Mayrhofen

Mayrhofen is easy to like - a neat, polished, animated village in a pleasant rural setting - and we always enjoy our visits. In the past, we've been grateful that we've been able to dodge the Penken gondola queues by driving to other lifts; whether this will be necessary next season with the swanky new three-cable gondola in place, we shall see. If what is attracting you is the relatively snow-sure slopes, bear in mind that you can access those slopes from quieter villages further up the valley, covered in the Hintertux chapter. Two of them, Lanersbach and Vorderlanersbach next door, also have the merit of pistes back to the village - rare in these parts. Mayrhofen is a fairly large resort sitting in the flat-bottomed, steep-sided Zillertal. Most shops, bars and restaurants are on one long street, with hotels and pensions spread over a wider area. Free buses and trains link several different areas on the Ziller valley lift pass, including the excellent glacier at Hintertux (which has its own chapter). At the end of this chapter we cover the Zillertal Arena area, which starts at Zell am Ziller, not far away, and links to Gerlos and Königsleiten. The other major area is Hochfügen/ Hochzillertal above Kaltenbach, dealt with in the directory at the back of the book; it has a low profile in the UK, but is well worth exploring.