Galtür with children – the family village beyond Ischgl

Galtür is the last village in the Paznaun before the road comes to an end towards the Silvretta. Ischgl lies further down the same valley, and the difference between the two is the first thing a family should understand. Ischgl is big, fast and famous for its concerts and après-ski. Galtür is a farming village at 1,584 metres with its own smaller ski area, Silvapark, where the pace is slower and children are the focus.

If your children are between two and ten, that's often exactly what a family is looking for. The children's area is in the valley, there are free lift passes for the youngest and the ski school has a well-thought-out system for little ones. You'll find more options in the country in skiing holidays in Austria.

Silvapark in numbers

The ski area has 43 kilometres of pistes and ten lifts and gondolas, from just over 1,600 metres up to almost 2,300 metres. Five kilometres are blue, 26 red and twelve black. So most of it is red – expect the youngest to stick to the children's areas while the adults make their way around the mountain.

Silvapark is divided into numbered sectors with different themes:

Sector	Name	For whom
01	Zwergerlwelt	The very youngest, with the ski school's practice slope
02	Adventure Land	Children who can turn and want adventure in the forest
03	Action Park	Jumps, boxes and rails
04	Heldenreich	Steep runs and freeriding for adults
05	The piste area	Runs the whole family can do together on red and blue pistes

The 2026/27 season runs from 4 December 2026 to 11 April 2027. The lifts run from 8.45 to 16.00, and the Birkhahnbahn starts as early as half past eight. The village is high enough for the season to start in early December and last until Easter, without you having to worry about green slopes in the valley.

The children's areas

Zwergerlwelt (sector 01) is where most young children start. It's in the Wirl part of the resort, close to the valley station, the bus stop and the car park. There are gentle slopes, several magic carpets, a slalom course for those first turns and a wave track. The ski school's own Bambini-Land has three button lifts, a magic carpet and a carousel. The practice slope is in the valley, so you don't need to buy a lift pass for the first day, and children in ski school ride the practice lift and magic carpets for free.

Indoors there's Siggi's playroom with a tubing run, reserved for the ski school's beginner children. Parents can watch from outside.

Adventure Land (sector 02) suits children who have learnt the snowplough turn. Five gondolas go straight there, and the area has six children's runs:

• Märchenwald, a gentle fairytale forest
• Jägerpfad, a faster forest run featuring the valley's animals and plants
• Verkehrsstrecke, where children learn the rules of the piste through play
• Soppapark with snow obstacles
• Cross-Strecke, a twisting skicross course for confident skiers
• Familienrennstrecke, a giant slalom course for the whole family

On Wednesdays from 14.00 to 15.00 there's a family race on the giant slalom course for teams of at least three family members. Registration closes on Tuesday evening at the lift ticket office or the ski school.

Ski school and childcare

The big school in the village is Skischule Silvretta Galtür, with offices by the town hall and in Wirl. The children's school is called Siggis after its mascot, and the meeting point is the information centre in Wirl.

• From age three: The Bambini courses are the first step, with play, balance and the snowplough turn. The school reckons four-year-olds need three or four days to learn the snowplough turn, while five- and six-year-olds often manage it in one or two.
• Groups by level, not age: green for beginners, then blue, red and black depending on how many courses the child has done. New children are placed after a chat with the instructor in charge.
• Times: courses run from 9.30 to 11.30 and from 13.30 to 15.30. Beginners meet at 9.20 by the green Siggi flag in Bambini-Land, the others by the flag in their colour.
• Lunch: lunchtime supervision with a children's menu can be booked and is served at the hotel next to the school in Wirl.

The guest nursery in Zwergerlwelt takes children from 18 months. It's open Sunday to Friday, 9.00–11.30 and 13.00–16.00, from 6 December 2026 to 9 April 2027. Lunchtime supervision must be booked in advance.

Are your children skiing for the first time? Read the guide to your first ski holiday with children before you book your course week.

Lift passes and age rules

• Under eight: free, when accompanied by a parent.
• Eight to 18: a child pass, which is cheaper than the adult pass.
• Family pass: for two parents with at least two of their own children under 19, or one parent with at least three. ID and a guest card are required for the whole family, and blended families need to show that they live together.

If you'd like to try Ischgl, there's a Silvretta pass for six days, with four days valid in Galtür and two in Ischgl-Samnaun. If you switch areas on the same day, two days are deducted. It's a good idea to buy the pass online to skip the ticket office. Current prices are shown when you book.

Galtür or Ischgl?

Ischgl has one of Austria's largest ski areas, but the children's area is up on the mountain and the evenings are all about partying. Galtür is a better fit when the children are small and the parents want short days, quiet evenings and a slope in the valley. Ski bus line 12 runs between the villages from mid-December to mid-April and is free with the guest card, so it's easy to fit in a day in Ischgl for the adults.

For a day off skis there's Alpinarium Galtür, built into the 345-metre avalanche wall that was put up after the 1999 avalanche. It has an exhibition about people and nature in the Alps, a memorial room, a bouldering wall and a café with a sun terrace.

If you're looking for somewhere just as quiet and high but further east, compare with Obergurgl-Hochgurgl or Kühtai.

Getting to Galtür

• By air: Innsbruck is about 100 kilometres away. Airport bus F takes around 20 minutes to Innsbruck Hbf, and you can't buy tickets on the bus. Munich and Zurich are both around 230 kilometres away.
• By train: from Innsbruck, direct trains run west to Landeck-Zams. From Zurich, direct trains run all the way to Landeck. There's more about the journey from Sweden in train to the Alps – how it works.
• Bus: bus 260 runs every thirty minutes from Landeck-Zams via See, Kappl and Ischgl to Galtür. With an activated guest card and the PIA app, the journey is included. There are also taxis at the station.
• By car: a vignette is required on the motorway, and from 2027 it will only be sold digitally. Winter tyres are compulsory from November to April. The Silvretta Hochalpenstraße towards Montafon is closed in winter, so the way in is always via Landeck.

How the car compares with the train and flying is covered in travelling to the resort – car, train or plane. If you're renting an apartment and cooking for yourselves, the weekly menu for the ski trip will come in handy, and the ski trip packing list makes packing easier. If you want to weigh Galtür against other resorts that suit families, go to ski holiday in the Alps with children.