Serfaus-Fiss-Ladis – the ski resort built around children

Most ski resorts say they are child-friendly. Serfaus-Fiss-Ladis is built for it. For several decades, three villages on a sunny plateau high above the Inn valley in Tyrol have shaped their entire ski area around families: large children's areas with their own mascots, ski school groups with few children per instructor, car-free streets and a little underground railway that takes the children to the lifts.

The result is a resort that often tops the lists of the best family ski resorts in the Alps. It is also expensive and does not suit everyone. This guide helps you decide whether it suits you – and if so, which village to stay in.

Three villages on a plateau

The villages each sit on their own part of the same sunny plateau, 1,200–1,400 metres above sea level, and share a ski area of 214 kilometres of pistes and 68 lifts, with peaks up to 2,828 metres:

• Serfaus is the largest and best known. The village centre is car-free in winter, and under the streets runs the Dorfbahn – a driverless air-cushion railway with four stations over just over 1.2 kilometres, from the edge of the village to the lifts. Murmli's children's area is also here.
• Fiss sits on a sunny slope with the pistes almost up to the houses. This is where you will find Berta's Kinderland, named after Berta the colourful cow, the mascot of Fiss and Ladis.
• Ladis is the smallest and quietest, with an old castle above the village. Accommodation is often clearly cheaper, but you need to take a lift or bus to the main area.

The ski area is linked between Serfaus and Fiss/Ladis, so you can ski over to the other side during the day.

Children's age	Best village	Why
Under 5	Serfaus	Murmli's big children's area, car-free village, the Dorfbahn to the lifts
5–10 years	Fiss	Berta's Kinderland close to easy pistes, lots of accommodation by the slopes
Budget	Ladis	Lower prices, quiet – but bus or lift to the pistes
Teenagers	Fiss or Serfaus	Easiest access to the long red runs and the parks

The children's areas – Murmli and Berta

Murmli's children's area in Serfaus covers 45,000 square metres and has slides, carousels, obstacle courses and an igloo – in addition to the practice slopes and magic carpets. Murmli is a marmot mascot who accompanies the children through every activity, and the children learn to ski through play rather than drills. The Serfaus ski school is based here.

Berta's Kinderland in Fiss is that village's equivalent, with direct access to the easy blue pistes. That makes it easy for the children to move from the practice slope to their first real runs.

The ski schools take children from around three years old, and the groups are often smaller than at other resorts. That is a large part of the reason for the resort's reputation – and for places running out. Book well in advance for the February half-term and Easter. If this is your first trip, start with our guide first ski trip with kids.

Lift passes: the youngest children – around six and under – ski for free with a paying adult. The limit is given as a birth year and moves forward each season, so check the birth year for your trip. The guest card from your accommodation makes the lift pass cheaper.

The pistes – sunny and intermediate

The pistes break down roughly like this:

Difficulty	Kilometres
Blue	47 km
Red	112 km
Black	27 km
Ski routes	28 km

Much of the red is wide, well-groomed runs that feel friendlier than the figure suggests, and the plateau gets lots of sun. For a family whose children have just learned to turn it is perfect: the parents get long runs, and the children can join them on the easier reds when they are ready.

What the resort lacks is really steep terrain. With only 27 kilometres of black, it is not the right choice for a family with teenagers hungry for off-piste – compare with St Anton am Arlberg or Ischgl instead.

More than skiing

• Dorfbahn is an experience in itself for small children – an underground railway in the middle of an Alpine village.
• Tobogganing: there are toboggan runs in the area, and some are floodlit for sledging in the evening.
• Cross-country skiing and winter walks on the plateau.
• The hotel pool: many family hotels have their own indoor pools. It is worth checking when you book.
• Food in the apartment: if you are staying in an apartment, use our recipes for a week on the ski trip.

Getting to Serfaus-Fiss-Ladis

• By air: Innsbruck is the closest, about an hour and a quarter away by car. Munich is two and a half to three hours away.
• By train: take the train to Landeck-Zams in the Inn valley and a bus up to the plateau. How to plan the whole journey by rail from Sweden: train to the Alps.
• By car: the road up to the plateau is steep and winding. Winter tyres are required in wintry conditions, and you must carry snow chains. In Serfaus you park at the edge of the village.

Worth the price?

Serfaus-Fiss-Ladis is one of Austria's more expensive family resorts, both for accommodation and lift passes. What you pay for is simplicity: everything is designed to make a week with small children work. If you stay in Ladis or outside high season it is cheaper – see more tips in our budget guide for the ski trip.

If you want to compare with other family resorts, read about Saalbach Hinterglemm with its all-blue ski circuits and Mayrhofen with the Ahorn family mountain. You will find the full selection of Austrian resorts in Austria's ski trips. Tick off the ski trip packing list as you pack.