Austria - Seefeld, Zell am See or Saalbach-Hinterglemm?

[MissMaryBennett]

Hi - really looking for advice. Considering Austria next year with kids 10-16. We like hiking, lake swimming, SUP and potentially a bit of sightseeing.

Holiday would be 10-14 days in July/August.

I have been looking at Saalbach, Seefeld and Zell am See. Has anyone been to any or more than one and could help me compare?

I presume the weather will be pretty similar? Do they each have discount cards like the Joker card that Saalbach has?

Are the lakes warm enough to swim in?

Is there a significant cost difference?

I am looking into car hire so I could potentially look at staying a week in 2 places.

What are the wet weather options?

Any other pearls of wisdom/hotel recommendations/anything else?

We’ve done Seefeld when dc were aged 9-14. Great break and depending on where you stay you can get free entry into the amazing Olympic swimming pool with water slides, free bus and local train travel and free mini golf. Good restaurants. Nice shops. Amazing cable cars. Not done the other location. We didn’t really have a rain issue - if rainy there’s the pool.

We never got to swim in the lake because when we were there the weather never got above 24 and no one else was swimming in it - I assume too cold at that temp. But there’s a heated outdoor pool you can use by the lake.

We stayed in Saalbach this summer with the DC (slightly younger than yours) and it was fab. Lovely restaurants around the place and they were doing a big job on paving the smaller town in advance of some skiing championships happening in Feb so I imagine it’ll be lovely for next year.

Joker card was so handy and we did a day trip to Zell am See which seems very nice.

Lovely hiking trails all around, free cable cars, and mountain biking seems pretty popular there too with some dedicated runs.

We absolutely loved it.

Last year we stayed at Zell am See for one week and a village half way to Saalbach-Hinterglemm the next. We visited also SH.

I would recommend staying at both, but if you only choose one destination, stay at ZAS. It was considerably warmer and there's a great lake to swim in. I think they were similar prices. Definitely stay somewhere that gives you the cards. You can't buy them independently - they are attached to specific accommodation, so check they are included where you are planning to stay.

The weather was not great when we were there - down to 9 degrees in SH in mid August ( much higher - thigh teen and low 20s in ZAS). In ZAS we had the card so we spent rainy days going up spectacular cable cars (sometimes we couldn't see anything because we were in cloud) playing cards and drinking hot chocolate at the top of the mountains. We went up a glacier which was cool ( both literally and figuratively) via extraordinary cable car trips. We did a lot of walking when the weather was cool.

It was surprisingly hard to get a range of perfectly normal vegetables in the shops. This may not bother you but was a bit tricky for me as a vegetarian.

Zell am See is absolutely gorgeous.

We had 8 nights in Zell am See at the start of the summer holidays this year.
Teens aged 14 and 16.
Summer card with the hotel - free cable cars, free local buses which are super efficient, Aircon, regular (car hire would have been pointless), free attractions, free entry to lidos (kids liked the one in Zell town best as it had a high diving board).
Fly to Salzburg and get the bus from the airport to Zell. There's a family ticket for 19 euros (it's the 24 HR Salzburg region ticket).

Salzburg itself was good for a 4 night stay too.

We spent a week at the Alpenparks accommodation at Viehofen just outside Zell Am See with DC 12 and 15 last month. We did pretty much what you describe @MissMaryBennett and we all really liked Zell. I'd recommend the accommodation too. It's well worth getting a "Somercard" - essentially a lift ticket, but also gives free/duscounted access to stuff like mini golf, boat trips, the lidos around the lake etc as well as free bus transport.

Seefeld is magical.

Stayed in Seefeld loved it. When we stayed there you could get a card from the tourist office do various trails and get the card stamped. You could then get various awards bronze silver and gold. Not that difficult to get.

I know both Zell am See and Saalbach-Hinterglemm really well.

Zell am See is the better choice if you want to spend time in and on the water. The lake is usually warm enough to swim in, either from the lido areas around the lake or just by jumping in from any suitable spot. There are places to rent boats and paddleboards - particularly in the area of the lake near the hospital and the Thumersbach side of the lake.

Saalbach-Hinterglemm doesn't have the lake (it does have an excellent outdoor pool area), but it has more lifts and cable cars and is a great place for mountain bikes and hiking. It also has Europe's largest high ropes and zip wire park (like Go Ape) located at the very end of the valley. The centre of Hinterglemm has been smartened up for the 2025 Skiing World Championships in February.

Both places have a free summer card for tourists - the Joker Card in S-H and the Summercard in Zell am See. You need to stay at an approved accommodation provider in order to get these cards, but they are available from hotels, B&Bs and self-catering apartments. All of the accommodation providers that offer these cards make a point of it - the cards are great as they give free access to the lifts, public transport, outdoor pools etc. and reductions at many other attractions. If I understand correctly, from summer 2025, tourists can also enjoy free public transport (trains and buses) throughout Salzburgerland, so visitors can get to Salzburg, Krimml waterfalls, Saalbach, Zell am See and loads of other places within the State of Salzburg. Of course, having a car might be more convenient, but public transport in the area is efficient and reliable.

Somewhere on MN is a thread asking about what to do in Zell am See (and Saalbach, the two are only 16km apart) if it rains on which I gave a whole list of activities.

I know nothing about Seefeld, other than plenty of MNetters have been there and rave about it too.

Thank you so much everyone. It sounds like there probably isn't a bad choice, which is great, but after reading all of these I think I will try for a week in Zell am See and a week in Saalbach Hinterglemm.

Id Be interested to know which airlines you used in the summer as I can only see Ryan air coming up at the moment that maybe because schedules for summer aren’t out yet? We’ve tossing up whether to go back to Morzine which is similar in France or try new area and explore Zell am See but didn’t really want to fly from Stanstead as it’s not easy to get to for us

Stansted to Salzburg with Ryanair.
Really cheap even booked only 6 weeks before we flew in late July.
About £100 each return.

At the moment I am looking at flying to Munich and either hiring a car, or probably staying a couple of days in Munich and then continuing by train/bus.

Hi. Your post is really helpful. I've been looking at saalbach and considering a family holiday next summer. What do you think is the best way to travel there from Salzburg airport? I'm not sure if hiring a car is a good idea because you get free local transport with the summer guest cards. And I actually like using local tranpost on holidays as I find it less stressful! But I think it takes a long time by trains to get to sallbach. Also, do you have any recommendation for accomdation please? We've stayed in a holiday village before in Switzerland and it was perfect. You get your own apartment but then there is a shared big pool (like a small version of centre parks if you have heard of that). Thanks for any information.

There are two public transport routes from Salzburg to Zell am See or Saalbach. Public transport in Austria is inexpensive reliable and very clean and accessible.

The #260 Postbus leaves from directly outside the Salzburg Airport terminal and takes just under 2 hours to reach Zell am See. To get to Saalbach, you change buses at the Maishofen crossroads and take the #680 bus up the Glemm valley to Saalbach and Hinterglemm. The buses are timed to connect and you can buy a through ticket. The buses are modern with aircon - on the #260 your luggage goes in the compartment underneath the bus. As this bus crosses the corner of Germany, remember to keep your passport with you in case there are any checks at the Austria/Germany border.

Alternatively the train from Salzburg Hbf (main station) to Zell am See also takes just under 2 hours - but first you have a 15 minute bus or taxi ride from the airport to the station. There are direct trains from Salzburg to Zell am See (and some departures that require one change) from where you take the #680 bus to Saalbach. The bus stop is directly opposite the railway station in Zell am See. There is also a taxi rank at the station - if you have missed the last #680 bus up the valley, then this is the only alternative.

Two major changes are happening in 2025. Firstly, as mentioned above, I believe that public transport will be free throughout the Salzburg State for tourists who have a Tourist Card such as the Saalbach Joker Card. As this "card" can also be downloaded to a phone, it should be possible for tourists to use this from Salzburg to Saalbach [I'll update this thread when I have more info]. Secondly, a new combined bus and railway station is being built at Maishofen (called Maishofen-Saalbach) in time for the skiing World Championships in February 2025. This might mean that more trains than previously will stop at this station (usually only a few local trains stop there), although the main regional station will still be Zell am See. The #680 bus will also serve this new station so that passengers can continue to Saalbach by bus.

Thank you so much. This is really very helpful. I think we'd prefer the train and bus.
If you were to chose, which area would you say is best for a family (children aged 7 and 10). We love swimming pools with slides, playgrounds, cable cars and walks down mountains, summer toboggans and waterfalls! Or are all the regions suitable for this?
Appreciate your help and knowledge of the area!

We've had numerous family holidays in Saalbach with children of a similar age and they love it. Zell am See and Saalbach are only 16km apart, but as I wrote in my first post on this thread, Zell am See has the lake while Saalbach is better for hiking. There is a summer toboggan run at Kaprun (next to the Maiskogel lift in the centre of Kaprun) which is 10 minutes from Zell or 30 minutes from Saalbach. Saalbach has a great outdoor pool complex with slides and play areas (free with the Joker Card) and many of the hotels also have pools - some with indoor-to-outdoor pools.

The largest waterfalls in the area are at Krimml, which is easily reached by bus or by a combined train and bus service (the last part of the rail line to Krimml is currently being repaired after being washed away by a mudslide) from Zell am See. On Thursdays in the summer some of the departures are pulled by a veteran steam locomotive.

@Havanananana thanks for being so helpful!
Would you recommend staying in the Saalbach or Hinterglemn part of Saalbach-Hinterglemn?

When you stay do you normally stay half board? I have a very fussy eater - what might the dinner part be like?

I am now looking at flying into Salzburg, staying there a couple of nights and only using public transport for the whole holiday. Are the Salzburg salt mines easy to get to on public transport?

We stay in a self-catering apartment, but eat out most days either at lunchtime or in the evening. Some hotels are now offering apartments ("Aparthotels") where guests can either self-cater or eat in the hotel (or elsewhere) and use all of the hotel facilities.

We stay in Saalbach but would just as happily stay in Hinterglemm. The villages are very similar - Saalbach is perhaps a bit more traditional in appearance. Both have cable cars that start in the centre of the village.

The Salzburg salt mines can be reached by public transport > Salzwelten Salzburg: Top excursion destination in Salzburg

@MissMaryBennett Yes! We took the train to Hallein then bus up to the mines.
You can get a family 24 HR regional transport ticket for 19 euros - we used that and then went to the lake on salzburg to finish the day.
This was worth a visit too.
https://www.hellbrunn.at/en/trick-fountains
You can use the city day ticket for that one.
It's really the best place for no car.
So easy to navigate.