A guesthouse eight hundred metres from the lift, with a valley wide ski pass included.
-10 %
The Zillertal is a valley 47 kilometres long with four ski areas and one glacier. The Superskipass covers all of it and costs 350 EUR at the counter. It is included in our price of 699 EUR, which also covers transport, accommodation and half board. Do the arithmetic.
We stay at a guesthouse in Zell am Ziller, eight hundred metres from the Zillertal Arena gondola. You can walk it, ten minutes with skis on your shoulder, or take the free ski bus that runs every fifteen minutes. The Kreidl family run the place, dinner is three courses and breakfast is a buffet with eggs cooked to order.
You set your own programme. Each evening our guide Roman tells you where the snow will be best in the morning. He skis with anyone who wants company and he is good, so if you want to fix your turn he will happily spend half an hour on it. One day we go to the Hintertux glacier, where you ski at 3250 metres and there is snow even in April, when the valley is already in flower. The drive takes 40 minutes and we go early. Zillertal pistes are mostly blue and red; there are few blacks and they are short. Hochzillertal, with its long gentle slopes, suits beginners best. If you have never skied, book an instructor: an hour costs 60 EUR and it is money well spent, because Roman gives advice, not lessons. The drive from Turzovka takes eight hours and we travel by day rather than overnight, because nobody sleeps well on a coach loaded with skis. You can rent equipment in Zell am Ziller, two hundred metres from the guesthouse, and if you order it through us two weeks ahead it comes cheaper and without the queue.
We leave Turzovka at 5:00 and the drive through Austria takes eight hours with two breaks. We arrive around midday and check in from 15:00. You will not ski today, but you get your pass and can find the lift. First dinner at 18:30.
The first day on snow in the Arena above Zell am Ziller, 143 kilometres of piste. Start on the blues and let your legs adjust. Lunch at the Kreuzwiesenalm hut, where goulash soup costs eight euros. A first round of apres ski for anyone interested.
The ski bus to Kaltenbach, where the gondola climbs to Hochzillertal. The linked area has 89 kilometres and the longest run in the valley, nine kilometres from top to bottom. The long, gentle slopes here suit beginners. Lunch at the Wedelhütte, which costs more and serves the best ribs in the valley.
We leave at 7:15 and reach the glacier by eight, when the lifts open. You ski at 3250 metres on hard, fast snow. It is ten degrees colder up there than in the valley, so bring an extra layer and high factor sun cream; the sun is fierce.
Mayrhofen is the liveliest resort in the valley, with 136 kilometres of piste. It also has the Harakiri, the steepest run in Austria at a 78 percent gradient. Most people photograph it and leave it at that, which is entirely reasonable. The rest of the area is sunny and comfortable.
Go back to wherever you liked best. Over breakfast Roman will say where the snow is best and where the sun will be. If you have had enough of skiing, the Erlebnistherme baths in Zell am Ziller cost 14 EUR for three hours.
The pass is valid until midday, so there is time for a few more runs. Check out by ten and we load the skis after lunch. We leave at 13:00 and reach Turzovka around nine in the evening. The ski bus takes you back at lunchtime for free.
We email you when the price of this tour drops. Nothing else.
Give us a ring. We built this trip ourselves, so we can answer things the itinerary does not cover.
+421 918 473 422 Get in touchEight days around southern and western Iceland cost me 1,480 euros in budget mode. Here is the entire spreadsheet, plus the comfortable version at double the price.
In Morocco taking photos is a social act, not just a technical one. Here is what ten tours taught me, including the day I got thrown out of a shop.
Dimensions, weights and liquids without guesswork. The routine I use on every tour, including the mistakes that cost me money.
