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- Written by: Roger Fulton
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We suspect many of you have been there. Stumbling several hundred yards from your hotel to ski school, in ski boots, clutching your kids’ skis as well as your own, as their excitement wanes on finding out they don’t understand their instructor.
And later, once the skiing is over, looking around for some child-friendly way to pass the time while the resort gets louder and louder…
We get it. Finding a family-friendly destination can be a hit or miss affair. Maybe it’s got plenty of child-friendly practice slopes, but getting there takes ages and everyone arrives stressed and exhausted. Maybe the facilities are fine for little ones, but your teens crave more excitement. Maybe the skiing’s great but the resort is full of rowdy apres-ski bars.
These days, to be fair, most resorts do more than pay lip service to family needs. But some are undoubtedly better than others.
So, if you want a family ski resort that does more than just tick boxes, here are five Austrian ski destinations that do more than talk the talk…
Serfaus-Fiss-Ladis
Ski area: 214km
Altitude: 1,200m to 2,828m
Closest airports: Innsbruck (92 km), Munich (219 km)
Best for: Young learners and progressing teens
At a glance: Snowsure, sunny and varied, Serfaus-Fiss-Ladis has frequently been named the most family-friendly winter sports region in the Alps. Anyone arriving on the sunny high plateau with their little ones will feel the child-friendly vibe from the very first moment.
What’s here for families? The whole resort has been designed with kids in mind, from its remarkable underground funicular and pedestrianised main village to its 214km ski area.
Easy slopes for little ones, more challenging terrain for teenagers and adults, child-friendly ski courses and lift facilities, plus loving childcare and a huge entertainment programme away from the slope.
Dedicated zones, such as Murmlis Kinderalm and the Murmlipark in Serfaus, as well as Bertas Kinderland in Fiss-Ladis, are reserved just for children and teens. Away from the slopes, families can enjoy winter hiking, tobogganing, snowshoe tours, cross-country trails, piste-basher rides and adrenalin-pumping zipwire thrills.
For example, every Thursday, the Sonnenburg family restaurant and Bertas Kinderland in Fiss transform into a colourful children’s paradise. Alongside children’s entertainment, face painting, airbrush tattoos and magic shows, fast-paced rides on fun-sport equipment and tobogganing fun provide plenty of action, while parents enjoy a relaxed winter evening in a special atmosphere. Sounds pretty perfect to us!
Top tip: The fantastic kids area of Murmlis Kinderalm is being redesigned and modernised ahead of the 2026-27 ski season!
SkiWelt Wilder Kaiser-Brixental
Ski area: 275km
Altitude: 620m to 1,892m
Closest airports: Innsbruck (80 km), Salzburg (80 km)
Best for: Eco-conscious families in search of great childcare
At a glance: Celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2027, the SkiWelt is one of the largest and most modern 5-star ski areas in the world. It’s also one of the most eco-friendly, with modern snowmaking systems and GPS-controlled snow management that saves water and energy, picking up multiple awards for sustainability. Its eight villages – Brixen im Thale, Ellmau, Going, Hopfgarten, Itter, Scheffau, Söll and Westendorf – offer 275km of pistes, 81 modern lifts, 80 family-run mountain huts for a typically Tirolean pit-stop, and spectacular scenery, with panoramic views of more than 70 peaks over 3,000m.
What’s here for families? The SkiWelt has some great child-focused features. Families can choose from 22 ski schools with their own children’s courses, mini clubs and kids’ clubs, offering professional childcare from age one. There are three fun parks, adventure runs, three floodlit toboggan runs and fun with the Witches’ Winter Playground at Söll.
Nearly 90% of the runs here are either easy or intermediate. Thanks to the huge variety of slopes, every family member can ski the run that suits their ability and meet up again at the bottom. Various ski-pass deals help keep prices affordable for families, too.
Top Tip: Look out for Family Ski Weeks in December and March when children up to 15 ski for free!
Ski Juwel Alpbachtal Wildschönau
Ski area: 114km
Altitude: 690m to 2,030m
Closest airports: Innsbruck (65 km), Salzburg (144 km)
Best for: All the family will love the Ski Juwel
At a glance: Varied slopes, 25 cosy mountain huts, picture-postcard holiday villages and great offers for families make Ski Juwel Alpbachtal Wildschönau one of the most child-friendly ski areas in Tirol. Alpbach in particular, has been voted ‘Austria’s most beautiful village’ partly due to its dedication to traditional Tirolean architecture. And let's not forget Thierbach, the smallest village in Ski Juwel, and perched at 1150m, it's also the highest in the Kitzbühel Alps. With only 160 residents, this is the perfect place to find some peace and quiet.
What’s here for families? There are snowparks in Alpbachtal and Wildschönau, and whizzy teens are sure to love the Skimovie track on the Wiedersberger Horn in Alpbach. Simply activate the course at the start gate with your ski pass and watch a video of your run on the Skiline app! For younger guests, there are excellent ski schools with their own children’s slopes and excellent care right on the mountain. Non-ski attractions include toboggan runs, walking trails and piste-basher rides, plus the Alpbachtaler Lauser-Sauser alpine coaster which races down the mountain at up to 42kph, complete with a thrilling loop!
Family-friendly accommodation such as holiday apartments makes this destination easy to enjoy. Special family offers and the free ski pass promotion in late winter are a particular highlight for parents. And being so accessible from Innsbruck airport means no Reisemüdigkeit (travel-boredom).
Top tip: Look out for regular late-season promotions where children under 15 receive free ski passes when a parent buys a 3-day ticket.
Tiroler Zugspitz Arena
Ski area: 140km
Altitude: 1000m to 2,962m
Closest airports: Innsbruck (85 km), Memmingen (113 km)
Best for: Families looking to beat the crowds
At a glance: Don’t think of the Tiroler Zugspitz Arena as one giant ski area. Think of it as a collection of smaller, family-friendly ones. Located on the Austrian side of the Zugspitze, Germany’s highest peak, there are 7 ski areas in all, with around 140km of slopes. Adding on the Top Snow Card can extend coverage to 200km, including nearby German resorts such as Garmisch Partenkirchen.
What’s here for families? Three of the 7 ski areas – Ehrwalder Alm, Ehrwalder Wettersteinbahnen and Skiarena Berwang-Bichlbach – are officially designated as family-certified. Here you can expect child-friendly slopes, qualified ski schools, family-friendly accommodation and dining, and special children’s and family rates. A major plus is that many of the pistes run right down into the villages, making life much easier with children as there’s less walking and transferring between lifts, accommodation and the slopes.
Off-slope activities include winter hiking, tobogganing, ice skating and curling, plus plenty of welcoming mountain huts. And from the top of the Zugspitze you get panoramic views of up to 400 peaks across four countries.
Top tip: A special family experience is llama trekking through snow-covered forests and along gentle paths around the Zugspitze.
Schladming-Dachstein
Ski area: 222km
Altitude: 728m to 2,700m
Closest airports: Salzburg (68 km), Ljubljana (142 km)
Best for: Adventurous families
At a glance: Located between the mighty Dachstein to the north and the striking Schladminger Tauern to the south, Schladming-Dachstein covers nine ski mountains with varied pistes, modern lifts, 90 welcoming huts, and an amazing 300km of groomed winter walking trails – perfect for any non-skiers in the family! Schladming’s four interconnected ski mountains – Hauser Kaibling, Planai, Hochwurzen and Reiteralm – each has its own family appeal, while the spectacular Dachstein glacier offers wonderful views and attractions such as the suspension bridge and magical Ice Palace. Elsewhere in the region, families can make lasting memories with sleigh rides and other cosy adventures.
If 222km of runs is not enough, you can even buy a Ski amadé lift pass for access to 760km of pistes across five ski regions!
What’s here for families? Plenty of nursery slopes, kids’ areas and cosy huts. On the Planai, for example, the Hopsi Kinderland has gentle wave rides, play figures and room to practise safely. At Hauser Kaibling, Wolli’s Kids Park offers magic carpets, mini wave rides and child-friendly courses. The Hochwurzen and Reiteralm have wide, easy-to-navigate runs and excellent ski schools.
Smaller ski areas are especially popular with families too: Rittisberg in Ramsau has gentle slopes, magic carpets and a fairytale forest with talking characters. Galsterberg delights with its Gallic Ski Village – a lovingly designed kids’ area with talking Romans, Gallic heroes and plenty of space to let off steam, plus easy pistes and a toboggan run. And on the Fageralm, adventure runs with talking animals turn a ski day into a wholesome adventure for children.
Top tip: In January, don’t miss the legendary NIGHTRACE - a floodlit World Cup event which turns the Planai into a cauldron of noise.
Find out more about these outstanding resorts at austria.info
