Saalbach Hinterglemm – 270 kilometres of Skicircus for the whole family

Saalbach Hinterglemm is one of those resorts almost every Swedish skier has heard of, yet many still have a slightly skewed picture of it. The après-ski reputation is true. But what makes the area one of Austria's best for families is something else entirely: a long valley with gentle, sunny blue runs on both sides, lifts everywhere and a ski circuit that takes you through four villages and two Austrian states in a day.

Today the area is called Skicircus Saalbach Hinterglemm Leogang Fieberbrunn. It has 270 kilometres of pistes and 70 lifts, and more than half of the runs are blue. It is one of the largest linked ski areas among Austria's ski resorts, and since the 2025 Alpine World Ski Championships were held here it has also been thoroughly modernised.

This guide helps you choose the right village and plan the week so that both the beginner and the teenager find their runs.

Four villages, one ski area

The Glemmtal is a long, narrow valley in SalzburgerLand. The villages are lined up along the valley floor, and the lifts go up on both sides:

• Saalbach (around 1,000 metres) is the centre: the church, car-free streets, hotels right next to the lifts and the area's best-known après-ski. From here the Schattberg X-press goes up towards Schattberg, and on the other side of the valley is Kohlmais – good for beginners.
• Hinterglemm further up the valley has the same skiing on its doorstep but is quieter in the evening. From here, among others, the Zwölferkogel goes up to 1,984 metres.
• Leogang lies on the other side of the mountain to the west. The village is smaller, a little cheaper and has the area's largest children's area.
• Fieberbrunn in Tyrol is the furthest away, the quietest and often the snowiest. Much of the skiing here is in terrain close to the forest.

The great thing is that it is all connected. You can stay in quiet Leogang and still ski to Hinterglemm for the day, or stay in Saalbach and take a trip to Fieberbrunn. If you are choosing between several resorts in the region, it may be worth comparing with Zell am See and Kaprun, half an hour away.

Which village suits your family?

Family	Best base	Why
Small children and beginners	Leogang or Hinterglemm	Large children's areas, quieter evenings, close to the ski school
Children who ski red runs	Hinterglemm	In the middle of the area – quick to both Zwölferkogel and the Saalbach side
Teenagers and adult groups	Saalbach	Liveliest – restaurants, shops and après-ski
Peace and budget	Fieberbrunn	Furthest from the partying, often good snow, lower prices

One thing worth knowing in advance: après-ski in Saalbach starts early. The bars along the pistes down to the village often fill up by two o'clock, and the noise level in the centre peaks between three and six. For many that is part of the charm, but with a three-year-old who needs an afternoon nap, Hinterglemm or Leogang is a better choice.

The skiing – blue circuits and long days

What makes the Skicircus special is the signposted circuits. Instead of skiing the same slope back and forth, you follow a loop that takes you around the valley and back to your starting point. It suits families perfectly: clear goals, new runs all the time and a mountain hut with hot chocolate at regular intervals.

Circuit	Length	Vertical metres	Difficulty	Time	Home
Saalbach	19 km	3,600 m	100% blue	approx. 2 h	Schattberg X-press
Hinterglemm	25 km	6,500 m	2/3 blue, 1/3 red	approx. 2.5 h	Bergfriedlift
Leogang	26 km	4,300 m	100% blue	approx. 2.5 h	Asitzbahn
Tyrol (Fieberbrunn)	22 km	4,300 m	mostly red	approx. 2.5 h	Streuböden
The Challenge	65 km	12,400 m	blue, red and a little black	approx. 7 h	Schattberg X-press

The Saalbach circuit and the Leogang circuit are entirely blue. They suit children who have just learned to turn and want to feel they are “really skiing”. The Hinterglemm circuit has one third red runs and is the next step.

The Challenge – the full loop around the Skicircus – is 65 kilometres and 12,400 vertical metres. It is a full day for strong skiers. For families with older children it can be a fun challenge towards the end of the week. Start early, have lunch on the way and keep an eye on when the last lifts close.

The pistes break down into 140 kilometres of blue, 112 kilometres of red and 18 kilometres of black. The highest point is Schattberg West at 2,096 metres. That is not particularly high for the Alps, but it is made up for by north-facing slopes that hold the snow and a large fleet of snow cannons.

Beginners and children

For the youngest there are children's areas in every village, with magic carpets, carousels and small drag lifts. The largest is Leo’s Kinderland in Leogang. In Saalbach, beginners like to start on Kohlmais, where the slalom and giant slalom runs from the 1991 World Championships are now wide blue pistes, perfect for taking the next step.

The ski schools run groups from around three years old, and several of them have their meeting points at the children's areas by the valley stations. Book well in advance for the February half-term weeks, when it is full of families from all over Europe. More on how to plan the week is in our guide ski trip with children – tips and advice, and if it is your first time, read first ski trip with kids.

Lift passes for children: children aged five or younger ski for free with the miniAlpini card when an adult buys a lift pass. For the 2026/27 season this applies to children born in 2021 or later. A day pass for an adult costs around 82 euros in high season, and a child's pass half that.

More than skiing

Saalbach is first and foremost a ski resort, but there is more to do on rest days:

• Tobogganing and evening skiing: there are dedicated toboggan runs in the valley, and some pistes are floodlit for evening skiing.
• Winter walks: groomed winter trails along the valley floor between the villages.
• A trip to Zell am See: the lakeside town is half an hour away, with the Kitzsteinhorn glacier in Kaprun right next door.
• Food in the apartment: many families stay in apartments. Our recipes for a whole week on the ski trip are written for exactly that.

Getting to Saalbach

• By air: Salzburg is the closest, about an hour and a half away by transfer. Munich and Innsbruck also work and often have more departures from Sweden.
• By train: the nearest station is Zell am See. From there a bus or taxi takes you just over 20 kilometres up into the Glemmtal. With night trains from Sweden and a change in Germany you can travel the whole way without flying. How the changes and luggage work is described in train to the Alps – how it works.
• By car: it takes around two days from southern Sweden. Don't forget a vignette for the Austrian motorways, and check whether your accommodation has parking.

Saalbach in the Skicircus – good to know

• Epic Pass: from winter 2025/26 the Skicircus is part of the international Epic Pass season pass.
• Ski ALPIN CARD: if you want to include a glacier day in Kaprun and Schmittenhöhe in Zell am See, buy the Ski ALPIN CARD instead of a regular Skicircus pass. It covers up to 408 kilometres of pistes.
• Season: the 2026/27 season is planned for 27 November–4 April. The villages are low, at around 1,000 metres, so early and late in the season it is the artificial snow that keeps the runs down to the villages open.
• The lifts open early: some lifts already open at eight o'clock. It is a good trick during the half-term weeks to get a few runs in before the queues build.

Saalbach is a good first choice for a family that wants plenty of skiing without having to ski difficult runs. If you are still deciding where to go, compare with the other resorts in Skiing in the Alps or read choose the right resort for the trip. And don't forget the ski trip packing list.