Kaprun

Kaprun: reviews

• Al Wilson (02 July 2009)

  We left our usual “posse” behind to enjoy a quiet trip for two in Kaprun, 5 – 12 April 2009. We flew to Munich and hired a car which was very convenient and easy. We stayed in a self-catering apartment between Kaprun and Zell am See and skied both areas.

  At Kaprun parking and getting the cabin up from the valley reminded me of Cairngorm, until you hit the snow that is. The height of the glacier meant that conditions were great for so late in the year and even the lower runs didn’t cut up too badly, although became very busy at home time. The skiing is varied enough for a relatively small area, couple of easy blacks, steep wide reds and easy cruising blues between the tows. Don’t let the tows put you off, they weren’t the extreme tows of Chamonix and were actually quite good fun!

  Zell is a good deal lower and so the snow conditions suffered. It was fine as long as you got there early but became pretty slushy after lunch. My wife suggested skiing back to the bottom one day…big mistake! Steep, narrow, patchy, slushy and bumpy, although I saw enough to suggest it would be lovely earlier in the season.

  We took an afternoon off to walk round the town and lake in the sun, which was very pretty. I have to say prices were much cheaper than France, both for buying food in the shops and eating/drinking out. People are very friendly as well and everything is spotless, even on the hill. We would love to go back if we can coax the “posse” away from the fleshpots of France!

  This is the opinion of a skiclub.co.uk visitor, not the Ski Club of Great Britain.
• Jerard Knott (24 March 2009)

  Have recently returned from Kaprun/ Zell am See (28/02/09 - 08/03/09). Major difference from previous visit is that the new lifts from 2007/08 are definitely making a positive improvement on the uplift capacity. One of our group started snowboarding and described the area as superb. Talk of joining the Kaprun/Zell area to Piesendorf and eventually to Saalbach continues. Would strongly recommend the Hotel Sonnblick to anyone staying in Kaprun. The food is better than any normal ski hotels.

  This is the opinion of a skiclub.co.uk visitor, not the Ski Club of Great Britain.
• lee smiles (24 February 2009)

  Have recently had a good week in Kaprun. The pistes where in excellent condition helped by 3 days of constant snow which left a good quantity of powder on the pistes as well as off piste though this was tracked out quite quickly. The weather on the final day was excellent up on the Kitzstein glacier with glorious sunshine above the early morning cloud which did mean it was fairly quiet till lunch time. We spent a couple of days over on Zell and must recommend the Pinzgauer Hutte for lunch if only for the tow back by skidoo to the pistes though the food was excellent too. Another recommendation for those needing too hire skis, the local Skiset shop was excellent, with the added bonus of a bar and a constant supply of free schnapps while my friend was getting his skis sorted, which did leave one with bit of a thick head as he did seem to be a while picking the skis.

  This is the opinion of a skiclub.co.uk visitor, not the Ski Club of Great Britain.
• Jerard Knott (09 April 2008)

  I have just returned from a long weekend staying in Kaprun, making the most of the end of season snow. Snow conditions were excellent, helped by a snow storm that swept in dumping about 6-10 inches of snow over 24 hours.

  We travelled from Salzburg using the train and bus system which runs like clockwork and is always on time (we easily made a connection which allowed for a 3 minute transfer between platforms on route).

  Were able to ski in all areas, Kaprun - Kitzsteinhorn, Kaprun Maiskogel and Zell am See. The new lifts to the area have also made a massive improvement to the system’s capacity. Transfer to the glacier from Kaprun is surprisingly quick; the bus runs every 10-15 minutes and only takes about 10 minutes from Kaprun centre.

  As ever with Austria, the locals were friendly and the food great!

  This is the opinion of a skiclub.co.uk visitor, not the Ski Club of Great Britain.
• skiclub.co.uk visitor (19 October 2007)

  Have been twice to Kaprun in January ...first time as beginners 2006, second time, as not quite beginners/intermediate in 2007! We are a family of two adults with three children aged from five to eleven, four of us wanted to learn to ski, one to snowboard (11 year old boy). Thought I would be lucky to get any time skiing due to kids but low and behold, all very happy in excellent ski school both am and pm, leaving adults to do their own thing as much or little as they wanted, absolute bliss. Highly recommend the following school - Ski snowboarding kaprun, gernot schermer. The instructors were brilliant with the kids with excellent English and when my son found the snowboarding hard to master at first they were very flexible about changing arrangments and they take kids from age four on upwards. We went back the following year and delighted to find some of the same instructors. Of course the lack of snow was a problem in europe last year but skiing is guaranteed in Kaprun even if it is a bit of a hike to the top of the glacier. In most normal years the slighter lower Maiselkofel mountain right in the village of kaprun is an idyllic place to learn to ski . Our expereince here was great and the village is really pretty and the hotels are relaxed friendly and totally brilliant, would highly recommend to other familes. However Kaprun might be a bit quiet for party loving singles.

  This is the opinion of a skiclub.co.uk visitor, not the Ski Club of Great Britain.
• skiclub.co.uk visitor (24 May 2007)

  Visited Kaprun 10th March for a week.

  Very picturesque resort with an efficient bus link to the Kitsteinhorn lifts. Barely had to queue for the buses and the lift queues were okay providing you were at the base station by a reasonable time.

  Skiing is good for beginners and early intermediates with some good wide pistes for practicing technique. Ski school was also very good. Limited runs in Kaprun, though pass does cover Zell am See which is bus linked from the town.

  Stayed at Hotel Barbarahof - large comfortable room and excellent food. Very good spa too

  All in all, would recommend for beginners or 2nd weekers.

  This is the opinion of a skiclub.co.uk visitor, not the Ski Club of Great Britain.
• skiclub.co.uk visitor (19 March 2007)

  Had fab weekend in Kaprun (6 women) for short break 15th to 18th March 07. No snow in Kaprun but plenty on glacier. Obviously lack of snow meant that other resorts were bussing in so GET UP EARLY AND BOOK TAXI SO YOU CAN GET TO GONDOLA FOR 8.30AM (essential tip) or you'll be sat in queue for ever! Lovely wide blues and reds suitable for beginners or intermediates - don't bother if you're advanced, not enough for you. Stayed at Rudolfshof Hotel which was fantastic, rooms good size, food amazing, spa lovely - excellent value for money. Just phone direct and they also book reasonable cost transfer from Salzburg. Great place for weekend of skiing, not lots of nightlife but very pretty - apparently if you want to party then you need to go to neighbouring Zell am See. Treat yourself to a few extra days next season - it's worth it!!

  This is the opinion of a skiclub.co.uk visitor, not the Ski Club of Great Britain.
• skiclub.co.uk visitor (19 March 2007)

  Kaprun is an ideal resort for a long weekend, which we had in January 2007 with another trip booked for the end of March. Flights from Stansted or Coventry to Salzburg can get you on the slope at 1pm on Friday, and off between 2pm and 4pm to make the flight out, all based on driving to the resort.

  The glacier guarantees snow, and the Maiskogel run into town provides long cruising through great scenery if there's any cover. The slopes above Zell am See also provide a good alternative for a day, with more tree cover and a great view of the town and its lake on clear days.

  Kaprun's nightlife is ideal for those who prefer to ski rather than missing the morning as a result of the night before - there are several good hotels and restaurants, including an excellent (if unusual!) Mexican/Italian called La Zuchini, but they are always busy, and where bookings can be made, they are essential. Those in search of loud music until 4am will undoubtedly end up in the Baum Bar, but that's about it, and so as a result Kaprun tends to be full of families and more mature groups.

  One problem the town has is that there are three ski areas within easy reach, but it does require a bus trip between them, with the total time from the glacier to Zell am See about 30 minutes, so once you are on the mountain, you are unlikely to decide to relocate to one of the other areas. The buses are very good, with a free shuttle bus around the town as well as the Postbus and ski service through the valley.

  All in all, it's a great resort for those who value skiing over partying.

  This is the opinion of a skiclub.co.uk visitor, not the Ski Club of Great Britain.
• skiclub.co.uk visitor (05 September 2006)

  I chose Kaprun for one of our Christmas ski trips because it was snow sure. Unfortunately there was no snow anywhere else and it took more than an hour to get from our Chalet to the Gondola, the only way up since the rail fire, due to coaches from other places with no snow all trying to get into the Car Parks - Kaprun needs to take a leaf out of the American Resort arrangements where the Coaches and cars park some way from the Lifts and Shuttle Buses bridge the gap. My daughter and I gave up after a couple of runs on our last day as we considered the number of people on the Mountain to be dangerous. I will not be in any hurry to go back to Kaprun anytime soon.

  This is the opinion of a skiclub.co.uk visitor, not the Ski Club of Great Britain.
• Phil Edwards (21 March 2006)

  Just returned from a week at the Chalet Mara with Ski Esprit. Our second visit with Esprit to the Mara and still the same high standards. The Mara has a homely feel though clean comfortable and welcoming throughout. Great catering and attentive staff. Although not vast Kaprun offers sufficient activity within the village to fill a relaxed week for non skiers. For skiers the Maiskogel is only a short walk (10 mins in boots or 3 mins in courtesy bus) from the Mara and offers scenic though perhaps not the most adventurous skiing. Good for mixed ability familiy skiing though. Chair lifts all the way to the top. Kitzsteinhorn Glacier is reached by bus (approx 15 mins) and offers a decent variety of slopes to compliment the Maiskogel and therefore filing the week. The final slope down to the Alpine Centre is comparitively narrow and got a little congested on Fri/Sat. No real queing for lifts though. Final tip for a great Fondue with excellent service is the Hotel Auhof near to the foot of the Maiskogel. Best to book and for a substantial meal ending with chocolate fondue and inc drinks was approx. £20 per adult.

  This is the opinion of a skiclub.co.uk visitor, not the Ski Club of Great Britain.
• Matthew Harvey (16 March 2006)

  This was a fantastic first time resort. It gave my family a rich taste of what a lifetime of snowsports should be like. The journey from Salzburg was picturesque, the town of Kaprun was quaint and the resort itself was perfect for on-piste skiing and snowboarding. Perfect resort to learn at; the instructors spoke more than 5 different languages, were experts in both snowboarding and skiing, and were great teachers who were friendly and a pleasure to spend a week with. Child friendly, though Crystal the company we went with, had a few problems with one of the young ones. With little kids, it might be an idea to keep an eye on what they're doing, and making sure that the childminders are held accountable for the state of kids clothing amongst other things. Ski bus, was extremely crowded at peak times. The early bird catches the worm is something I cannot stress enough in Kaprun. Not much in the way of off-piste, but for skiers the pistes were long, diverse in difficulty and not overly crowded. Try to avoid Austrian public holidays though, because then the resort just gets stupidly packed. As a seasoned snowboarder, it was not exactly perfect for me, as there were too many moguls, and not enough powder. But, this was late last season (in April) to be precise, so I wasn't really expecting pow. Apres ski was perfect with lots of places on the slopes and off that meet the needs of thirsty, hungry children, and the beer craving adult. The Alpincenter there also offers some extremely tasty, healthy food for lunch time as well. The nightlife was fun. They organised bar crawls, there was football in various pubs and the food and the beer were brilliant. In the middle of winter, the lake freezes over and it is possible to skate on it, so if that tickles your fancy then Kaprun can offer something quite rare. Zell Am See also has its own ice rink and ice hockey team if you fancied some live evening sport aswell. Overall, all of my family learn to ski brilliantly in one week, and had a really good time whilst doing it. The resort was a success, though recommended for skiers more than snowboarders.

  This is the opinion of a skiclub.co.uk visitor, not the Ski Club of Great Britain.
• Alison Pedley (22 February 2006)

  Had a week in Kaprun (12th Feb-19th Feb 2006). Fantastic snow this season so all the runs were open in Zell, on the glacier and on Maiskogel. Excellent ski school for two 12 year olds, one 9 year old and one 7 year old. Stayed in the very good Hotel Select in Piesendorf/Furth between Kaprun and Zell, highly recommended. Our advantage? we did it ourselves with car hire so had the flexibilty to drive between the three ski areas. The ski buses were horrendously crowded at the peak times although the slopes were fine. Highly recommended when the snow is as good as it has been this year.

  This is the opinion of a skiclub.co.uk visitor, not the Ski Club of Great Britain.
• saly webb (15 February 2006)

  Stayed at the Hotel Barbarahof - excellent service and food, even separate choices of main course for the children. The owners were friendly and extremely welcoming. Right next to the skischool meeting place which made it an ideal location for the children. Limited shopping in the village centre, and expensive, but adequate. Only downside was having to get the skibus to the glacier or to Zell am See. Ski school absoltely first class.

  This is the opinion of a skiclub.co.uk visitor, not the Ski Club of Great Britain.
• Russell Stagg (19 January 2006)

  Hotel Annelise - really a B&B but very nice. Budget rather than 3 stars however. Weather was a little iffy 3 of the 6 days but the other 3 were marvellous and the amount of fresh snow was amazing. Went with Crystal - nice people but a little hopeless when dealing with a crisis -( my wife died whilst we were away). Food and the Austrian people were fantastic.

  This is the opinion of a skiclub.co.uk visitor, not the Ski Club of Great Britain.
• Jane Bisgrove (29 November 2005)

  Kaprun is a picturesque village and typically Austrian. Our transfer from Salzburg was just over an hour. We stayed in the Hotel Orgler which was very good and the food was excellent. 5 minutes bus ride takes you to the glacier (usually overcrowded but ran every 5 minutes or so - my advice is to take the earliest bus up there at about 8:00am to avoid being packed like sardines). The skiing is great on the glacier. Wide open slopes and plenty of gentle blue runs for the novice skier, which we all were. My 8 year old learnt to ski on the nursery slope on the glacier as all the slopes in the village were closed (snow had disappeared in the village a long time before we arrived on March 30th). There was a fun slalom race day for the children on the last day of the week and presentations with medals were given out in the town square in the evening (with a glass of gluwein for the adults). All in all we had a fantastic holiday - couldnt complain about anything at all.

  This is the opinion of a skiclub.co.uk visitor, not the Ski Club of Great Britain.
• Andy Smith (27 November 2005)

  First time skiers so we booked to go to Kaprun because the ski schools are very good.We stayed in the Taurenhauf hotel which lived up to its 4 stars. Owners were very nice and the food was great.The hotel is in the centre of the village at the bottom of the nursery slopes.We had never skied before and by the second day we were skiing blue runs and by the end of the week we were skinig red runs.I would say the instructors at the ski school are of very high quality.The bus trip and cable cars up to the glaicer are a bit of a put off but once up at the top it is well worth it.I would say for someone learnig or has only skied a few times it perfect.We have booked to go in January 2006 so it can't be that bad.

  This is the opinion of a skiclub.co.uk visitor, not the Ski Club of Great Britain.
• Nigel Reese (21 February 2004)

  Very good hotels in centre of pretty unspoilt village with easy acess to nursery slopes. Excellent for first timers, with very good ski school, which meets behind Tauernhof Hotel. Main skiing mountain near village is limited for intermediates and has a poor lift system (T-bars) unless you get the bus to the cable car (which at peak times has queues. The glacier offers wide open pistes, mainly for intermediates, the view on a claer day is stunning, however, the altitude and winter weather can make for Scott of the antarctic like experiences. Would I return year on year? No, more variety and challenge needed.

  This is the opinion of a skiclub.co.uk visitor, not the Ski Club of Great Britain.
• Jim (12 January 2004)

  If you are a beginner the Glacier here is a great place to learn.The bus journey to the cable cars for this( albeit five minutes) is a bind and With Kaprun and Zell am See being so low are probably a nightmare if the snow in these two resorts is poor ( locals tell me this is quite frequent) and the masses head for the higher ground.An advert for ski-in/ski-out hotels in high altitude resorts! Saying that..there was loads of snow and thus lots of space up on high.Can recommend the Hotel Orgler for very good accomodation and food.

  This is the opinion of a skiclub.co.uk visitor, not the Ski Club of Great Britain.
• Mary Lewis (05 January 2004)

  Just returned from Kaprun having stayed at the Hotel Tauernhof. It is an excellent hotel. Luxurious rooms, and best ever food in 30 years of skiing, and the owners were very pleasant and helpful too. Kaprun itself is a lovely little village and the ski buses to the Kitzeinhorn weren't too bad to get on to, although the wait for the funicular that takes you from the top of the cable car to the pistes was a long wait. Also because the only way down the mountain is via the bubble lifts, a massive queue for buses formed at the end of the day - but three buses turned up one after the other to clear the backlog, so it wasn't too bad. A trip to Zell took three hours door to door. We waited 40 minutes for a bus and the queue for the Shuttdorf bubble took one and three quarter hours!!!! We had the feeling that the mountain and the uplifts are not big enough for the town of Zell am Zee, fortunately we can all ski black runs so were able to dodge the masses on the blues and reds!

  This is the opinion of a skiclub.co.uk visitor, not the Ski Club of Great Britain.
• Joe (02 June 2003)

  Kaprun isn't the greatest resort in the world. Snow in the village is very rare and it's a bus ride to the glacier or Zell every day. It is often crowded. The apres-ski is good. A better place to stay for skiing and accommodation is Zell Am See.

  This is the opinion of a skiclub.co.uk visitor, not the Ski Club of Great Britain.
• jon barton (17 December 2002)

  first time snow boarding great snow brill place to go always loads of different runs to try - going again this jan.

  This is the opinion of a skiclub.co.uk visitor, not the Ski Club of Great Britain.

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