Flachau – Hermann Maier's home village in the heart of Ski amadé

Flachau is the village that gave the world Hermann Maier, one of the greatest legends in alpine skiing. That says something about the place: people here ski a lot, and they love it. But Flachau is also one of the most practical family resorts in SalzburgerLand, with wide pistes through the forest, lifts from the valley floor and less than an hour to Salzburg airport.

The village is the main resort of Snow Space Salzburg, a ski area that links Flachau, Wagrain and St. Johann-Alpendorf. That in turn is part of Ski amadé, one of Austria's largest lift pass alliances. It means you can stay in a quiet village and still have hundreds of kilometres of pistes within reach.

Snow Space Salzburg and Ski amadé

Two names are worth keeping apart:

• Snow Space Salzburg is the ski area itself around Flachau: 120 kilometres of pistes and 44 lifts between 740 and 1,980 metres. It is connected by lifts from Flachau over to Wagrain and St. Johann-Alpendorf, and a gondola links the area with Flachauwinkl and Kleinarl.
• Ski amadé is a lift pass alliance with 760 kilometres of pistes. With a Ski amadé pass you can also ski the neighbouring areas – for example Obertauern, Schladming and Gastein – travelling between them by car or bus.

For a family week, Snow Space Salzburg is often more than enough. If you want a snow-sure day out higher up, the Ski amadé pass is worth comparing.

The pistes – red, but friendly

Snow Space Salzburg has an unusual split:

Difficulty	Kilometres	Share
Blue	34 km	28 %
Red	82 km	69 %
Black	4 km	3 %

The figure sounds daunting for beginners, but the red runs in Flachau are often wide, well groomed and lined with forest, with lots of sun. Children who have learned to turn usually manage them sooner than their parents expect. The forest also gives good visibility on days when higher resorts are in fog.

Steep terrain is in short supply: there are only 4 kilometres of black runs. For teenagers there is Absolut Park in Flachauwinkl instead, one of Austria's largest snow parks with long jump lines and more than a hundred features.

Flachau with kids

• Children's areas at the valley stations, with magic carpets and easy slopes for the first days, plus a dedicated kids' run up on the mountain.
• Lifts from the valley floor – including the six-seater chairlift Space Jet, so a lot of accommodation is close to a lift.
• Wide red runs through the forest, which means the family can soon ski together.
• Prices: a day pass costs around 75 euros for an adult and 37.50 euros for a child in high season. Check what applies to the very youngest, and bring ID to the ticket office.

How to balance ski school, rest and ski days with children is covered in ski trips with children.

The World Cup night slalom

Every January the women of the World Cup race the night slalom in Flachau on the Hermann Maier course under floodlights. It is one of the big festivals of Austrian ski racing and a memory for life for children who love skiing. If you join the crowd, dress warmly – and expect more people in the village that week.

The rest day – Therme Amadé and Salzburg

• Therme Amadé in neighbouring Altenmarkt is a water park with a wave machine, a lazy river and lots of pools – a perfect rest day with kids.
• Salzburg is less than an hour away. A day in Mozart's city, with Hohensalzburg Fortress and the old town, works well in the middle of the week.
• Cook for yourselves: if you stay somewhere with your own kitchen it is both cheaper and calmer – here is our weekly menu for the ski trip.

Getting to Flachau

• By air: land in Salzburg – from there it is about an hour's drive along the motorway. From Munich it takes a couple of hours longer.
• By train: the stations in Radstadt and Altenmarkt are the closest, and you cover the rest by bus or taxi. Night trains and changes from Sweden: train to the Alps.
• By car: Flachau is right by the Tauern motorway, which makes it one of the easiest Alpine resorts to drive to. Winter tyres and a motorway vignette are required.

Flachau or Obertauern?

The two resorts are close to each other and share the Ski amadé pass, but they suit different families:

	Flachau	Obertauern
Village altitude	just over 900 m	just over 1,700 m
Pistes	120 km, mostly red, in the forest	100 km, mostly blue, above the treeline
Snow reliability	good, but lower	very high, season into May
Accommodation	valley village, lifts from the valley floor	ski-in/ski-out for almost everyone
Off the slopes	Therme Amadé, Salzburg, World Cup	quiet, mostly the hotel pools

Choose Flachau for variety, forest and closeness to Salzburg, and Obertauern for snow reliability and simplicity. More options can be found in Austria's ski trips, for example Saalbach Hinterglemm, and you can save money with our budget guide for the ski trip. Before you go: the ski trip packing list.