It’s a few days before Christmas and all we can think of is spending the holidays somewhere in the snow. Vienna is grey, rainy and cold, but no snow flake in sight. The weather forecast predicts snow only from an altitude of 1,500 meters upwards. Now the tricky thing is to find hotels or chalets that are up high enough. No Google search has helped us, so we decided to put together a list of Austria’s highest altitude mountain hotels and chalets that are located all the way from 1,300 meters to over 2,300 meters above sea level – for a guaranteed white Christmas!
Where snow is guaranteed in Austria at Christmas
Usually the first snow graces Austria deep down into the valleys at the end of November or beginning of December, but in 99% of cases most of it melts away again before Christmas. But that’s not true for those places that are lucky enough to be located high enough in Austria’s alps. While it’s easy to sleep even above 3,000 meters elevation in summer most of those alpine huts close in winter. So finding places to sleep up above the magical snow line is a bit of a challenge around Christmas.
In this blogpost we will share the highest altitude hotels and chalets – to stay above the snow line for the Christmas holidays in Austria.
Why to stay above 1,300 meters elevation?
Why did we choose 1,300 meters as a threshold? Well, just to be safe! This year (2023) the snow line is predicted to be at around 1,200 meters at Christmas, but that’s just because we’re lucky and there’s a lot of precipitation right around the Christmas holidays. To be safe it’s better to stay a bit higher up as not every year’s the same.
So without further ado, here’s the (non-exhaustive) list of hotels, that are located in the mountains in Austria above 1,300 meters sea level (starting at the top).
List of hotels above 2,000 meters
Wedelhütte Zillertal (2,350m)
- Location: Hochzillertal, Tirol
- Sea level: 2,350 meters
- Hotel type: Luxuriously furnished alpine hut in a unique location up at the mountain directly at the slopes with elegantly furnished suites (jacuzzi included) and culinary full service
- Access: By gondola
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Berghotel Rudolfshütte, Hohe Tauern (2,315m)
- Location: Nationalpark Hohe Tauern, Weißsee, Salzburg
- Sea level: 2,315 meters
- Hotel type: Former alpine hut transformed into hotel, basic rooms
- Access: Only by gondola
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Hotel Riml, Hochgurgl (2,200m)
- Location: Hochgurgl, Tirol (The highest located ****S hotel in the Alps)
- Sea level: 2,200 meters
- Hotel type: Adults only 4 star superior hotel with spa
- Access: By car
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TOP Hotel Hochgurgl, Hochgurgl (2,150m)
- Location: Hochgurgl, Tirol
- Sea level: 2,150 meters
- Hotel type: Exclusive Ski-in/Ski-out resort directly at one of the longest slopes of the skiing area, with 30 rooms and 41 suites and a large spa area
- Access: By car
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Hotel Schöne Aussicht, Hochsölden (2,090m)
- Location: Hochsölden, Tirol
- Sea level: 2,090 meters
- Hotel type: Modern 4 star superior hotel located in Hochsölden above the ski resort town of Sölden at higher elevation
- Access: By car
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Edelweiss Obergurgl (2,000m)
- Location: Obergurgl, Tirol
- Sea level: 2,000 meters
- Hotel type: Luxurious spa hotel with gourmet kitchen
- Access: By car
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MOOSHAUS Winterresort, Kühtai (2,000m)
- Location: Kühtai, Tirol
- Sea level: 2,000 meters
- Hotel type: Modernised alpine hotel in Austria’s highest skiing resort village with a 360 degree sky pool on the rooftop
- Access: By car
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List of hotels above 1,500 and until 2,000 meters
Seekarhaus Wellness & Family Hotel, Obertauern (1,800m)
- Location: Obertauern, Salzburg
- Sea level: 1,800 meters
- Hotel type: Family owned hotel since 1957 – luxuriously furnished and located exclusively above the village with ski-in and ski-out
- Access: By car
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Platzl Alm, Hochzillertal (1,790m)
- Location: Hochzillertal, Tirol
- Sea level: 1,790 meters
- Hotel type: Alpine hut transformed into small hotel with 8 rooms above the mountain skiing station
- Access: By gondola
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Feuerberg Mountain Resort (1,769m)
- Location: Gerlitzen Alp, Carinthia
- Sea level: 1,769 meters
- Hotel type: Huge family hotel with direct access to slope, spa and infinity pool as well as private chalets
- Access: By car (4 wheel drive recommended)
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Hotel Hochschober, Turracher Höhe (1,763m)
- Location: Turracher Höhe, Carinthia
- Sea level: 1,763 meters
- Hotel type: One of the most famous wellness hotels in Austria, but also located in one of the highest elevated ski resorts
- Access: By car
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Hotel & Chalet MONTANA, Oberlech (1,750m)
- Location: Oberlech, Tirol
- Sea level: 1,750 meters
- Hotel type: 4* Superior Hotel in a car free village
- Access: By gondola
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Skilodge, Oberlech (1,650m)
- Location: Oberlech, Tirol
- Sea level: 1,650 meters
- Hotel type: 10 rooms in a modern ski lodge with ski-in ski-out in a car free village
- Access: By gondola
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Almhotel Hierzegger, Tauplitzalm (1,650m)
- Location: Bad Mitterndorf Tauplitzalm, Styria
- Sea level: 1,650 meters
- Hotel type: Basic alpine hotel, but located at one of the most beautiful alps in Austria
- Access: By car
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Aurelio Lech, Oberlech (1,500m)
- Location: Oberlech, Tirol
- Sea level: 1,500 meters
- Hotel type: Highly exclusive 5 star superior luxury hotel with chalet and ski-in ski-out
- Access: By car
Appart & Chalets Montana (1,500m)
- Location: Hochfügen, Tirol
- Sea level: 1,500 meters
- Hotel type: Chalets and apartments with catering from their own Montana Alm restaurant
- Access: By car
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List of hotels between 1,300 and 1,500 meters
Hotel Madrisa, Gargellen (1,430m)
- Location: Gargellen, Vorarlberg
- Sea level: 1,430 meters
- Hotel type: Family-run traditional alpine hotel with next generation taking over
- Access: By car
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TRIFORÊT alpin.resort, Hinterstoder (1,410m)
- Location: Hinterstoder, Upper Austria
- Sea level: 1,410 meters
- Hotel type: Brand new opening of a hyper modern A-Frame hotel and chalets
- Access: By car (attention: the way up to the hotel is an alpine toll road, that’s only accessible with snow chains. Those can be rented and mounted at the gas station “Schmeissl” down in the valley close to the road access point.)
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Almdorf Seinerzeit, Patergassen (1,400m)
- Location: Patergassen, Nockberge, Carinthia
- Sea level: 1,400 meters
- Hotel type: Rustic alpine village with separate chalets and huts with hot pots
- Access: By car
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Das Central, Sölden (1,368m)
- Location: Sölden, Tirol
- Sea level: 1,368 meters
- Hotel type: Newly renovated luxurious alpine hotel in the village of Sölden (just reopened in November 2023 after extensive refurbishment)
- Access: By car
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Gletscher Chalets, Stubai (1,360m)
- Location: Neustift im Stubaital, Tirol
- Sea level: 1,360 meters
- Hotel type: Rustic alpine chalets close to Stubai glacier skiing arena
- Access: By car
Gradonna ****s Mountain Resort Châlets & Hotel (1,350m)
- Location: Kals am Großglockner, Osttirol
- Sea level: 1,350 meters
- Hotel type: Alpine design hotel and chalets located with views of Austria’s highest mountain
- Access: By car
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Edelweiss Chalets at Hotel First Peak, Zauchensee (1,350m)
- Location: Zauchensee, Vorarlberg
- Sea level: 1,350 meters
- Hotel type: Two separate family chalets for up to 8 people operated by Hotel First Peak (which is located next door)
- Access: By car
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Although a lot of research went into the list it most likely is not fully exhaustive, so please feel free to share your tips in the comments and we will make sure to include them!
Our take-away: Where to book a white Christmas get-away
White Christmas is unfortunately harder to come by in Austria – and this trend will continue. We will see the snow line move further up year by year in our lifetime. Yet many skiing resorts and villages are located well below 1,000 meters elevation – as this used to be sufficient for a dense snow cover in winter or at least access to gondolas and slopes.
Recent years have also shown that the masses of snow and lower temperatures arrive later in winter, usually only after Christmas at some point in January and well into February. So for a white Christmas one has to move up higher! A disclaimer: The 1,300 meters threshold in this article isn’t a scientifically verified elevation for a snow guarantee. In some years a lower elevation might also be sufficient, in other years you might have to move higher up.
Especially if you want to book your stay well in advance and there’s no weather forecast available for Christmas yet we would recommend to rather book a place that’s located at a higher altitude just to be sure you won’t be disappointed.
We hope this blog post was helpful so you could find some of Austria’s highest winter resorts!
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