Dreaming of a white Christmas, high in the mountains. The threes full of snow, the cold wind blows next to your face, and what lovely smell of fresh air.
Austria is one of the most popular countries for your winter sports vacation in Europe. During your flight, bus trip, or if you travel by car, you can listen to some TTM (Tiroler Travel Music). Thanks to the high mountains of the Alpes, think of, Lech-Zürs am Arlberg, Kitzbühel/Kirchberg, St. Anton am Arlberg, Mayrhofen, Sölden, Ischgl, Gerlos, Zell am See, Alpbach and Saalbach-Hinterglemm you can have the best trip ever. Through several online snow cams, you can have a really good impression of the area. Winter sports holidays are famous because of sports activities like Skiing, Snowboarding, Freeriding, Fatbiking, Snowshoeing, and Snowtubing. Skiing and Snowboarding are the most famous sports activities, but let’s find out a bit more about other types of sports.
Freeriding is Off-piste deep snow fun. Off-piste skiing requires a special skiing technique in order to master the deep snow. Various ski schools offer freeride lessons for beginners and advanced freerider.
Fatbiking is cycling through the snow with fat tires. If you want to take a short break from skiing during your holiday and want to try out something new, why not try fat biking?
Snowshoeing is the perfect hiking activity with a guide for those who want to explore the untouched winter landscape far away from groomed pistes and ski lifts. The snowshoes distribute the weight of the person carrying them over a larger area so that the feet only sink lightly into the snow.
Snow tubing is an activity for winter fans of all ages and involves sliding down a snow tubing slope or track in a huge rubber tire. Snow tubing has become more and more popular in recent years and special snow tubing tracks can now be found in numerous ski resorts.
There are many skiing tracks with different colors, like Green (almost flat) Blue (Generally easy runs that suit most beginners), Red (Some gentle and some challenging slopes), and Black. (Black is for the most experienced skier) You find the route marked on a big board, so you can see which slope you like to explore.
You can find ski or snowboarding classes in every place and you can attend them straight away, as you don’t like to waste time by spending your holiday waiting. The teachers speak different languages, which makes communication much easier. You can book a private lesson or attend a group course, which will be cheaper in price. Just make sure you wear fitted travelers socks or skiing socks.
Another cost to think of is the rental of the skies, or snowboard and a ski pass for the whole period. With this ski pass, you can use all ski lifts, and is cheaper than buying a single ticket. You can travel by bus from your hotel to the ski lifts.
After a full day of skiing, you can end up in a pup or better say ‘Stube’, around 4-5 pm. Just place your skies or board outside, and enjoy the apres-ski (after ski) parties with happy hours. Singing, dancing, laughing in your ski outfit. The best ski resorts in Austria are St. Anton, Ischl, Mayrhofen, Solden, and Kitzbuhel. Other apres-ski activities are Yodelling, Tobogganing, Horse sleigh rides, Leisure center swim & sauna, and Ice skating & curling. During all these events, you can drink one of there delicious drinks: Glühwein, Schnapps, Jagertee, Beer and La-bomba (hot chocolate with rum and whipped cream)
In some ski resorts, you find live music by famous singers or DJs like Tiësto or Armin van Buuren in one of the restaurants on top of the mountain or in one of the apres-ski bars to heat-up the atmosphere. The most amazing is to celebrating Christmas in Austria while you are on winter vacation. In the evening, when it is dark, a time of magic will sparkle over the city, the fairy lights are blinking, the Christmas markets open their doors, you hear the Christmas carols everywhere. After the church on Christmas eve, the Alpine horns will play traditional melodies on top of the mountain, which gives a fantastic extra romantic feeling.
One last thing that you must do while enjoying your winter holiday is to bring a visit to one of the world-famous Thermal spas. While winter temperatures are getting down to -15 degrees Celcius, a visit to an outdoor pool doesn’t sound that inviting, but once you are in the steamy heated pool, you will face a magnificent experience of the view, but it makes it even more excited when its snows. Inside you can enjoy one of the many saunas for total relaxation.
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