Can anyone tell me about Zell am Zee?

[scattygirl]

We recently got back from a ski trip to Kaprun, my first time skiing in Austria and loved it! so much so that we are seriously considering buying a little ski apartment in the area. We unfortunately didn't have time to go to Zell am Zee down the road as we only had 4 days, but like the thought of it being by the lake and therefore we could use it in the summer months too. Can anyone tell me anything about Zell - is it a 'lovely medieval town' as the brochures say? is it good for young kids? are the locals friendly?? Ta in advance

oops think I meant Zell am SEE

I worked there one summer season and it was fab. THe lake is lovely, lots of watersports, 'beach' areas, cycling round the lake was good, excellent walks up the mountain, waterfalls etc. The summer season is quite short (if you are looking for rental potential). Skiing wise, a well placed location although in poor snow every man and his dog head for the glacier. It's not too far from Salzburg for visits/airport. The resort itself is very pretty, decent hotels, restaurants are ok too but you would be foolish to rush into a purchase without ever having visited the resort.

Thanks Trifle, it sounds perfect, and my DH is hoping to go and check it out in the next few weeks. I also like the fact that you can get a train there from Salzburg airport rather than having to rely on expensive taxi transfers or car hire.

We have spent a summer holiday in the Zell am See area and there are lots of things to do in the area for children. I thought the town itself was very touristy and full of Brits and the restaurants expensive - sorry! Also the weather in the summer is not guaranteed it can be very wet.

I am glad you liked Kaprun though - we are going in March - can't wait!

We live in Austria and have just spent the New Year skiing in Zell.

It's a great place year round - small and not sure about 'medieval' but certainly very quaint in the centre. Yes touristy, with quite a large Russian influence starting to arrive. Would certainly recommend it as a base - as well as its own slopes it is also equidistant from Saalbach Hinterglemm as well as Kaprun.
Lake comes into its own in the summer as well and then you have mountain biking and everything else.
If you ever need housesitters... ;-)

MrM I didn't realise Zell was so close to Saalbach, that was the other place with a place for sale we were interested in. The ski area for Saalbach looked a bit bigger/more varied and the apartment is right by the ski lift, but I was leaning towards Zell as I felt there was more to do in the summer there. However I've not been to either lace so only going by reviews I've seen online. Am sure we will be renting it out for part of the year anyway in order to help pay for it:)

juststrudel, yes we did enjoy Kaprun, it made a really nice change to some of the french resorts we'd been to, people were friendly and food was generally very good. It can be a little bit inconvenient though to get up the slopes depending on where you stay as the 3 main local ski areas are a bit spread out but ski buses weren't too bad. It was our DS (4.5 yrs) first time skiing so he was at ski school in the Lechnerberg learner area near where we stayed so wasn't too bad.

Another fan of Zell am See/Kaprun here. We've been both in summer and winter and had a fab time. Only slight negative was that the slopes do get quite crowded on weekends/school holidays during the winter..

I love Zell. We have been there twice- lovely resort.