In Austria, the winter season means a great tourist diversity, for young and old. Winter sports play an important role, but Austria has much more to offer. Cities like Vienna, Graz or Salzburg are waiting for their guests with Christmas fairs detached as if from stories, being some of the the most beautiful Christmas Fairs in Europe.
Lands such as Lower Austria, Styria and Burgenland invite their guests to discover the peace and relaxation offered by the cold season, but also the magical world of animals during nature tours. You can go skiing, hiking, cross-country skiing or walk in the snow, where idyllic landscapes create a dream backdrop.
Preparations for the Austrian winter season
Tyrol, Vorarlberg and Salzburger Land stand out through the great ski regions, as well as with the traditions, culture, cuisine, but also the typical hospitality of the areas. Family offerings abound in Upper Austria. In its well-known ski regions, activities for children and adults are promoted, such as horse riding or sledding. For relaxation after sports, in Styria, Carinthia and Burgenland there are many cafes, pubs and restaurants for unmissable dining experiences.
This year, the start of the winter season will be spectacular. Under the hashtag #winterlove or #frompassionoftheirearth, Österreich Werbung organizes together with its local partners the biggest international promotion campaign. Austria allocates 10 million euros for the promotion of the winter tourist season.
News for the winter season 2021-2022
- The new cable car in SalzburgerLand, "Panorama Link", connects the resorts of Flachau / Wagrain and Flachauwinkl / Kleinarl, creating one of the largest and most varied winter regions in Europe.
- In Styria, in the Kreischberg ski region, guests now enjoy a gondola with 161 state-of-the-art cabins, with 10 seats each. The distance covered by it is 3,8 km.
- The Silvretta Arena ski areas in Paznaun and the Wilder Kaiser-Brixental SkiWelt in Tyrol are two exceptional regions, which have received numerous awards for their sustainable approach to tourism.
- Lower Austria offers a contrasting program to the hustle and bustle of the slopes: here you can undertake various winter hikes, some of them even on snowshoes, so you can fully enjoy the fairytale landscape.
The state of Carinthia invites us to various activities besides skiing, for example skating on Lake Weissensee, which becomes the largest ice-covered area in Europe during the winter.
- An example of the many facets of a winter holiday in Austria is provided by Upper Austria. A single ski pass covers several leisure options, from skiing on Mount Fuerkogel to surfing on the Riverwave.
- On the Vorarlberg winter hiking route between Lech and Zug you can experience the theater in a completely different context. Here, a theater troupe presents stories from the history of Lech village.
- In recent months, about 10 new hotels have opened in Vienna. The palette extends from the elegant air of the 1920s that can be felt in the "Hotel Motto" to the modern atmosphere in the "Superbude" Hotel, or to the musical air in the "Jaz in the City".
- In Burgenland, the participating accommodation units offer the Burgenland card free of charge from the first night of booked accommodation. It makes available to the public numerous free offers or discounts to the approximately 150 partners included in the program.
Austria has set the rules for the winter season 2021-2022 in the current context of the COVID-19 pandemic! Austria has activated the rules of the 3G scenario, and rapid antigen tests will no longer be recognized upon entry into the country.