Austria offers a warm welcome, cute alpine villages, and great value when compared to the likes of France or Switzerland. Many Austrian towns are situated at relatively low altitudes but the modern and fast lift systems make it a breeze to get up to the slopes in most cases where you’ll find slopes to suit all abilities and tastes.
Austria is the true home of the apres ski party. It’s here more than anywhere else that you’ll find people dancing away in their ski boots and googles, knocking back the shots and thoroughly enjoying themselves, despite the bizarre Europop music. The first time you hear a Euro-dance remix of a Brian Adams track, you’ll know you were in Austria, probably with a shot of Jagermeister in your hand. People party hard here and baring a few exceptions it’s not the kind of place to go to be seen in the right gear. If you’ve gone home and got changed before hitting the bar, you’re doing it all wrong.
Austria is a firm favourite with Brits because of the friendly atmosphere, excellent slopes and short transfer times to many resorts. While there’s not quite the range of flights as there is to say Geneva, the major airports have plenty of flights and the timings make long weekend ski trips easily possible. Mayrhofen and St Anton both have transfer times of around an hour making them perhaps the easiest to get to which helps explain its popularity with party-minded Brits. It’s also home to the Snowbombing festival held here each year towards the end of the season.
Resorts such as Kitzbuhel and St Anton are household names for good reason. Kitzbuhel is home to the famous Hanenkamm downhill races, while St Anton is regularly rated as one of the best resorts in the world.