Winter Holidays in the Mountains

From South Tyrol via Vorarlberg to Carinthia, Upper Austria and Styria

There's that moment when you pull back the curtains in the morning and everything outside is white. Mountains, forests, rooftops. It's what people have been travelling to the Alps for over generations – and anyone experiencing it for the first time understands immediately why.

The Falkensteiner hotels and residences sit where winter begins right on the doorstep: in the mountains of South Tyrol, in the Montafon, in Hinterstoder and Schladming, at Nassfeld and Katschberg. You can ski here, of course – on slopes for every level, with ski schools that turn beginners into proud carvers within a few days. But the Alpine winter can do more: quiet winter hikes, tobogganing evenings where the kids are guaranteed to be faster than you – followed by a sauna with summit views, a Kaiserschmarrn that earns its name, and evenings when you fall into bed happy.

Carinthia:

Winter sun on both sides of the valley

Carinthia is the sunny side of the Alps – even in winter. At Nassfeld, one of Austria's snowiest ski areas, you'll ski more than 100 kilometres of slopes, often under blue skies, before Carinthian Kasnudeln await at a mountain hut – with the Falkensteiner Hotels Sonnenalpe and Carinzia as your base. Katschberg, home to the Club Funimation and the Falkensteiner Hotel Cristallo, is made for families: compact enough that no one gets lost, varied enough that no one gets bored – and the slope starts right outside the hotel.

And for a day entirely off the slopes: Lake Wörthersee is just a short drive away – still and elegant in winter, with the Falkensteiner Schloss Velden as the backdrop for a walk by the water.

South Tyrol

Dolomite winter with an Italian accent

In South Tyrol, winter is bilingual. At Kronplatz, the slopes head off in every direction – wide, sunny, with the Dolomites always in view. Right on the slope: the Falkensteiner Hotel Kronplatz, where everything revolves around the seven surrounding peaks – the hotel's own Seven Summits concept translates their moods into the house, right down to the plate. Families are at home next door: at the Falkensteiner Family Resort Lido, with its water world, Falky Land and parents who actually get to lie in the spa now and then. If you prefer your winter quiet, the Hotel Falkensteinerhof in the Eisack Valley is the counter-programme: small, personal, with South Tyrolean cooking that means it.

And Bolzano? Arcaded lanes, one of Italy's most atmospheric Christmas markets – skiing in the morning, espresso under the arcades in the afternoon. This combination exists only here, with the Falkensteiner Hotel Bozen right at its heart.

Styria & Upper Austria:

Big mountains, short distances

Schladming-Dachstein makes an impression the moment you arrive: rugged peaks, the glacier on the horizon and slopes where the Ski World Cup races – and so do you. From the Falkensteiner Hotel Schladming, experts find long descents on the Planai, beginners wide, sunny practice slopes, and winter walkers viewpoints where the Dachstein massif feels close enough to touch.

Somewhat quieter: Hinterstoder in Upper Austria. The Höss ski area lies framed by the Totes Gebirge mountains – a postcard panorama, and the Alpine Triforêt alpin.resort by Falkensteiner stand right on the slope. Clip in and set off in the morning, from snow to sauna in the afternoon. If you're after a ski holiday without the crowds, this is where you'll find it.

Vorarlberg

Family winter in the Montafon

In the far west lies the Montafon – and at its heart the Falkensteiner Family Hotel Montafon, built for winter holidays where families don't have to organise, just experience. The Golm ski area starts practically at the door, the ski school collects the children in the morning, and Falky Land keeps the day going once the slopes close. That leaves room for both: time for yourself – a downhill run, a winter walk, the spa. And time for each other – tobogganing, the season's first snowman project, or everyone around one table while the snow falls outside.