If you are keen on skiing then you have probably heard of Kitzbuhel and its famous Hahnenkamm downhill run. It has its own one hundred and sixty kilometers of runs, but nearly 700 kilometers if you include all the associated “Kitzbuheler Alpen” resorts. The resort also provides its guests with a huge range of attractions - lots of cross-country, reasonable boarder facilities, great intermediate and expert skiing, plenty of off-piste for better skiers, a wide variety of terrain and slopes, great nightlife, accommodation for all budgets, excellent restaurants on and off the snow, short transfers and attractive buildings.
Kitzbuhel Skiing Holidays
It has and a few inconveniences, some of which can slightly undermine the skiing/boarding. The snow record is not so rich and low altitude pistes, even with loads of snowmaking, can suffer. Also due to its fame, there can be long queues and crowds, even though lifts have been updated. Finally, the resort itself is a bit of a sprawled and it is worth checking the location of your destination before booking. Overall, there is a plenty of magic entertainment and fun. The majestic mountain scenery forms the perfect background for the magnificent old town. In the summer the surrounding area of Kitzbühel provides numerous outdoor activities for all ages and interests, such as Nordic walking, trekking, golfing, swimming, tennis and much more.
Kitzbühel used to be a simple village with a bunch of houses, but after the Prince of Whales and Duke of Windsor discovered it in 1925 and then came back later with Mrs. Simpson, the resort became really famous. The place however has been inhabited many, many years before that. Some findings show that in the mountains around people used to mine and trade copper. This was from the Bronze Age to the 9th century B.C. Firstly the village is historically mentioned in 1165 under the name Chizbühel. The village was part of Bavaria until 1504 and then the Roman Emperor Maximilian I gained control over it and made it a part of Tyrol.
During the 15th century Kitzbuhel again became a mining centre, but this time for copper and silver which made it a rich place for years ahead. You can still see some mining facilities and houses of miners from that time as well as some of the town’s gates.
You should know that Kitzbühel is not very cheap resort but you can get a Guest Card from the tourist office. They will give it to you if you are staying in a hotel in the resort and it will grant you some discounts and even free passes.
Apart from the numerous winter sports you can practice around the resort, there is also a ski school for the smallest children. Schi-schule Rote Teufel, Museumkeller, Hinterstadt is going to give the kids a perfect training. Also popular there is the après-ski (or simply after ski) which represents having good time in bars or clubs after skiing.
During the summer you can practice numerous sports, visit the Wild Life Park at Aurach or go swimming in the Schwarzsee (Black Lake). The lake is located only 15 minutes away on foot and contains pure alpine water which only looks dark due to the peat on the bottom. It is around 8 meters deep with total territory of 6,5 hectares and there you can find beaches and Seiwald Bootverleitung. From the latter you can hire row boats or boats with engines and fish or lie under the sun in the boat. These options are not available from September till May.
If you want to see a magnificent collection of plants from the area you should visit the Alpine Flower Garden Kitzbühel. It is located at 1 830 meters elevation and in it you will find different kinds of gentian, gorse, heather and lichens gathered from the slopes of the Kitzbüheler Horn. The garden is open from May till September and the entrance is free. You can take the Seilbahn Kitzbüheler cable car to the highest station of the garden and then go down on foot by passing through the whole garden and reaching to the gondola on the middle station.
Kitzbuhel Transportation
The nearest airports are eighty kilometers away; these are the airports in Salzburg and Innsbruck.
By train from Innsbruck you will travel an hour and from Salzburg – 2 hours and a half. The trains are frequents and some are expresses.
There are many buses circling the area and the most used one connects Kitzbühel and St Johann in Tyrol for about 25 minutes. There are also buses from the train station in Salzburg and the trip to Kitzbuhel lasts a little more than 2 hours.
Kitzbühel is 449 kilometers away from Vienna and 100 kilometers away from Innsbruck. If you use a car from Innsbruck, you should take Autobahn A12 until you reach Route 312 heading to Ellmau. After passing Ellmau, you should continue along Route 342 south to Kitzbühel.
Visitor Information
The tourist office in the resort is located at Hinterstadt 18 and is open throughout the whole week.
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