As well as being amazing fun for kids, an Innsbruck family ski holiday gives you the choice of 12 ski resorts within easy reach of the city, and free public transport during your stay.
Innsbruck ‘One Place. Two Worlds’ ©Innsbruck Tourismus/Tommy Bause
Let’s start with how easy it is to get to Innsbruck. Direct UK flights take from just over two hours, and you can forget long transfers. It’s about 10 minutes from Innsbruck Airport to the heart of Innsbruck itself, and there are 12 ski resorts all within easy travelling distance of the city. Or you can hop a cable car and be on the slopes at Nordkette in 20 minutes.
Axamer Lizum, Innsbruck ©Innsbruck Tourismus/Eye5 – Jonas Schwarzwälder
The free Welcome Card is back and even better value
If all this sounds too good to be true, it only gets better. Stay in the Innsbruck region for two nights or more this winter and you get a free Welcome Card, which entitles you to free public transport all over the region, guided hikes and snowshoeing tours, taster cross country ski tours and discounts on winter activities as well as museums, galleries, attractions and events. Plus, if you stay for three nights or more, you also receive free gondola rides and 20% off both the Nordkettenbahnen and Patscherkofelbahn.
We all love free stuff, but parents in particular will like the ease of an Innsbruck family ski holiday too, and that’s all down to the SKIplusCITY pass Stubai Innsbruck.
It’s no exaggeration to say this is the one and only pass of its kind in the world. Why? Well it includes access to 12 ski resorts around Innsbruck and in the Stubai Valley and it gives you free entry to attractions, pools and more in the greater Innsbruck area. In short, it lets you make the absolute most of that amazing urban and mountain mix, something else that’s pretty unique to Innsbruck.
But let’s get down to the details now, because generous cards and convenient passes are just the start of what makes an Innsbruck family ski holiday such a good idea.
Muttereralm ©Innsbruck Tourismus/Tom Bause
Take your pick of 12 different resorts on every Innsbruck family ski holiday
Most families discovering Innsbruck for the first time are delighted by the idea that such a gorgeous city is also a ski giant. No fewer than 12 resorts lie in and around Innsbruck and every single one of them is included in the SKI plus CITY Pass and on the Free Ski Bus route. So yes, you will find your favourite because everyone does, but you can afford to have a lot of fun making up your mind.
That said, some resorts are just resoundingly right for families, like Muttereralm which is actually a quality-certified Tyrolean family ski resort.
Or there’s Oberperfuss/Rangger Köpfl. Only 12km from the city and blessed with fairytale charm this resort couldn’t be better for kids from its ski school and Soft Fun Park to cosy mountain restaurants and a 10km toboggan run: teens should note the night skiing.
Alternatively, the long season at Kühtai might tempt you, particularly as the resort matches snow with sunshine and accesses the Hochoetz ski area. WIDI Kinderland is another big draw for families here, not least for its welcoming all-day kindergarten.
Take a look at all the ski resorts in and around Innsbruck
Learning to ski, Rangger Köpfl ©Innsbruck Tourismus/Tommy Bause
Innsbruck ski schools are some of the best in Austria
First time ski lessons are when your kids are going to fall in love with snow sports for life. That’s certainly what the thinking is in Innsbruck. The ski schools here are some of the best in Austria, with most offering lessons for kids as young as three, as well as English-speaking instructors and a careful mix of play and learning to engage even the youngest first timers.
But Innsbruck takes building confidence beyond lessons and adds it to every part of your family holiday.
Dedicated kids’ lifts are the first hint you get of how committed the region is to giving young skiers the best possible start. Gentle nursery slopes and magic carpets make sure children feel safe and progress faster; short runs provide just the right amount of challenge, and then there are all child-centred snow parks where kids really discover the joy of snow.
The Innsbruck approach is very intuitive, but born of long experience and when you see how quickly even brand new skiers pick up skills, you know they’re doing something right here.
Pick the Innsbruck ski school that’s right for your kids
Seegrube – Nordkette ©Innsbruck Tourismus/Tom Bause
Hit the slopes in 20 minutes on an Innsbruck family ski holiday
How quickly you can get to the slopes is another reason families love Innsbruck. It takes just 20 minutes to go from the city to Nordkette Kids Area at 1,905m, so kids are still full of energy when they arrive and up for everything from playing with all the free snow toys to taking lessons at Innsbruck Ski School.
Just to make it even easier, you can hire equipment on-site at Nordkette, and the Seegrube Restaurant sun terrace is the perfect spot for refuelling before the next bit of fun.
Have a look round all the child-friendly snow parks in Innsbruck
Tobogganing, Innsbruck ©Innsbruck Tourismus
Love to toboggan? You’re in the right place for that too
Innsbruck does tobogganing like almost nowhere else in Tyrol, its runs stretch for kilometres and the sheer variety of experiences could make you think you really haven’t truly tobogganed before.
Like a lot of what happens in the snow here, tobogganing starts young: if you can sit upright, you’re ready. Sure, teeny tobogganers are encouraged to share a sled with a cosy parent, but pretty small toddlers can be seen going it alone – with close supervision, naturally. And that confidence might be to do with how many safe and playful spaces Innsbruck dedicates to the art of sliding.
Muttereralm isn’t just one of the most child-friendly ski resorts in Innsbruck, it’s home to the Muttereralm family toboggan run, a once-tried-never-forgotten ride for kids.
The natural Birgitzer Alm to Adelshof run stretches for over three kilometres and, if your teens are skilled on a sled, there isn’t a theme park ride anywhere that comes close.
Or families who like to toboggan together through heart-melting landscapes, should put a pin in the Neder Gries, which runs along the edge of a stream to the pretty village of Juifenau.
Where to find this winter’s perfect family toboggan run
Hitch a ride for summit hiking on Patscherkofel ©Innsbruck Tourismus/Tom Bause
Even babies get to hike on an Innsbruck family ski holiday
Striding out is another thing that starts young round these parts, often before kids are walking on their own two feet. As a result there are some sensational routes to hike, even with babies and toddlers. Varied lengths let you pick paths that suit everyone’s stamina, sense of adventure or leg length, and crisp, clean air and views worth stopping for, as well as plenty of cosy restaurants, come as standard.
You can even take Lantern Hikes: just as lovely as they sound. There are easy hikes round Nativity Scenes and ones like Hafelekar Winter Walk which rewards your effort with panoramas of Innsbruck and sight of extreme skiers doing their thing.
Again, you’re going to find the hike you love best – or your kids will – but there are plenty of contenders, and the area’s network of cable cars and lifts mean even if you’re walking with younger children you can reach some astonishing heights.
The pick of family-friendly hiking routes in Innsbruck this winter
Mountain restaurant, Patscherkofel ©Innsbruck Tourismus/Tom Bause
Pack your Innsbruck family ski holiday with indoor adventures
An amazing outdoor playground all winter, Innsbruck also works very hard to keep families entertained indoors too and there are dozens of places that could have been designed just with kids in mind.
Audioversum literally takes you on a sensational journey into the fascinating world of sound, gives you access to incredible new technology and even has a Singing Wall which transforms your movements into tunes.
Swarovski Crystal Worlds sweeps you into 18 Chambers of Wonder and includes a one-of-a-kind, meditative installation by James Turrell, although guaranteed your kids will be most wowed by the giant in the garden, until they get wind of the new Playtower that is. Designed over four levels connected by a vertical climbing net, this playful structure lets kids swing, slide, rock, float climb and even challenge themselves with puzzles. Don’t worry, parents aren’t left out, there are cool hammocks for family chilling on the top level, and the crystalline facets covering the tower’s façades incorporate millions of tiny animal motifs: enchantment for all ages.
Some museums, like the tiny Heimatmuseum, are impossibly endearing while others are unbelievably grand: the Ambras Castle treasure trove of a collection is housed in the world’s oldest museum.
The Golden Roof you can gaze on from outside, then wander round The Golden Roof Museum to find out more. And the Imperial Palace isn’t just magnificent, it’s one of the most important building in Austria, so you definitely want to head indoors for that too.
In even better news this winter, many museums, galleries, historical sites and monuments are also included with the Innsbruck Card.
Explore more of what’s happening indoors in Innsbruck this winter
Innsbruck, Mariahilf ©Innsbruck Tourismus/Tommy Bause
Find the perfect places to stay with your family, all over Innsbruck
Innsbruck loads family ski holidays with activities from start to finish, then it also makes everything very easy for you, and that includes places to stay all over the region.
As you’d expect somewhere that famously combines city and mountains, the choice of accommodation is wide and ranges from luxury resorts and spas, design-forward boutique hotels and family run guesthouses right through to cheerful B&Bs, spacious family apartments, ski-in-ski-out hotels and gorgeous chalets.
Thanks to its success, the Welcome Card has more accommodation partners than ever this season, so staying in Innsbruck remains incredibly good value for families. Plus, all partners are clearly graded and cover a wide price range so finding something to fit your budget, ski style or kids is simple and quite a lot of fun too: who doesn’t like looking at nice places to stay in lovely destinations?
Start the search for your perfect Innsbruck sleep here
Skiing Kühtai| ©Innsbruck Tourismus/Eye5 – Jonas Schwarzwälder
Family-friendly comes naturally to restaurants, on and off the mountains
The words ‘capital of Tyrol’ are a clue to how many cosy mountain huts and restaurants Innsbruck serves up. As one of the biggest local traditions the competition is fierce, so you can expect standards from high to off-the-scale everywhere, and child-friendly is just what they do, as standard.
At the other end of the spectrum, Innsbruck’s capital status, coupled with its stunning location, has attracted some of Austria’s best chefs, and you’ll find them cooking up a storm in award-winning restaurants in the heart of the city – and in the mountains too.
Of course you have to try heartwarming regional dishes while you’re here, but if you have a craving for anything else from Asian to Italian, Innsbruck isn’t shy on international cuisine either.
And it’s a region that caters to every taste, doesn’t expect you to compromise if you’re vegan or vegetarian, offers gluten and lactose-free options on many menus, and even lets you eat at 2000m in the Nordkette mountain range. Come hungry is our advice.
Now find out how easy it is to plan an Innsbruck family ski holiday this winter
