Zell am See - Kaprun, Austria

As mentioned in my last post, after leaving Munich we found ourselves caught in a large heavy snow storm. Having never driven through one before, it was an anxious time with low visibility, ice and snow covering the windscreen and freezing the wipers.  A trip that should have taken 2 hours became a 4 1/2 hour journey through snow, nightfall and dark mountain roads to our destination.
I'm glad that I don't have to live in an area that deals with this on a daily basis; I do enjoy living in a warmer climate and able to visit the colder ones when inclined.

Knew we were headed for trouble.

As beautiful as all the mountains we have visited so far, my favourite for the most picturesque town and ski area has to be Zell am See. This Winter and Summer tourist destination is breathtakingly beautiful. It's nearly picture perfect with the lake surrounded by the snow capped mountains. You just want to sit and reflect while you look out over the water.

We stayed at Romantikhotel Zell am See, Sebastian-Horl-Strasse 11, Zell am See, a traditionally Austrian 4-star hotel that dates back to 1493. This centrally located hotel is a short distance from Lake Zell. All the Austrian hotels we stayed at featured fabulous spa areas, some with adult only nude sauna and spa area or the family sauna and pool area.  Half-board was offered here, and as it was economical and let us relax in the excellent spa facilities before we ventured to our three-course dinner at the hotel's Metzgerwirt restaurant.

There are two main ski areas here, Kitzsteinhorn Glacier near Kaprun and Schmittenhohe in Zell am See. Kitzsteinhorn has 41 kms and Schmittenhohe has 77kms of ski slopes. Between the two you have varying degrees of difficulty that will have something for everyone.

Kitzsteinhorn Glacier

Schmittenhohe overlooking Zell am See

We enjoyed the Apres in the town's centre, you must try the Gluhwein or a schnapps will outside and chatting about your ski day. We loved the chocolate filled crepes sold at a vendor's cart, yum!  The local delicatessen had an excellent selection of local produce which we did partake in. The cafes on the slopes had a good choice of food on their menus for your ski break. Beer is always flowing morning, noon and night. The lifts are fast and comfortable, I especially liked the ski bubbles on the chair lifts on a windy day and even scored some heated seats! The cable cars or gondolas were very efficient, the one drawback in my opinion about these ski areas are other skiers. Courtesy is not foremost in the mind of a lot of the skiers. Between being cut off on the runs by experienced skiers (Beginners; it understandable due to lack of control), to being pushed aside by impatient skiers when trying to get on the lifts.  It left an impression of rudeness and arrogance of the skiers, especially the ones on vacation from other countries.

In the next post, we leave the mountains and head for the city of Salzburg.