Skiing in Kitzbuhel

Nature
The wow factor for nature - does it show nature at its best? Doesn't need to be the wildebeest migration or diving with hundreds of hammerheads. Rather make you pause as you realise just how awesome the natural world can be
8
Culture
How much does this experience showcase some of the better and finer things that us humans can offer? Sure, it can be ancient ruins and renaissance churches, but it can also be festivals or soaking up some of the great modern cities of the world
3
Fun factor/activity
Very simple - was it fun? This is usually linked in with doing some kind of activity - i mean, walking along some cliffs is nice, but paragliding from them, now that is fun. Its a vastly underrated factor in a truly great experience
9
Avoid the crowds
Big tour groups and being surrounded by loud fellow tourists can sap the life out of even the greatest of travel experiences. This score is to reflect just how much you can avoid this. But. . . The score also takes into account if the crowds actually add to the experience, such as with a party town or a bustling local market
3
World famous
How world famous is the experience?
5
unique
How hard is it to have a similar experience in other places round the world?
6
Overall TE Score
The overall travel experiences score:  fun factor + avoid the crowds + (best of nature or culture) + (best of world famous or unique). Then convert into a score out of 100
65 *What the scores mean and where do they come from
RANKING
How this travel experience ranks compared to all the other experiences on this site, based on the travel experience (te) score
228th/454
Top 50%
continent
Europe
country
Austria
Length of time
3-4 days
Typical daily price
This gives you a rough idea of the daily price based on 2 people travelling where they can split costs like accommodation. It excludes travel there and back, and factors in inflation the numbers in brackets show the price range for the full time of the experience (so not necessarily daily). It is a range to reflect different budget vs higher end
$320 (typically $210 - $420)
Time of year visited
December
Primary Tags
Click on any of the tags to see all travel experiences with the same tag
Cable cars Mountains Skiing / Snowboarding
All Tags
Snow
Wow Factor
The wow factor reflects just how much you’re likely to say “wow”. As there’s a lot of experiences in the world, and a lot of wows, i’ve gone with a simple ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ to ⭐️ score, and a separate category for the truly "gash"
⭐⭐

Summary

Kitzbuhel is one of Europe’s premier ski resorts.  Alongside its 185km / 115miles of ski runs, it boasts the legendary Kaiser run which is a staggering 8.3km / 5.2miles long, one of the world’s longest continuous runs and is part of the renowned Hahnenkamm-Rennen annual downhill race.

For sure enjoy the slopes, but its also a very pleasant place to be for non-skiers.  For example, I went with my family all of whom are are non skiers, and they loved the town which is a wonderful combination of pretty and sophisticated (the Austrians, of course, do this effortlessly).

You also have the options of heading up on some of the cable cars for the experience of the restaurants at the top and the views across the mountains.  I would in particular recommend the Kitzbuheler Hornbahn Cable Car which has sensational panoramic views from the 1996m / 6550ft Kitzbuheler Horn.

 

Highlights

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#1 Skiing through the world-class and vast 185km+ of Kitzbuhel's ski slopes

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#2 Sensational views from the top of the 1996m / 6550ft Kitzbuheler Horn, which can be accessed by non-skiers

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#3 Skiing the legendary Kaiser run. A staggering 8.3km long

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#4 Eating in one of those wonderful ski restaurants on top of one of the mountains with the unrestricted views, in this example the Panoramaalm

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#5 The pretty and sophisticated town in Kitzbuhel itself with its gorgeous streets filled with cafes and elegant restaurants to keep the non-skiers busy

Extra thought – Soll SkiWelt

Kitzbuhel is wow, but it is also expensive.  Especially for accommodation.

For an alternative – consider the nearby Soll SkiWelt area.  Its actually got more runs than Kitzbuhel, more small town options to stay and significantly cheaper.

I’ve done both and would actually, all factor considered, lean more towards SkiWelt.  We did a week from Going am Wilden Kaiser and it was magical.

Experiences nearby

The below map shows experiences nearby with a colour that reflect the Overall Score of those experiences

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Three days by Lake Baikal’s Olkhon Island in October
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Hiking Bhutan’s Druk Path at the end of winter
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Hiking through the Charyn Canyon and staying overnight in yurts
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Campervanning through Yellowstone National Park
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Climbing Mount Fuji in Summer
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Score Detail

The scores above are the real point of this site.

Over 20+ years and 100+ countries, I’ve tried to rank the world’s best travel experiences — from genuinely mind-blowing ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ to the properly gash.

Every one of the 500+ places on this site has both a Wow Factor rating and a more analytical Travel Experience (TE) score based on the things that actually make travel memorable.

If you're curious about the thinking behind it, head to the About page.

Otherwise, explore the map above or on the Home page and see which places truly deliver maximum wow.

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