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Family ski holidays

Snowy Obertauern adds festive feels to family ski trips, even in spring

Last updated 1st February 2025

Did an Austria family ski trip to Obertauern, the country’s highest resort, guarantee a white Christmas for Justine Gosling and her family?

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Sledging, Gnadenalm, SalzburgerLand © Tourism Obertauern

Most skiers’ festive dream is to be in the mountains, surrounded by twinkling fairy lights and snow-laden Christmas trees, browsing for crafts in buzzy night markets and enjoying quiet ski slopes without having to take the kids out of school.

However, booking a ski trip around the festive period doesn’t guarantee you a white Christmas. With the growing impact of climate change, particularly on resorts located at lower altitudes, many festive skiers have been disappointed in recent years with soggy resort villages, green/brown mountains, and skiing in sweaty, mushy snow. It’s a risky time to book a trip, but the dream of a white Christmas on skis can be a reality, if you book the right resort.

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Austria’s highest ski resort © Tourism Obertauern

An Austria family ski trip with masses of snow, that’s the Obertauern promise

Obertauern is the highest resort in Austria’s SalzburgerLand, and the snowiest ski resort in the country.

Also, sitting at 1740m, means Obertauern, in the Lungau and Pongau regions, has one of the longest ski seasons: November to May, and a peak lift height of 2,313m. A lot of this good fortune is due to its geographical location; Obertauern is lucky enough to receive large amounts of snow from the north, as well as snowfall from the south. That, coupled with its altitude and an average maximum snow depth of 264cm, makes it easily the snowiest destination for an Austria family ski trip.

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Horse-drawn sleigh, Gnadenalm © Tourism Obertauern

So much more than snow makes this resort perfect for families

However, it’s not just guaranteed masses of snow that makes the resort so appealing, it’s ideally set up for families too, as we found out on our snow-seeking Austria ski trip in December.

Conveniently, a number of airlines, including British Airways, fly directly to Salzburg from the UK, with a flight time of under two hours. As Salzburg airport is tiny, you get through security in record time for the 45 minute drive to the resort, making the whole journey easy with kids in tow.

Then, Obertauern’s village lines the road of the valley floor and bottom of all the ski lifts, so most accommodation really is ski-in-ski-out, avoiding you donkeying around with the kids ski equipment and providing instant access to the slopes from your door.

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Hotel Romerhof, Obertauern

Hotel Römerhof adds more festive feels to our family ski trip

We stayed at Hotel Römerhof, conveniently located right by the T-bar and main Zenherkar gondola and with a ski hire shop right next door.

The 4-star+ hotel has 72 rooms, a swimming pool, and a brand-new relaxing adult only spa area with an indoor/outdoor pool, steam rooms and sauna.

The kids loved their post ski ‘strudel and cake time’ time and the breakfast and dinner buffets, which allowed them to piece together meals themselves with lots of options. A particular favourite was the sushi night, whereby the kids, aged 9 and 11, enjoyed California rolls with seafoods they hadn’t tried before; encouraged by the friendly staff that befriended them during our stay.

Our family room faced the slopes and was more like an apartment with two massive bedrooms, two bathrooms, and a living room, giving everyone ample space for downtime.

The hotel basement also has a children’s play area and a separate lounge for teens to hang out and play table tennis, table football or watch films.

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Another beautiful snow day in Obertauern © Tourism Obertauern

Obertauern is famous for snow, but there’s plenty of blue sky too

A special feature of the resort is that the ski area circles the village of Obertauern, which sits at the bottom of the ‘bowl’. This means that you can find sheltered slopes in all weathers, and if you wish, can ski in the sun all day long.

The resort’s 26 cable cars and lifts are arranged around the village to form a ski circus, so the entire ski area can be circumnavigated from each lift access point: a journey so-called ‘Tauernrunde’.

The choice of 11 different lift access points to the ski area means that queues are non-existent or minimal and, once in the ski area, the resorts 100km of groomed pistes are mostly red and blue runs: perfect for families.

Although the ski area is big enough to keep the kids entertained, it’s not overwhelming for the adults to navigate ski meet-ups and traditional mountain lunches. Be sure to order a plate of traditional Salzburg ‘Kaiserschmarrn’ at lunch; a delicious, lightly sweetened, shredded pancake with a side pot of hot apple or plum sauce.

For an added touch of Christmas magic and winter glow, the Edelweissbahn ski lift is open for night skiing every Monday and Thursday from 7 pm to 10 pm, while Christmas songs belt out from the bars at the bottom of the piste.

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Fun for first time skiers © Tourism Obertauern

Ski School Koch really made our Austria family ski trip

The instructors at ski school Koch, Hotel Römerhof’s in-house ski school, really made this Austria family ski trip for us.

We booked their services after dinner the day we arrived, as they conveniently hang out in the restaurant of the hotel to meet guests. This meant that we could brief them on our kids’ characters, SEND needs and ski ability; they even picked them up from the hotel in the morning at no extra charge.

The instructors instantly made friends with our kids who had a brilliant time and really improved their skiing; giving them a love for the mountains that we can share.

We departed a couple of days before Christmas – having had our ski fix and built a snowman – ready to get cosy at home and wrap presents.

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Evening in Obertauern © Tourism Obertauern

Snow-sure and lofty Obertauern isn’t just for Christmas

Little known to British families, Obertauern is also an ideal resort for February and Easter school holidays too. A lot of the most famously snowy resorts are crowded during these peak periods, but Obertauern remains much the same, loved and enjoyed mostly by Austrian families. The long season spans into May, so there’s no rush get there, and sunny, springtime skiing is also a good option for cheaper accommodation.

How to plan this Austria family ski trip

How to get there

Direct UK flights to Salzburg from 1 hour, 55 minutes

Salzburg to Obertauern from 45 minutes

Where to stay

Hotel Römerhof Superior, Double Rooms from £242 per night

Find out more and book

Good to know

For more about SalzburgerLand

SalzburgerLand Tourismus

For more about Obertauern

Tourism Obertauern

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