Ski holidays in Bad Gastein, Austria

Bad Gastein is one of Austria's most legendary ski resorts, set in the heart of the Gastein valley in Salzburgerland. The resort combines world-class skiing with a thermal spa culture all of its own, making it a perfect destination for the whole family. A ski holiday in Bad Gastein suits anyone who wants more than just skiing. Here you'll find a rich cultural scene, excellent food and top-level spa experiences.

The ski area stretches from 1,083 metres above sea level up to 2,700 metres and offers 200 kilometres of well-groomed pistes for all levels. The resort forms part of the large Gastein ski area, which links Bad Gastein with the neighbouring resorts of Bad Hofgastein and Dorfgastein, giving you access to one of Austria's largest connected ski areas.

For more advanced skiers, the Stubnerkogel area is not to be missed. Here you'll find steep pistes with fantastic views and opportunities for off-piste skiing amid stunning alpine scenery. Beginners and families have their own areas with gentle slopes and professional ski schools.

The après-ski culture in Bad Gastein is just as legendary as the slopes. Along the well-known Grillkopf run lie a number of cosy mountain huts and restaurants where you can enjoy a glass of mulled wine or a beer in the sun. The resort also has a lively nightlife with bars and clubs that keep going well into the small hours.

5 tips about Bad Gastein

1. Gasteiner Bergbahnen Take the cable car up for a spectacular view over the valley and the surrounding mountain peaks.
2. The Thermal Baths Bad Gastein is famous for its hot springs. A visit to the thermal baths after a day on the slopes is a must.
3. The Nightrace Visiting in January? Don't miss the famous floodlit night slalom race that turns the resort into a sea of torches.
4. Dog Sledding Enjoy an exhilarating husky sledding trip through the snow with experienced guides and well-trained sled dogs.
5. Torchlight walk Join a guided torchlight walk through the beautiful spa town in the evening light, an unforgettable experience.

Pistes and lifts in Bad Gastein

The ski area in Bad Gastein forms part of the large Gastein system and offers 200 km of pistes served by 45 modern lifts. The piste network stretches from the village at 1,083 metres up to an impressive 2,700 metres, giving a vertical drop of 1,555 metres. Skiing in Bad Gastein offers great variety in terrain: wide, well-groomed blue runs for beginners and families, technically demanding red pistes through the forest belt, and steep black runs from the top stations.

The lift system is consistently modern, with fast gondolas and six-seater chairlifts that keep queues down. The Stubnerkogel gondola takes you quickly up to the higher sections where the most challenging pistes await. If you're planning a ski holiday to Bad Gastein, it's worth noting that the lift pass gives access to the whole Gastein valley, including the slopes in Bad Hofgastein and Dorfgastein.

Piste map for Bad Gastein

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The map downloads as an image file. On your iPhone it lands in the Files app. Tap the icon at the bottom of the address bar to open the map straight away.On your iPad it lands in the Files app. Tap the icon at the top right of the address bar to open the map straight away.On your phone it lands in the Downloads folder. Tap the download notification that appears to open the map straight away.The file lands in the Downloads folder. You can also look for the icon at the top right of the screen and open the map from there.

Snow reliability in Bad Gastein

Thanks to Bad Gastein's high altitude, with peaks up to 2,700 metres, snow reliability is good throughout the winter season, from December to April. The north-facing slopes in the Stubnerkogel area hold onto the snow particularly well, and combined with an extensive snowmaking system in the lower sections, you can expect excellent conditions on the pistes. A ski holiday in Bad Gastein in January and February brings reliably perfect snow conditions, but the higher pistes also maintain good quality in March and April.

Best time to travel to Bad Gastein

The best time for a ski holiday in Bad Gastein depends on what you're after. January and February bring the coldest temperatures and the best snow, with daytime temperatures between -6 and -4 degrees. March is popular among those who want to combine skiing with sunny days and milder weather. If you want to experience the famous Nightrace competition, plan your trip for January. Late winter, from the end of March into April, offers sunny skiing in the higher areas and a lovely après-ski atmosphere in the village.

Will there be lift queues in Bad Gastein?

The Bad Gastein and Bad Hofgastein sector at Bad Gastein carries 34,336 people an hour across 17 lifts. 11 of the 17 lifts are gondolas, cable cars or high-speed chairlifts, the kind that clear a queue quickly. The fastest lifts carry up to 3,015 people an hour, for example Schlossalmbahn II. Per kilometre of piste there is less lift capacity than at an average resort on this site, so a busy week is felt more clearly here. The queue you actually notice is almost always down in the valley between eight and half past nine. If you are on the lift before eight you avoid it.

When is Bad Gastein busiest?

How busy the slopes get is not decided by the English half term but by when the local families and the neighbouring countries are on holiday. These are the weeks that fill Bad Gastein in the 2026/2027 season.

• Austria: The Semesterferien are taken one week at a time, state by state, during the first three weeks of February.
  1 to 6 February: Vienna and Lower Austria
  8 to 13 February: Burgenland and Carinthia
  15 to 20 February: Tyrol, Salzburg, Upper Austria, Styria and Vorarlberg
• Germany: Germans are the largest foreign group in the Alps and their winter holidays are spread across early February.
  1 to 6 February: Berlin, Brandenburg, Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia
  8 to 12 February: Bavaria and Saarland
  8 to 19 February: Saxony and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern
• England: The English February half term is 15 to 19 February 2027 for most councils, with a few areas breaking up a week earlier. The Easter holidays run from 26 March to 9 April.
  8 to 12 February: half term in a few council areas, for example Hull
  15 to 19 February: half term in most of England, including London, the Midlands and the North
  26 March to 9 April: Easter holidays for most English schools
• Easter holidays: Easter 2027 is early, on 28 March. Austria and Germany take their holidays around the weekend, while the French holidays fall after Easter, in April.
  20 to 29 March: the whole of Austria, all states at the same time
  22 March to 3 April: most German states, including Bavaria, Hesse and North Rhine-Westphalia
  3 April to 3 May: the French zones, which fall after Easter 2027 and only affect the highest resorts
• Long weekends: Long weekends fill the slopes with day visitors from the nearest cities, even when no schools are on holiday.
  26 December to 3 January: Christmas and New Year, the most expensive period of the year
  6 January: Epiphany, a public holiday in Austria, Italy and parts of Switzerland
  27 to 29 March: the Easter weekend. Easter Monday is a public holiday across the Alps, but Good Friday is a working day in Austria, Italy and France
  1 to 2 May: May Day, a public holiday across the Alps

If you want quieter pistes and lower prices, the weeks in mid-January and late March are clearly the best. Neither the Germans nor the Austrians are on holiday then.

Snow right now. There is no snow cover in the valley or at the top right now. The figures are modelled by Open-Meteo, not measured by the lift company, and were fetched 16 October 2026 at 20:24.

The lift pass included. The stay comes with the Ski amadé lift pass, which covers 701 km of piste. The pass is worth around €432.

How to get to Bad Gastein

Last-minute deals in Bad Gastein

Last-minute offers, that is late dates the operator still wants to fill, appear from January onwards. Once the season is under way we will show them here on this page.

Bad Gastein is suitable for

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Frequently asked questions about Bad Gastein