Zell am See reviews

Skiing: the slopes in zell were slushy but kaprun was awesome despite 15 plus in the valley and sun all week magic for us who just want to enjoy when they were around -2 at the top of the glacier and about +2 degrees at 2000 meters altitude. Nice views of the entire Alps at these heights.
Accommodation: We stayed in Zell am see south which meant that we avoided all the queue to the city express as the other also went to the top (aeritbahn). We stayed at gästehaus bleiweis which was about 5 min walk to the nearest bus to take us on to kaprun etc. We could also take the bus to the center and walk home (20 minutes) without skis when we went to town in the evening. The accommodation overall was fantastic as we only paid 1155 euros for 7 days accommodation with breakfast for 3 people. Good beds and incredibly friendly staff. Very familiar and our breakfast made us full and satisfied every day. And we got a breakfast bag with us when we left which was incredibly kind. She who worked there was the 4th generation and super nice and nice.
City / Food: The city was cozy and the food was super good overall. Lots of restaurants and good service at all the places we ate at. In the hill (kaprun) there were 2 restaurants that were by far the best. These two were krefelder hutte and hausalm. Relatively cheap for the food.

Not quite as modern a lift system as the neighbors Saalbach and Hinterglemm but still quite ok, there will be quite a queue at cityXpress in the morning and when everyone comes down in the afternoon it can be a bit chaotic.
Nice to have a little more "real" village, however we visited during the end of the covid restrictions so a lot was closed.
If you live down in the village, it can be a decent walk uphill to cityXpress, so it can be a wise idea to rent ski storage. Definitely worth taking the ski bus (which is included in the lift ticket) to Kaprun 1-2 days.

Zell am See among the most beautiful ski resorts in the Alps. Season there 22/23 in a hotel. Super nice slopes, well groomed every day. The only thing is that the village itself is not that high up, "only" 840 m.a.s.l., so if they are hot, they will be slightly buttery at the bottom of the hill.

Visited Zell last week in Jan-20 and had some hopes for this classic place I had never visited before. It is very nice on the lake and I can think of visiting that summer time but I can already say that it will probably not be another winter visit.

The village itself is a little charming and there are more than enough restaurants and bars but when the peaks on the mountains only max about 2000 m the ride was not impressive.
Then add a rarely seen heat (several days of around +10 (in Jan) made the sorbets and humps in the hill appear already at 11 o'clock in the morning.
It now sits with Saalbach (only a short bus trip is required to Saalbach but not back) so the system is huge and it felt like Saalbach had a bit more fun riding despite about the same altitude.

Kaprun then, you think? There you have skiing just over 3000 m. Yes, you have and when it was a little colder there the snow was better but when you can not go all the way down (ride height between about 2000 - 3000 m) the slopes were still short and it became very lifting as in the mountains instead.

Easy transfer, just an hour from Salzburg airport and good hotel with spa, certainly suits families with children close to everything and easier slopes but if you want some challenge I do not recommend this place.

Very nice village, adjacent to town empty. Austria in general was a positive skiing experience for me as everything works fantastic and is very modern.

Zell am See is a cozy and genuine village. The ride itself may not be very exciting. Most blue and red slopes. Very good for the kids. Our five year old could really experience the whole system because there are always suitable slopes.

Extremely modern and good lifts. Then smooth bus transfer to Kaprun, if you want more high-altitude skiing. However, we were unable to test day trips to Saalbach

Plenty of easily accessible off-piste, but it could not be explored due to hot weather and thus heavy snow

We were in Zell v. 4 in 2020. Stayed in Schüttdorf, which turned out to be perfect. The Areit lift will take you quickly to Schmittenhöhe and if you want to Saalbach it is convenient to take the new Zell am See express down to Viehofen, where there is a short and well-traveled bus route. From the south side of Zell it also gets a little closer to the glacier at the Kitzsteinhorn.

We had a lot of sun and a decent layer of ground snow so the conditions were perfect and we were really impressed by the slopes. Almost no queue either. The lifts are very efficient. We who got used to St. Anton were not at all bored in Zell am See.

The restaurants on the slopes also have the classic Austrian atmosphere, or why not an evening at the classic Hotel zumHirschen? Over 100 years of tradition and it tasted!

My only minus for this trip was that there had been a couple of mff pigs and put up other light blue stickers, but that had to be torn down with a sharp stick simply. Zell am See is a HIF country! Otherwise there were a lot of Dutch on the slopes and some Russians or Poles. The English were also represented.

Zell am See, clearly underestimated travel destination!

New destination for us Swedes. The new lift that links together Kaprun with the glacier makes Kaprun a top-class ski resort !!

Good skiing in Zell am see, you have to visit the Kitzsteinhorn. Even better skiing and not least on the spring edge when Zell am see is lower and becomes a bit sloppy after lunch. If you want to eat out, stroll around and so, it is in Zell am see you should live.

Travel our fourth week to Zell am see v8 2019. Very good skiing both in Zell am see and Kitzsteinhorn. Choose Zell am see for the wide range of restaurants and things to find when you are not on the slopes. Can warmly recommend Zell am see to families with children.

- Wide skiing in Zell am See (Schmittenhöhe) and world-class pillows in Kaprun (Glacier Kitzsteinhorn). You can ski in both resorts with the same lift card, which makes the area particularly interesting. Since 2016, Zell am See is also joining Saalbach-Hinterglemm, which technically makes it Austria's largest ski system - bigger than St Anton.

- Afterskin is up and coming in both Zell am See and in Kaprun. OFF PISTE BAR offers a cruel party at La Fjällgården in both villages of live music every day in its two bars.

- The restaurants are overall high class. Can recommend Deins und Meins and Brasserie Traube in Zell am See. The Kitcsch & Bitter restaurant serves a good jaw in Kaprun.

- Easy transfer from both Salzburg (just over 1 hour by car) and Munich (just over 2 hours by car). It may be worth taking the train from especially Salzburg.