Zell am See ski hotels and holiday packages

So tell me about it...

Zell am See is a small town on the shores of Lake Zell with a car-free centre.  Zell offers year round skiing thanks to its bus link to the glacier of neigbouring Kaprun.  The resort has pretty, tree-lined slopes with great views down to the lake.

Zell am See's 80km of trails are largely located on the Schmittenhohe mountain behind the town.  There are various access points to the area, but most people staying in central Zell will take the gondola, the base of which is a few minutes away. 

Most people will wish to visit Kaprun's glacier. This is accessed by a ski bus which runs every 20 minutes in high season and once an hour during other periods.  Journey time is around 30 minutes! Zell am See is well suited to boarders. There is a half-pipe on Schmittenhohe and a terrain park on the Kaprun glacier. The cross-country is excellent if snow allows.

Intermediates will enjoy the resort's skiing the most with more than 50km of red and blue runs including and 8km/5 mile trail, the Schutt. Expert skiers have several long medium-steep blacks descending through the forest back down to the resort to enjoy, severally usually mogulled. There are also good off-piste possibilities. There are small nursery slopes at the cable car area and at Schüttdorf, both covered by snow guns.

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Entertainment

The lakeside, medieval town of Zell am See has grown into a large, sophisticated resort providing good shopping and dining opportunities. Après ski can be lively with many bars and clubs to choose from but quieter options are available, cosy stuberls, bars and cafés. Zell am See offers a choice of indoor and outdoor non-ski activities and excursions to Salzburg.

Gourmet & nightlife

Zell am See has many shops, cafes and restaurants. The après-ski is lively and typically Austrian, there are many bars to choose from and several discos or tea dances.

Extras

Take your pick from sleigh rides, tobogganing, snowshoeing, parapenting, walking trails, skidoo, a leisure centre and cinema, and shopping. In midwinter, the lake freezes over and can be used for some marvellous ice skating and curling. 

Beginners

Zell am See has two nursery areas, both covered by snow cannons. There are plenty of short easy runs at Schmittehohe, Breiteck and Areit for beginners and very early intermediates. 

Intermediates

The range of skiing for intermediates is superb. The wide open pistes on the Schmittenhöhe provide relatively easy and flattering runs whilst further down, below the tree line, the runs tend to be steeper and more challenging. There is a testing run called the ‘Standard’, which goes from the top to the bottom of the Schmittenhöhe cable car and is within the capabilities of the majority of intermediate skiers.

Experts

Advanced skiers can test themselves with a range of challenging runs on the Schmittenhöhe, which boasts 3 reddish blacks through the trees, some fine mogul runs underneath the chairlifts and some superb powder skiing when conditions are favourable.

Snowboarders

Zell Am See has plenty of fantastic terrain to back up it's international reputation as being a strong snowboarding resort. Freeriders will be happy with the fast, wide, well groomed areas and for the freestylers the Rodeo-Funpark, just off the Schmittenhöhenbahn, has great jumps and an excellent half-pipe.

Children from the age of three can romp around at the 'Children's Snow Land'. And little ones who are still too young for skiing meet at the guest kindergarten near the mountain stations.