Austria

[Roosty38]

Hi
My husband, myself and 2 kids 8yrs and 4 yrs are wanting to try Austria next year but really stuck on where to go as there are so many options also if its enjoyable with young kids? Happy to drive a couple hours from airport as we hiring a car. We basically want somewhere that's close to a town like 20 mins drive. Also walking and waterfalls. Accomdation wise somewhere that has a pool and kids play park. Hoping someone can point me in the right direction please

Have a look at Kinderhotels https://www.kinderhotels.com/en/hotels/austria.html We stayed at Familienresort Buchau Maurach am Achensee last year. There’s lots to do in the area. Great hikes and near a few towns.

We have once stayed in Kinderhotel in Unken - Hotel Post. 30 min from Salzburg airport, easy drive to several local attractions. Lots of things to do for kids in the hotel and walks but it is not in the mountains, but close enough to drive to several mountain areas. Had an amazing time and fell in love with summer holidays in Austria. We often stay in Zell am See/Kaprun in summer. Can't recommend Zell am See- Saalbach area enough. Amazing walks in the Schmitten area and you do not need a car in the town to access cable cars and so many things to do within 20-30 min drive: Grossglockner alpin road, Kaprun high mountain reservoirs, gorges, etc. Several kids trails and activites up in the mountain as well.

See this thread:
Austria - Seefeld, Zell am See or Saalbach-Hinterglemm? | Mumsnet

Zell am See or Saalbach-Hinterglemm have everything you need. In S-H there are several cable cars (free of charge with the Joker card) and playgrounds or activities at the top of every mountain or by every mountain restaurant. As you have a car you can drive to places like the Krimml waterfalls (30 mins), the cave at Lamprechtshohle or the old silver mine at Leogang (and lots of other places). Zell am See and Saalbach are both less than 90 minutes by car from Salzburg airport - use the route over the corner of Germany via Bad Reichenhall and Lofer rather than the A10 autobahn route which is always a traffic nightmare.

Kinderhotels are highly recommended by MNetters - there is one in Hinterglemm called the Ellmauhof - but all hotels, B&Bs (called "Pensions") and holiday apartments will be spotless and good value. The larger hotels will have pools and "wellness" spas and usually a playroom. Make sure that the accommodation offers the free tourist card - In Saalbach this is the Joker Card; Zell am See has the Sommercard and other resorts offer something similar. These cards can be worth €500 or more for a family of 4 compared with having to pay for the cable cars, buses and other attractions.

@Roosty38 just to add to the previous posts. In Zell we absolutely didn't need a car. The buses are amazing - clean, air conditioned, frequent. We went all over on them (krimmel waterfalls, reservoirs, access to cable cars). So much easier than having to sort parking etc.
Bus to Zell goes from outside the airport.

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.

We used inghams from Edinburgh and they used BA cityflyer into Innsbruck (now that's a fun take off and landing). Inghams holidays have been very good. I first used them in 1988 then 2006/2009 and again this year. All very smooth.

Thanks @Musicaltheatremum alas that’s opposite end to us but I’ll look at BA see what routes they do. I tried sky scanner only Ryan & Tui came up.

Salzburg is usually served in the summer by Ryanair from Stansted and BA from Gatwick. Wizz Air have some departures from Luton and Jet2 usually has Salzburg on the summer programme, flying from Manchester and Glasgow. Easyjet also fly to Salzburg, but in some years this has only been in the winter. Likewise, Eurowings sometimes has UK-Salzburg on their programme, only for the route to fall off again after a season or two.

UK - Innsbruck is usually only charter flights for Inghams, TUI etc. but these can have some good package deals if you are comparing prices and hotels.

@Havanananana thanks that gives us some other options to look at that may work better.

I'm really interested in Austria too, it just looked at the Zell Kinderhotek and it says temporarily closed.

Was thinking maybe Innsbruck?

@AutumnComing2 The other obvious flight option is Munich, which is about 3 hours drive from numerous Austrian resorts, and about the same by train (depending on which resort).

Hadn’t considered Munich will take a look but tbh we can fly to Geneva year round from a local airport so think we may just go back to Morzine as overall I think it will be cheaper. I’ll price up some options though. We’ve only done Alps once in the summer and it did get very hot we hit 40c peak which wasn’t much fun I’d have preferred wet n rainy as we couldn’t hike after 11am was too hot in mid-July. Kids loved the pool and lake options though.

Thank you everyone that gives me lots to research and somewhere to start.

What's its like driving in Austria? Also what are the pubs like. Zell am see looks promising for us. Thanks

Roads are wide and far better maintained than UK roads and everywhere is well signposted. In the Salzburg/Zell am See/Saalbach area the roads follow the river valleys, so there is no driving up and down steep and winding mountain roads - unless you fancy doing that type of mountain driving, in which case the Grossglockner High Road starts at Fusch, near Zell am See, and is one of the steepest and most dangerous roads in Austria, but it is spectacular on a clear sunny day.

Pubs? There are numerous hotels, restaurants, cafes, Gasthofs and mountain huts that serve food and drink. In the summer most have outdoor terraces or beer gardens and table service is the norm. Many will have play areas and children's menus. There's nothing like hiking for an hour or two and then having a hearty lunch on a sunny terrace admiring the mountain or lake views. At the weekends mountain restaurants often have live, traditional music. Be aware that not all mountain restaurants accept payment by card, so always have some cash with you. Austrian beer is potent - and stay away from the various schnaps!

Mayrhofen is wonderful for families, we had one of our best ever holidays there. Zillions of walking routes, outdoor trampolines and outdoor pools. There is an ace roller coaster built into a hillside suitable for children and some of the cable cars drop you at levels where they have these huge wooden play castles. They are really geared up for outside life in Austria and you frequently see young children hiking to a degree you just don't get in the UK. Everything is so well planned for all ages to access and enjoy the incredible scenery.

Hi. I have also been considering Austrian alps or French alps. We've done the Swiss alps many times and absolutely love it but we fancy a change. Where do you stay in Morzine? Do you drive from Geneva or do you take public transport? Thanks.

This sounds wonderful. How did you get to Mayrhofen? Did you hire a car from the airport? And what sort of accommodation did you stay it. I'm really interested in Austria and France (mountains) for a family holiday but I don't fancy hiring a car especially if local public transport is free with summer guest cards. Thanks.

We fly to Munich for Tirol or Salzburg areas, very easy to get trains and not far.
Also worth looking at Memmingen if travelling to Tirol.

You can get a train to Mayrhofen - there is a train station at Munich airport, you get the S Bahn to Munich Ost, then a train to Jenbach and then a small short train journey to Mayrhofen along the Zillertal.

We are going next year with our teens but starting in Slovenia . We have skied in both Slovenia and Zell am See a number of times but have never been in the summer so very excited to try it !
Cannot cope with the heat in Greece, Turkey etc .

I love skiing and have had several fabulous holidays in Austria. Zell am see was my absolute favourite. Such a beautiful resort. You won't regret visiting.

We have flown from Gatwick to Innsbruck a few times (agree the approach into Innsbruck airport is an experience)

That was with Easyjet

I’ve stayed in a range of self catering apts as les gets/morzine is full of them. We’ve driven from Geneva and got a transfer both cost around the same for 4 people but prices have rocketed in last couple of years I looked at the weekend and it was coming in at £450-500 for transfer/hire cost! Once in Morzine you can use the buses or walk around they have a multi pass card too with fab swimming pool complex. I budget around £1000 for an apt. For us the flight to Geneva is working out cheaper than Austria & fly from our local airport but the transfer cost in Austria looks a lot cheaper so I’m just weighing it up.