KitzSki or ski network ticket you ride the ÖBB local trains in ski clothes for free, 7:50 to 18:00, between St. Johann in Tirol or Westendorf and Kitzbühel Hahnenkamm.
The Hahnenkamm Races are 18-24 January 2027. Parking and lifts are under pressure that week, tickets are sold only in advance, and the Streif and the Ganslern are closed to the public. Avoid the week, or park in Oberndorf or Kirchberg and take the shuttle train.
The 14 marked ski routes are not groomed and may have natural obstacles, though they are monitored for avalanches; everything beyond them is unsecured terrain. Read the avalanche bulletin daily. The Alpine emergency number is 140. Helicopter mountain rescue is not covered by the European Health Insurance Card, so take travel insurance.
Austria is cash-oriented, but the restaurants in the tourist board's listing accept cards. Tipping is common at 5-10%: say the full amount including the tip when you pay, and ask for the bill with zahlen, bitte.
Smoking has been banned in restaurants, bars and cafés since 2019. German is the local language, and hotels, lift staff and ski schools deal with foreign guests all winter, but a Grüß Gott goes down well. Plugs are the European two-pin type, 230 V.
Yes, if you ski four days. The Hahnenkamm, the Pengelstein side, Resterhöhe and the Horn are four different mountains, and the fifth day is the old town. The KitzSkiWelt Tour adds a full extra day on skis.
Yes. The practice lifts in Kitzbühel, Reith, Jochberg, Pass Thurn and Aschau are free, and 54% of the piste kilometers are easy. The Horn has a Family Park for first turns.
Not by altitude. The runs lie between about 800 and 2,000 m, an independent British guide calls the snow highly variable and the snowmaking improving but not comprehensive, and the Hahnenkamm races were cancelled for lack of snow in 1964, 1988 and 1993. Resterhöhe has the safest snow and the south-facing Horn the least.
You can ski the Streif Family Run, Run 21, which runs beside the course. In race week the Streif and the Ganslern are closed to the public, and the Parallel Streif is open on race days to experienced skiers with a race ticket. In summer you can walk the course on the Streif Hike.
The lift pass is 83 EUR a day in the dearest weeks and 69 EUR at the edges of the season, and a four-day pass is 307 EUR. The town has a name for high prices, and lodging and restaurants follow it, so the biggest saving is the choice of weeks.
For a rest day, Salzburg or Innsbruck, each about 85-95 km away. For a shorter one, Kufstein is 34 km away and St. Johann in Tirol 11 km, with the Huber Bräu brewery.
Austria is in the Schengen area, so the usual Schengen entry rules apply. Check them for your passport before you book.
Yes. Days one, four and five of this plan still work: the Streif Hike, the Alpine Flower Garden on the Horn, the old town, the museum and the Schwarzsee as a swimming lake.
Find Kitzbühel on the map, learn the flag and check how much you really know about Austria.
Austria's biggest ski area, where alpine skiing was taught for the first time. Four ski days and one off, planned for good skiers.
Bases: St. Anton, Lech
An empire's capital that kept the palaces, the cake and the manners. Five days in Vienna, with a day on the Danube.
A prince-archbishop's baroque capital, built on salt and remembered for Mozart. Five days in Salzburg and the lakes and mountains around it.
