Skier & Snowboarder-Submitted Reviews for Obertauern
Planning a ski trip to Obertauern? Browse our collection of visitor-generated reviews that rank the mountain and ski town on a scale of one to five stars in the following categories: Overall Rating, All-Mountain Terrain, Nightlife, Terrain Park and Family Friendly. See how Obertauern stacks up to others in terms of skiing and après, and read up on pros, cons and comments from fellow skiers and snowboarders. Don't forget to submit your own Obertauern review! Scroll to the bottom of this page to let other travelers know about your ski area experience.
Skier & Snowboarder-Submitted Reviews for Obertauern
Total (3.8)
A ski resort's overall star rating displayed here is not calculated based on a simple average but takes several factors, including the age of a review, into account.
We always ski in Austria now; as we love the atmosphere, food, qualify of the hotels and modern lift systems, and it’s cheaper than France!
We have been to Obertauern 3 times, and are returning in April 2011 as flights to Salzburg are once again available for the independent traveller. The reason we like this resort is because of the guaranteed snow, and the quality of it, plus the standard of accommodation and because not every tour operator in the UK goes there! It’s only 1.5 hours from Salzburg Airport and there is an airport coach that picks up and drops off to coincide with the major airlines (but not always the UK ones). This takes you to the door or your hotel for about 60 euro round trip!
Considering this a purpose made resort, something Austrians don’t normally do, it feels as though it has always been there. Typical Austrian lodges and hotels and lovely mountain huts. But it’s not a budget resort if you use a tour operator as they only use the most expensive hotels, so go DIY, the Tourist Office website is great, and if you need help, they are very efficient. The Apre ski is not wild compared to Saalbach, but it’s certainly there!
The runs are like wide motorways in places, and always well groomed, with a good amount of blues and reds, though not many blacks. The resort lacks tree runs due to the altitude, which can cause lifts to be closed in high winds, but it’s not completely void of trees on some of the lower runs.
The runs are short compared to larger resorts because of the topography, the town is almost as high as the mountains that surround it, so no great vertical drops. The lift system is modern and fast, with very few drags. There are 2 circuits you can follow that take you all the way around the mountains above the village in both directions, with interlinked lifts and runs. One of the things I like most about this resort is that you always know where you are, the map is accurate and all the runs are numbered and signposted, unlike the SkiWelt!
If you are looking for somewhere to clock up the miles, and ski from morning till evening without skiing the same run, this resort is not for you, but if like us, you prefer quality over quantity, like to take things easy, and don’t want crowed pistes, or the lack of snow you can experience in lower resorts, this is the one for you.
I have been to Obertauern many times now and never tire of the place. I always stay at Hotel Enzian, which is friendly, comfortable, has excellent food, fine rooms and apartments and great amenities (pool, sauna, wellness, etc.). It also has direct access to a trail which takes you across a road bridge down to the main lifts, which is part of the Tauernrunde (the series of linked lifts unique to Obertauern), so it's perfectly ski-in, ski-out. I know there is not much challenging for the whiz-kids, but this early 50s good intermediate once-a-year skier finds it just fine. It is also a great place to learn, with a lot of unthreatening stuff for the beginner around the south end of the village.
We went to Obertauern in Feb 07. Beautiful snow. First time we have been the only English speakers in our ski school but our instructors spoke English. Really a ski in ski out resort, very little queues for the lifts and great the way you could ski round the bowl. As reasonable intermediates we thought it was fantastic and would definitely go back. Great having lots of different ways back to the village at night as this meant you don't have one really busy run. My daughter had Cody from Ski school Krallinger and she thought he was the best instructor she has ever had. Food good - really noticed the smoking in the restaurants and bars and that was one downside but otherwise all good.We stayed B&B at Andi's ski hotel - lovely rooms and people, shame about the no of smokers.Ate out at various other hotels - food good. The Samson Restaurant was great as was the Rigele Royale.
Obertauern looks good and probably is good for some people but not me, i just thought that it needed more interesting higher runs, the hotels on the other hand were great although some of the staff were slightly sour towards the guests.
The food on the mountains isn't as good as some austrian resorts but is still very good.
I would say that obertauern is a 3.5/5 overall, as it is only a few small things which let it down.
I was in Obertauern for a week in February 2006 with my family (children aged 7 and 10). The snow quality was very good, the lift service mostly efficient with short lines. It's relatively high altitude for the area and the scenery on a clear day is very good. The skiing is predominantly for intermediates - some but not much real challenge. The town is a strip with plenty of lodging and restaurants, but mostly built within the last twenty to thirty years. Stores and restaurants in town are closed during daytime skiing hours and open only toward end of day. Since the strip goes through the middle of the valley, most hotels have easy access to the slopes.
Overall, it was good for the kids, and the nightlife was fine, but if you are looking for a 'fairy tale' romantic small Alpine village skiing experience, this is not it - go to Innsbruck or St. Anton. Salzburg is just over an hour drive and is worth visiting.
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