Kitzbühel, Austria

Skiing in Kitzbühel HAS to be on your destination list for 2025. While only a two-hour drive from Münich Airport, this is one of the easiest towns to get to for skiing in the European Alps. The Aprés Ski, upscale European mountain town, and family-friendly mountain offer something for every traveler. In this post, I will break down the skiing, restaurants, and stores to go to, and other details of my trip :)

Lets get into skiing…

Lift passes for Kitzbühel are very affordable compared to skiing in the United States…if you are willing to take the plane ride out there. The skiing culture is quite different, with both positives and negatives compared to skiing in the States. I have found that the skiing atmosphere in the States is competitive and rowdy, with lots of hootin’ and hollerin’ and shouting from chairlift to chairlift. When you ski, it is intense and for long days, and not many people are leisurely skiing or stopping to eat on the mountain. This is vastly different from the European ski atmosphere. Kitzbühel, specifically, is very family-friendly and has a lot of beginner skiers on the mountain. This was often unavoidable when we were there, however, a lot of the more difficult runs were closed due to a lack of snowfall at the beginning of the season. The runs are long, mainly blues and greens, but have epic scenery of the European Alps. While not as steep, the park is a lot larger and has three gondolas that cover the expanse of the park with lots of runs across the valley that I particularly enjoyed. The chairlifts are also nicer compared to the States but be prepared to compete in line with skiers to make your way through the line. Once you get onto a lift, most of them have heated seats, a windshield-type guard, and no less than 4-seat chairlifts.

The town of Kitzbühel is the perfect size with lots of restaurants and shopping options. Most stores offer luxury brands like Gucci and Louis Vuitton, but you can find most clothes you need in the town as well. The stores follow the typical European timeframe and close around 4 pm or 5 pm, so it would be a good option to dedicate one full day to exploring the town around skiing. Running from the day into night are carriage rides through town if you want an added experience in the winter. 

Food stops I recommend…

Gasthaus Hallerwirt: Starting this list with one of the best restaurants I have been to in a while. This restaurant is on the lower level of a hotel about 10 minutes away on the outskirts of town. You will need to take a cab to get there but it is well worth the short drive. Every single dish at this restaurant was incredible and their wine list was very extensive. I would highly recommend the meatballs and asking for a traditional Austrian red wine. The waitstaff was so sweet and tended to us perfectly and the atmosphere felt like you were getting served a home cooked meal. If you make it to Kitzbühel it is a MUST see. 

The Bar Glockenspiel: a modern bar with incredibly nice staff and a fun atmosphere. We spent a lot of time here on New Year's and it was so much fun! 

Würstelstand Kitzbühel: a food stand that has great currywurst and other tasty German/Austrian sandwiches. 

Ristorante Enoteca: If you are looking for a small local Italian restaurant with a great family atmosphere, this is the place to go! Their main dishes were great, their pizza incredible, and their homemade olive oil you can buy and take home in hand painted jars. 

Restaurant Goldene Gams: This restaurant has been family owned through generations and is also part of a hotel in town. The restaurant is made from the old stables and has a modern atmosphere with a soft historic twist. The food was good and the murals and horse related decor was adorable. 

To round out this post, I have to highlight the Villa Licht. This cute villa was the perfect place to stay and is so close to every shop in town. The walk was about ten minutes to get to the gondola up the mountain and was a two minute walk to the center of town. We stayed in their apartment in the back and had access to a ski locker room and boot room right below us. The accommodations were spacious and exactly what we needed, and every morning we could request fresh bread and croissants for the next day. They do not have a restaurant, but they have a bar that opens with great staff and little fireplaces outside that you can grab a drink at when you are finishing your day on the mountain.

Overall, Kitzbühel was great for a relaxing family atmosphere, and had lots of festivities when we went around the new year. If you are looking for small boutique shopping, I would say it is not the right town for that, but offers a more high end travel atmosphere. The Aprés Ski on the mountain was very fun, but I would recommend Cervinia for a more intense Aprés Ski area if that is important to you while on the mountain. In short, this town is great for a European skiing vacation and is very family friendly, with lots of restaurants and a very affordable deal compared to skiing in the United States.  

The Aprés Ski culture is the largest difference I had to get used to while staying in Kitzbühel. I did miss the more rowdy culture; however I loved the large number of restaurants on the mountain with incredible food and drinks. The EDM music and DJs they had were great, and most people stopped skiing around 1 pm and hung out on the mountain to listen to the music and drink…be careful though, the gondola stops running around 5 pm so if you plan on staying out later, you have to make sure you can ski down the mountain. 

Let's get into the stores…

By far my favorite store was Trachten Eder. This was a shop that featured traditional Austrian clothing with beautiful handmade coats and women's skirts. These are luxury items, with most coats running in the $1-3k range, but are worth the quality. 

Glücksgriff Kitzbühel: a small boutique that is THE store for women's staple sweater items. They have almost every color imaginable and very cute long-sleeve and short-sleeve options for the basic additions to your closet. It was on the more affordable side compared to the luxury stores in town. 

Krines: it looks like a generic lingerie store from the outside, but has an extensive list of a lot of high-quality lingerie brands. They have the most beautiful Agua Bendita swim items as well as beautiful silk robes, bras, and underwear, with brands like Marie Jo, Eres, and Chantelle.