Snowy short break ?? No skiing though!!!

[sievehead]

am thinking of taking dh and 2 little girls aged 4 and 7 salzburg for a short midweek break (out of school hols) as there are so many cheap flights about at the moment. Would like to take them somewhere so they can see some snow !! i have this idea of us all crunching through the snow, drinking lots of hot chocolate and wine and sitting in cosy cafes and restaurants, with a bit of sightseeing thrown in! any ideas anyone - salzburg top of my list at the moment, but not sure where else i could consider - this would be sometime in the first 2 weeks of March - not keen on the skiing thing though, tried it once before and made an arse of myself - plus it would probably be too expensive - we are looking to do this on a serious budget. Any suggestions much appreciated.....

bump..........

Only just seen this and have to rush out. I live in Austria so I'll give it a bit more thought and reply later.

Immediate thought is train from Salzburg to Zell am See, also look at www.tiscover.at (in English)this is the main Austrian tourist board site.

Alternative sugesstion is the train from Salzburg to Bad Gastein, 1 hour 36 mins, look at www.oebb.at for rail info.

Bad Gastein is a spa resort as well as a ski resort so should be plently to occupy you. Their website is www.gastein.at and there is a nice looking central B&B at www.gletschermuehle.at

...............I must warn you that snow is a pretty rare commodity right now (apart from the snow cannons) but there is some forecast next week .

Any more ideas lapsedrunner??? Think we will do salzburg for 2 nights and then somewhere like Zell am See for 2 nights or Gastein - just in case its wet and mild in Salzburg!! thanks for suggestions - not having much luck getting train information though from Salzburg to those places - any other suggestions? Just want snow and maybe a hot tub in pretty village for a couple of days - maybe a ski lesson for the kids ! Or a sleigh ride? What is St Wolfgang like? thanks for your help.....

The train info is easy to find on www.oebb.at, just click it onto the english site. Just type in anywhere you want to go to/from and it will bring up train & bus info.

Put "Salzburg Snow Shuttle" in to Google (or look at www.2salzburg.info)and you will get details of a special buses that do day trips every day from Salzburg to various ski resorts (until 19 Mar). That way you could stay in Salzburg and visit a couple of different resorts with no hassle. The bus costs 13 euro return (children half price, cheaper than train travel). The website even gives suggestions of which bus to take for sledging, swimming etc.

Haven't been to St Wolfgang but to be honest it's all nice.

Schladming also v. nice & good ski resort, about 1 hour 30 mins by train from Salzburg.