Ski Resorts in Austria by train

Three good reasons for travelling to the most popular ski resorts in Austria by train:

1. You can take long-distance express trains direct to a resort.
2. The number of international trains to Austria has increased in recent years.
3. The airports in Innsbruck and Salzburg don't have stations.

Also many stations offer exceptionally easy train to cable car / ski lift transfers.
At these rail stations, the cable cars up to the winter sports areas are within a few minutes walk from the trains:

• Kitzbühel Hahnenkamm Bahnhof
• Hopfgarten im Brixental Berglift Bahnhof
• Zell am See
• Bad Gastein.

The Salzburg - Tyrol Railway provides easy access by train to the multiple ski resorts which it passes through.
At its eastern end is Salzburg Hbf, the city's main railway station, which is linked to Salzburg Airport by trolleybus line / route 2.

At its western end is the railway junction station, Wörgl Hbf.
Some years ago the express trains which travel along the Wien/Vienna - Linz - Salzburg - Innsbruck route, were diverted away from the Salzburg - Tyrol Railway on to a faster route which takes them through Germany, but connections are available to and from these trains at Wörgl.
The trains on the München / Munich - Innsbruck - Brennero - destinations in Italy route also call in Wörgl.

Kitzbühel and Kirchberg are neighboring resort towns, which combined give access to 'the Kitski', which is one of the largest skiing areas in Austria.
Kitzbühel has three railway stations and from east to west they are;

1. Kitzbühel Schwarzsee Bahnhof, which lives up to its name as it's within a five minute walk of the lake, pictured above.
2. Kitzbühel Hahnenkamm Bahnhof, which is adjacent to the base station of the Bergbahn AG Kitzbühel - KitzSki cable car, so it's a good station to head to if you won't be staying in Kitzbühel or Kirchberg, but want to take an easy day trip to the slopes.
3. The main station in Kitzbühel, which is to the north of the town centre - and it's around a 15-20 minute walk to the base station of the KitzSki Hornbahn I cable car.

The station in Kirchberg im Tirol is connected to the town's two main ski lift / cable cars, the KitzSki Sesselbahn Gaisberg and the KitzSki Maierlbahn by bus route / line 4004.
Taking the bus is the alternative to a 20 -30 minute walk from the station, but there are gaps of more than an hour between each bus departure.

As you may guess from the name, the Skicircus Saalbach Hinterglemm Leogang Fieberbrunn is centred on Saalbach, a village without a railway station, but it is linked to Zell am See station (see below) by the bus route / line 680.
The buses also finish / start their journeys in Hinterglemm

Leogang has a railway station though it has a rural location at the end of a country lane, so booking ahead for collection by a local car service is pretty much essential.
Though if you're staying in a location with trains to Leogang and want to make a day trip to the Skicircus, the base station of the Steinbergbahn Leogang cable car, is around a 20 minute walk from the the rail station.

The SkiWelt Wilder Kaiser-Brixental, Tirol claims to be the largest ski area in Austria.
Two resort towns to the south of it, Brixen im Thale and Hogfgarten, have railway stations and lifts / cable cars up to the slopes.

Though the railway station in Brixen im Thale is at the opposite end of the village to the base stations of the SkiWelt Brixen im Thale - Bergbahn Brixen i Thale AG cable car and the Skiweltbahn - Talstation cable car.

In contrast the rail station named Hopfgarten im Brixental Berglift Bahnhof, lives up to its name - as it is less than a five minute walk from it to the the base station of the Hopfgarten Bergbahn cable car.
So if you want to take a day trip to the ski slopes, this station offers exceptionally easy access, particularly from Innsbruck.

Hopfgarten also has a railway station in the centre of the village.

Heading east from Kitzbühel two stops along the Salzburg - Tyrol Railway is St. Johann in Tirol, so staying here can be a good option if room rates in Kitzbühel are eye-wateringly high.
The station is within an easy walk of the centre of the village and the main cable car in Kitzbühel is a 10 minute train ride away at Kitzbühel Hahnenkamm Bahnhof.

The base station for the main cable car in St. Johann in Tirol - the Bergbahnen St. Johann in Tirol, is around a 10- 15 min walk from the rail station.
As most of the hotels in the village are between the two 'stations', St. Johann in Tirol is a location where taking the train to a ski resort is a particularly logical option.

For a climate friendly ski holiday this area ticks a lot of boxes:

• Zell am See is the main rail station on the Salzburg - Tyrol Railway.
• There are two cable car base stations within easy reach of the rail station, the Ebenbergbahn is a three minute walk away.
• the Pinzgauer Lokalbahn railway links the main station in Zell am See to a station named Schüttdorf Areitbahn, which is adjacent to the base station of the areitXpress cable car.
• Bus route / line 660 connects the rail station / bahnhof in Zell amd See to the village of Kaprun every 30 mins.
  The base station of the cable car in Kaprun gives access to the Kitzsteinhorn ski area.
  These factors plus the glorious lakeside location has led to Zell am See being a playground of the wealthy.
  Though the rail services on the Salzburg - Tyrol Railway (see below), make its possible to stay in alternative locations and access the skiing areas in Zell am See on day trips.

The regional (REX) and local (S-Bahn) trains on the Salzburg - Tyrol Railway offer four types of service (not all station calls are included in the summary):

• Every two hours daily there are 'REX' trains which take a Wörgl - Hopfgarten im Brixental Berglift - Brixen im Thale - Kirchberg in Tirol - Kitzbühel - St. Johann in Tirol - Leogang - Saalfelden - Zell am See ↔ Schwarzach-St.Veit - Bischofshofen - Salzburg route
• In the hours when there are no express trains (see below) travelling along the line, there are 'REX' trains which take a Wörgl - Hopfgarten im Brixental Berglift - Brixen im Thale - Kirchberg in Tirol - Kitzbühel - St. Johann in Tirol - Leogang - Saalfelden - Zell am See ↔ Schwarzach-St.Veit route; connect to and from Salzburg
• Every hour daily there are S-Bahn trains which take a Brennero - Innsbruck - Jenbach - Wörgl - Hopfgarten im Brixental Berglift - Brixen im Thale - Kirchberg in Tirol - Kitzbühel - St. Johann in Tirol - Hochfilzen route.
  These are the local trains which call at every station between Worgl and St. Johann in Tirol, so they serve the multiple stations in Kitzbühel. plus the station the centre of the village at Hopfgarten.
• Every two hours on Monday to Friday there are S-Bahn trains which take a Saalfelden - Zell am See - Schwarzach-St.Veit - Bischofshofen - Salzburg - Bad Reichenhall route
  Note that these two S-Bhan services do not connect with each other, so the only trains which travel Kitzbühel ↔ Zell am See are the 'REX' services and the express trains.

Long-distance trains

These long - distance trains also make calls in Kirchberg in Tirol, Kitzbühel, St. Johann in Tirol and Zell am See.

(1) On winter Fridays the Alpen Express departs from multiple stations in The Netherlands, including Den Haag HS, Amsterdam, Utrecht and Eindhoven; and then arrives on Saturday morning at multiple stations along this line.

(2) On Friday evenings from December 22nd to March 29th, Swedish train company Snälltåget offers a direct overnight train to the Austrian Alps.
It departs from Malmo and calls at Høje Taastrup station in the suburbs of Copenhagen / Kobenhavn, at Odense and in Hamburg Hbf.
Though it does not call in Kirchberg in Tirol.

(3) The 'Transalpin' EC train departs from Zurich HB station daily.
This train typically departs from Innsbruck at around 12:20pm.

(4) A daily IC train on an Innsbruck ↔ Graz route, which typically departs from Innsbruck at around 08:20am.

(5) On Fridays from late December to late March an ICE train takes a Hamburg - Hannover - Wurzburg - Nurnberg - Munchen - Wörgl - Schwarzach-St.Veit route.

(6) On Saturdays from late December to late March an ICE train takes a Munchen - Wörgl - Schwarzach-St.Veit route.

(7) During the winter season there is one Railjet train on a Friday and two Railjet trains on a Saturday which take a Wien/Vienna - Linz - Salzburg - Schwarzach-St.Veit - Zell am See - Wörgl route.

Travel summaries

(1) From Innsbruck to Brixen im Thale, Kirchberg in Tirol, Kitzbühel and St. Johann in Tirol:
There is a daily service of local S-Bahn trains, which typically departs hourly, plus a daily direct EC train and a daily direct IC train.
Though in the hours when the direct EC and IC trains aren't an option, the quicker alternative to the local trains, is to take a Railjet train to Wörgl - and connect there for the 'REX' train service, which will be heading to Salzburg via Zell am See.

(2) From Innsbruck to Zell am See:
There is a daily direct EC train and daily direct IC train.
In every other hour take a Railjet train to Wörgl and connect there for Zell am See.

(3) From Salzburg to Zell am See:
In every other hour daily, there is a direct 'REX' train, but in the alternative hours connections need to be made at Schwarzach-St.Veit.
On Monday to Friday in these alternative hours, there are also slower, but direct S-Bahn trains.

(4) From Salzburg to Brixen im Thale, Kirchberg in Tirol, Kitzbühel and St. Johann in Tirol:
There are direct 'REX' trains available in every other hour.
There is also an hourly option of taking a fast Railjet train to Wörgl to make a connection there.

Additional Connections

• The nightly Nightjet trains from Amsterdam, Hamburg and Koln/Cologne to Innsbruck all call in Wörgl.
• Every two hours the EC trains on the Munchen - Verona route call in Wörgl.
• Every two hours the trains on the Salzburg - Villach - Klagenfurt route call at Schwarzach-St.Veit
• There is a daily EC train between Frankfurt (Main) and Schwarzach-St.Veit, which also calls in Mannheim, Stuttgart, Ulm and Augsburg.
• From Dec 10th there will be a daily ICE train on a Berlin - Frankfurt (Main) - Stuttgart - Munchen - Wörgl - Innsbruck route.

The Arlberg Railway provides the access to the ski resorts in The Tyrol, as it provides an east to west route from Innsbruck to Feldkirch and beyond - to the Swiss border, to Bregenz and on to the German border at Lindau.

So Innsbruck is very much the gateway city to the popular resorts listed below - Innsbruck Airport is linked to the rail station every 20 mins by bus route / line F.

But the train can be the the logical choice for accessing the winter sports areas to the west of Innsbruck, as this railway is used by long-distance trains from and to multiple cities, including Frankfurt (Main), Koln, Salzburg, Stuttgart, Wien/ Vienna and Zurich.

The largest skiing area in Austria also has second to none access of any ski resort by train.
Ski Arlberg has the village of St. Anton am Arlberg on its southern edge. It is the location of a rail station, which is exclusively served in every hour during the day by long-distance express trains!
The station is within a 5 - 10 minute walk of the centre of the village; and within a 10 - 15 minute walk of three state-of-the art base stations of cable cars, which lead up to the slopes:

1. The base station of the Galzigbahn cable car, which is the main connection to the wider Ski Alberg area
2. The base station of the Gampenbahn cable car
3. The base station of the Rendlbahn cable car, which leads up to a seperate set of slopes to the south of the village.

Ischgl doesn't have a rail station, but it is linked to Landeck-Zams station every 30 mins by bus route / line 260 - in a journey time of 53 minutes.

What gives Ischl its exceptionally easy access by train + bus, is that all of the express trains on the Arlberg Railway call at Landeck-Zams station - plus there are also typically hourly regional 'REX' train services between Innsbruck and Landeck-Zams.
Therefore the journey from Innsbruck rail station to Ischl by public transport typically takes around 2hr 15mins and is available hourly.

Ötztal station is less than a 40 min journey from Innsbruck by train and many of the long-distance trains which use the Arlberg Railway also serve it.
Bus route/line 320 connects Ötztal station to Sölden every 30 minutes in a journey time of 1hr 5mins.

The only train services which travel the full length of the Arlberg Railway are express train services and all of them call in Landeck-Zams station:

The daytime services are:

(1) In most hours there are Railjet RJX express trains from Wien/Vienna some of which commence their journeys in the station at Vienna airport - and one train per day commences its journey in Budapest; and another commences its journey in Bratislava.
All of these trains also call at Linz and Salzburg.
Most of these trains also call at St.Anton or Ötztal.

(2) Every other hour Railjet trains depart from Zurich though not all of these trains call in St.Anton or Ötztal.
Connections into these trains enable a London to an Austrian ski resort journey by train in a single day.
There are also trains to Zurich from numerous other cities including Amsterdam, Koln/Cologne, Milan and Paris.

(3) There is the daily 'Transalpin' service on a Zurich ↔ Graz route which makes calls in St.Anton and Ötztal.
This train also provides a direct link to and from the ski resorts on the Salzburg - Tyrol railway (see above).

(4) There is a daily Railjet train from Frankfurt (Main) which also calls in Heidelberg and Stuttgart.
Though this train does not call in St.Anton or Ötztal, but good connections are available to both stations at Landeck-Zams.

(5) A daily ICE train from Koln / Cologne which also departs from Bonn, Koblenz and Mainz.
This train does also call at both St.Anton and Ötztal.

(6) On Saturdays from early December to late April, a Railjet departs from Munchen/Munich in the afternoon and this train also calls in Ötztal and St Anton.

By night train

(1) On winter Fridays the Alpen Express departs from multiple stations in The Netherlands, including Den Haag HS, Amsterdam, Utrecht and Eindhoven; and then arrives on Saturday morning at multiple stations along this line including Ötztal, Landeck-Zams and St.Anton.

(2) The nightly Nightjet trains from Amsterdam, Hamburg and Koln/Cologne to Innsbruck have connections in Innsbruck on to Ötztal, Landeck-Zams and St.Anton.

Innsbruck is the rail journey hub of The Tyrol in western Austria,
In addition to the Railjet and Westbahn trains trains from Wien/Vienna, from Linz and from Salzburg - there are international trains to Innsbruck and from Innsbruck which connect the city to multiple locations.
These international locations with direct trains to and from Innsbruck, include - Amsterdam (night train), Bologna, Budapest, Frankfurt (Main), Hamburg (night train), Koln / Cologne, Munchen / Munich, Rome (night train), Venice, Verona and Zurich
From Dec 10th there will be a daily ICE train on a Berlin - Frankfurt (Main) - Stuttgart - Munchen - Wörgl -Jenbach - Innsbruck route.
Due to the connections available in Zurich, it's possible to travel from London to Innsbruck in a single day by train.

There are pistes just 20 mins from Innsbruck city centre, up on Nordkette - which can be accessed from the northern edge of the heart of the city on a combination of funicular and cable car.

So Innsbruck can be a great base for a winter sports holiday, as it combines a city break with access to the slopes.

Though there are also other skiing areas within easy reach of the city, by taking local trains from its main station, Innsbruck Hbf.
So once you have taken the bus from Innsbruck airport, you can transfer to trains on to multiple resorts.
Or you can spend your entire holiday in Innsbruck and take a day trip or two to the easily accessible resorts to the east of the city.

There are typically two local trains per hour from Innsbruck to the station named Brixlegg, that have a journey time of around 40 minutes.
From Brixlegg station the bus route / line 4074 goes to the base station of the Wiedersbergerhornbahn cable car.
The journey time on the bus is around 20 minutes, though buses don't meet every train from Innsbruck.

Though if you use the nationwide journey planner to work out the optimum connections, with 'Alpbach Wiedersbergerhornbahn Talstation' as the final destination - you can be making the most of the Skijuwel pistes within 90 minutes of departing Innsbruck Hbf rail station.
If Alpbach is your chosen holiday location, you can be in the village within two hours of leaving Innsbruck airport.

Connect in Wörgl if you will heading to Brixlegg by train from Munchen, Salzburg or Wien / Vienna.

In Switzerland accessing a Swiss ski resort by train typically involves making a train to train connection into a mountain railway.
In Austria that isn't as common, but there is one railway which links mainline trains to multiple winter sports locations - the Zillertalbahn.
It can be accessed at Jenbach station, which is a very easy journey by train from Innsbruck - end-to-end tickets can be booked in Innsbruck Hbf, which include the regular OBB trains and the Zillertalbahn trains.

Jenbach is also a station call for the long-distance trains which take these routes:

• Vienna airport - Vienna city centre - Linz - Salzburg - Jenbach ↔ Innsbruck - Feldkirch - Bregenz
• Munich - Jenbach ↔ Innsbruck - Bolzano - Verona - Bologna / Innsbruck
• Zurich - Feldkirch - Innsbruck ↔ Jenbach - Zell am See - Radstadt - Graz
• Frankfurt (Main) - Heidelberg - Stuttgart - Lindau - Bregenz - Innsbruck ↔ Jenbach - Salzburg - Linz - Wien / Vienna
• On Friday evenings from December 22nd to March 29th, Swedish train company Snälltåget offers a direct overnight train to the Austrian Alps.
  It departs from Malmo and calls at Høje Taastrup station in the suburbs of Copenhagen / Kobenhavn, at Odense and in Hamburg Hbf.
  On early Saturday afternoon it arrives in Jenbach.

At Kaltenbach

Kaltenbach-Stumm station, a 25 minute ride from Jenbach, is within a 10 minute walk of the base station of the Hochzillertal Bergbahnen 1 ski lift to the Hochzillertal/Hochfügen skiing area.

At Mayrhofen

The rail station in Mayrhofen is at the opposite end of the village to the base stations of the cable cars:

• the Ahornbahn which lives up to its name with access to the Mount Ahorn skiing area.
• the Penkenbahn - Mayrhofner Bergbahnen also lives up to its name, as it provides the access to Mount Penken.

So other skiing areas are easier day trips from Innsbruck, but for those who want to holiday within a ski resort, Mayrhofen offers a great combination of well regarded pistes, a choice of accommodation and easy access by train!

At Zell am Ziller

Similarly to Mayrhofen the rail station in Zell Am Ziller is on the opposite side of the village to the cable car base stations.
The connection between the trains and these cable cars is provided by bus line / route 8330 which goes from the station to the stop named, 'Rohrberg Rosenalmbahn'.
An indicator of the distance between the rail station and the cable cars on foot, is that the bus ride takes five minutes.

The two cable cars by the village are withing a 5 minute walk of each other:
1: The Rosenalmbahn provides the connection to the Zilltertal Arena winter sports area, and
2: The Karspitzbahn

Salzburg is located on the main railway route in Austria that connects Wien / Vienna to Innsbruck, but there are also two other major rail routes to the south of the city, which provides access to multiple popular skiing areas.
Trains head south from Salzburg towards the spectacular Tauern Valley Railway, and this route has connections with two other railways:

1. From Bischofshofen, the Enns Valley Railway heads east towards Leoben and Graz.
2. From Schwarzach-St. Veit station, the Salzburg - Tyrol Railway heads west to Wörgl.
   Multiple resort towns along this line have stations, but as explained above, those to the west of Zell am See such as Hopfgarten, Brixen im Thale - Kirchberg in Tirol, Kitzbühel and St. Johann, have more frequent trains from Innsbruck and Wörgl.

Though Saalfden and Zell am See typically have hourly trains from Salzburg on Monday to Friday - but the direct trains usually only operate in every other hour on weekends.

Salzburg Hbf, the city's main railway station, is linked to Salzburg Airport by trolleybus line / route 2.

One of the three resort villages which provide the access to the Snow Space Salzburg winter sports area is St Johann-Aplendorf.
It is connected to St Johann im Pongau railway station by bus line /route 540.
The bus stop named 'St.Johann Abzw Alpendorf' is by the base station of the cable car - and the journey from the rail station only takes around 6 minutes.

St Johann im Pongau railway station is between Bischofshofen and Schwarzach-St. Veit, so it has hourly local trains from Salzburg HBf, which have a journey time of around 1hr 10mins - though in most hours there are also faster trains which have a journey time of only 50 - 55mins.

Some of those faster trains are international EC services, because there are daily direct trains to St Johann im Pongau from Frankfurt (Main), Munchen / Munich and Zurich.
There are also two daily direct trains from Innsbruck which have a journey time of around 1hr 20mins.

On Friday evenings from December 22nd to March 29th, Swedish train company Snälltåget offers a direct overnight train to the Austrian Alps.
It departs from Malmo and calls at Høje Taastrup station in the suburbs of Copenhagen / Kobenhavn, at Odense and in Hamburg Hbf.
It arrives in St Johann im Pongau on Saturday mornings.

A footbridge at the south end of Bad Gastein railway station connects it to the base station of the Stubnerkogelbahn cable car, which is the link between the town and the Schlossalm - Angertal - Stubnerkogel winter sports area.
So the pistes here have exceptionally easy access from Salzburg, thanks to the express trains which have a journey time of around 1hr 30mins.
Though they typically depart only every other hour, but time it right and you can easily spend the whole afternoon skiing here on a day trip from Salzburg.

For those that want to make Bad Gastein the location of a longer stay, those express trains commence and finish their journeys at destinations beyond Salzburg.
Hence there are direct trains to Bad Gastein from Frankfurt (Main), Koln / Cologne, Munchen / Munich and Wien / Vienna - including direct trains from the station in Vienna Airport.

The elevation at Obertauern gives its skiing area an exceptionally long season. which can reward the effort required to reach it.
The access by public transport is to take a train to Radstadt station where a connection can be made with bus route / line 280.
Though the bus journey only takes around 25 - 30 minutes and there are stops by the base stations of the multiple cable cars in Obertauern.
Radstadt station has an hourly train service;

• In one hour there are local trains from Bischofshofen, which have connections from Salzburg for a total journey time of around 1hr 25mins
• In the other hour there are express trains from Salzburg, or from Innsbruck - one of which is the 'Transalpin Express' that typically departs from Zurich at around 08:40.

On Friday evenings from December 22nd to March 29th, Swedish train company Snälltåget offers a direct overnight train to the Austrian Alps.
It departs from Malmo and calls at Høje Taastrup station in the suburbs of Copenhagen / Kobenhavn, at Odense and in Hamburg Hbf.
It arrives in Bischofshofen on Saturday mornings for connections on to Radstadt.

Fifteen minutes east of Radstadt by train is Schladming station which is the village that provides the main access to the Schladming-Dachstein network of pistes and winter sports areas.

The base station of the Planai West cable car is within a 15 minute walk of the railway station - so it's possible to be skiing on the slopes of Planai mountain, not much more than two hours after departing from the main station in Salzburg.
There are typically five direct trains per day from Salzburg to Schladming and the journey takes less than 1hr 40mins.
There are also two direct trains from Innsbruck - one of which is the 'Transalpin Express' that typically departs from Zurich at around 08:40.
All of these express trains travel beyond Schladming to and from Graz.
So you want to head to Schladming from Wien/Vienna you can make connections into these trains at Leoben.

If you will be at the main station in Salzburg when no direct trains are available, every other hour there are local trains to Schladming from Bischofshofen, which have connections from Salzburg.

On Friday evenings from December 22nd to March 29th, Swedish train company Snälltåget offers a direct overnight train to the Austrian Alps.
It departs from Malmo and calls at Høje Taastrup station in the suburbs of Copenhagen / Kobenhavn, at Odense and in Hamburg Hbf.
It arrives in Bischofshofen on Saturday mornings for connections on to Schladming.