The best ski resorts and hotels in Austria allow for quality time with your children—on and off the slopes.
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If you’re looking for a hotel or destination to go skiing with your kids, hotels and resorts in Austria are a great choice. The Alpine nation has some of the best resorts for parents traveling on ski holidays with children.
As winter tourism is a cornerstone of Austria’s economy and demand continues to grow, hotels and resorts have stepped up their game accordingly.
Many Austrian resorts offer great perks for families, like complimentary access to practice lifts or free ski passes for young children.
And beyond the slopes, family-friendly resorts in Austria wow with new concepts for indoor and outdoor entertainment as well as relaxation.
Carve out some chill time for you and your kids in Austria this winter.
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Here is a list of some of the best family-friendly places to go in the Alps for a ski trip with your children. Some offer kid-friendly wellness areas, others trampoline parks, indoor water slides, sandpits, petting zoos or even horseback riding.
But parents, don’t worry—a child-friendly vacation at these Austrian luxury properties doesn’t mean you won’t get spoiled, too.
The hotels that made the list are also adult-friendly. with gourmet dining, excellent staff, all-day entertainment for kids and a second spa area that just happens to be adults-only.
Family-Friendly Ski Resort: Obertauern
The cute and furry mascots inside Bobbyland encourage kids at ski school.
Tourismusverband Obertauern
Obertauern, about an hour’s drive from Salzburg airport and two hours from Munich, is one of the snow-safest resorts in the Austrian Alps.
All hotels are near a ski lift, sparing you the dreaded shuttle bus wait with whiny kids in tow or the hassle of lugging skis—and at least one child—through town.
There are 26 ski lifts in total, with access to over 60 miles of groomed slopes.
Kids under the age of six ski for free and can meet up with Bobby, the cheerful big snow bunny. Bobby and his furry mascot friends entertain kids inside the designated beginners ski area ‘Bobbyland.’
More advanced mountain riders can graduate to wave runs, jumps, and slaloms. While expert skiers and snowboarders head to extremely challenging slopes like the ‘Gamsleiten 2’, one of the top ten steepest mogul runs in the Alps with a 45-degree angle.
For an unusual rush of adrenaline, Obertauern’s snow kiting school teaches skiers how to use a kite to harness wind power. You’ll see students glide (and eventually almost fly at high speeds) across the slopes. It’s similar to kite surfing but much easier to pick up if you have at least moderate skiing skills.
Obertauern has a variety of dining options in town and more than 50+ mountain huts and chalets. You’ll find all kinds of cuisines, including hearty meals, wood-fired pizzas and fine dining options.
Kids typically go for Austrian staples like Wiener Schnitzel or Kaiserschmarr’n, a fluffy, torn pancake served with homemade apple and plum compote.
Where to stay: Seekarhaus, Obertauern
Family-friendly yet luxurious Seekarhaus in Obertauern
Seekarhaus
It can be difficult to snag a room at Seekarhaus during peak season. Most first-timers turn into repeat guests at this third-generation, family-run luxury property.
Seekarhaus has a reputation for its top-tier service and relaxed atmosphere. The hotel’s location halfway up the mountain allows for ski-in, ski-out access to three different ski lifts.
Kids have an in-house ski school with convenient drop-off and pick-up right outside the door.
The smallest kids learn at the hotel’s private lifts and baby slopes. Parents (or grandparents) can watch their offspring’s progress from the serviced terrace adjacent to it, without ever having to leave their sun lounger.
Additional amenities at the Seekarhaus include an in-house ski rental shop, an all-day kids club, an indoor trampoline park, an indoor bike pump track, a game room for teens and a big family spa area with a slide, pools, a steam room and a sauna.
Seekarhaus pampers the parents, too. The new adults-only wellness area has a heated outdoor infinity pool with panoramic views of the rugged mountain peaks.
In the afternoons, the large event sauna turns into the place-to-be for sessions with the professional Saunameister (sauna master). He combines music, lights and scents to make the heat more bearable—and rewards the bravest with the occasional shot of Austrian schnaps.
Where to Stay: Hotel Steiner, Obertauern
Wellness for all: The family-friendly Hotel Steiner offers massages for kids and teens, too.
Hotel Steiner
The new adventure world at the family-run Hotel Steiner in Obertauern feels like a child’s dream. A giant indoor sand playground complete with water features and muddy puddles keeps kids busy for hours. The hotel provides rain boots and other protective clothing, so the sand doesn’t travel home in your suitcase.
Another indoor fun park is the forest playground with slides, ropes, swings and caves to climb up to, as well as a wood workshop, a karaoke room, a painting studio, gymnastics, arts and crafts and a Youth Lounge for teenagers with climbing walls and Foosball tables.
Fun fact: prior to being implemented, the kids’ amenities are all trial-run by the hosts’ own children.
Hotel Steiner’s newest addition is the MountainSpa.
Hotel Steiner
The family wellness area comes with a big pool, a whirlpool and even a spa menu for children and teenagers, where they can choose between kid-friendly spa treatments like nail care, facials or gentle massages using rose oil or white chocolate mousse.
The adults-only area has a stunning infinity pool overlooking the seemingly endless mountains.
Another convenient feature for families traveling with constantly starving children: Full board guests get food non-stop anytime between 7 A.M. and 7 P.M.
Family-Friendly Ski Resort: Leogang
Leogang is part of one of Europe’s biggest ski resorts and particularly great for kids.
saalfelden-leogang.com, Sebastian Marko
Leogang is one of the ski resorts making up the interconnected Skicircus Saalbach Hinterglemm Leogang Fieberbrunn. Skicircus is one of Europe’s biggest ski areas and host to the FIS Alpine World Ski Championships in February 2025. Ski pass holders will be able to watch from the slopes and ski from one competition to the next.
The resort has snow parks, vast terrain for off-piste, a freeride park and floodlights for nighttime skiing, as well as a total of 160 miles of slopes, 70 lifts, and 60 ski huts to keep you busy all day.
Asitz Winter Night is a weekly light show on the mountain with family-friendly performances and live music accompanied by warm drinks and typical Austrian fare.
Kids ski free until age six and can try the practice slopes in Leo’s Kids Area, which includes seven conveyor belt, a.k.a. ‘magic carpet’ lifts. Teenagers will love the new SkiMovie feature that creates automatic videos of your downhill descent.
Where to stay: Forsthofgut, Leogang
Family-friendly Forsthofgut in Leogang is an hour from Salzburg with great skiing and amenities.
Forsthofgut
Located an hour’s drive from Salzburg, the 5th generation, family-run luxury hotel Forsthofgut in Leogang ticks all the right family boxes.
Forsthofgut’s award-winning spa has separate areas for adults and families and covers more than 61,000 square feet. Kids love the 230-foot-long waterslide, heated outdoor pools and water play areas.
The hotel recently added a barn for horses with riding lessons and a mini-petting-zoo with rabbits and other cuddly animals. Guests can join feeding time for the alpacas, goats and local deer roaming the three hectares of forest land surrounding the property.
Painting classes, wood workshops, an indoor Ninja Parkour run, yoga sessions for kids and a 24-hour Teen Lounge round off the family-friendly offerings.
Where to stay: Puradies, Leogang
Bright, natural architecture relaxes the mind at Puradies.
Puradies
Free from hustle and bustle, Puradies is another family-run wellness hotel that recently expanded the wellness area for children with an indoor/outdoor infinity pool, an indoor baby pool, a yoga studio and a fitness center.
A new adults-only wellness temple with four saunas and floor-to-ceiling windows comes with panoramic views of snowy meadows and mountain peaks.
The organic farm with an award-winning restaurant uses locally sourced, regional ingredients grown at the hotel’s own organic farm that is also home to sheep, goats, calves and cows, rabbits and pigs that kids can visit and feed.
Families have a choice between rooms, suites or private chalets for up to six people. Chalets have their own sauna and come with the option to have all meals delivered there.
Many celebrities vacation in Lech am Arlberg.
Ski Arlberg/Frederick Sams
A holiday haven for the rich and famous over the years, Lech is a small village and very popular ski resort in the Vorarlberg region of Austria. The celebrity hot spot is part of the remarkable Ski Arlberg area with 85 lifts, ultra-modern cable cars and over 180 miles of runs. From beginners’ blue slopes all the way to back country routes for the more ambitious skiers.
Understated but luxurious, Lech offers free ski passes to children under the age of eight, plus ice skating and sleigh rides.
Quiet luxury at the Hotel Arlberg in Lech, a favorite with celebrities.
Hotel Arlberg/Rabensteiner, Mike
Built in the heart of the Lech ski resort, a haven for the rich and famous over the years, Hotel Arlberg is ideal for skiers looking for discrete luxury. It was Princess Diana’s go-to hotel: Every year she watched her sons William and Harry take to the slopes nearby. The property offers a culture of pampering with everything taken care of, from dog-sitting and chauffeur services to a sunlit ski suite and a 10,000 square feet panoramic spa staging.
With a family spa and two pools, a kids’ club and teen room, kids will have everything they need to unwind. The hotel even supplies mini bathrobes, slippers, swimming trunks, as well as baby carriers for mountain adventures.
New this season is the ski club Arlberg Club House, a social club promising guests and members “a celebration of the good life,” with opportunities for shopping, dining and drinking in a charming space under one roof. The club has its own restaurant, bar and common space for skiers and snowboarders to get together, unwind and forge new friendships.
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Publish date : 2024-12-19 12:17:00
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