Austria vs Southern Germany: Cost, piste quality, hospitality

I'm living in Munich now and I've had my eye on three different locations in Southern Germany for weekend skiing, all of which look perfectly fine. However, I've just realised that Austria is only 1.5 hours away by car. In fact, I can get to niederau in 1 hour and 20 minutes (I've been there and liked it). I am wondering if it is worth crossing the border to get to Austrian pistes or should I stick with Germany? Cost is a big factor and I don't mind driving up to an hour extra if it means significantly cheaper accommodation or ski passes. Friendliness of locals and services is also a big factor, the one thing I cannot stand is locals that are rude or arrogant towards visitors.

Dude - seriously - don't bother with Germany.

And I live in Germany and ski in Niederau, Skiwelt etc. I NEVER EVER ski in Germany.

munich_johnny wrote:Dude - seriously - don't bother with Germany.

And I live in Germany and ski in Niederau, Skiwelt etc. I NEVER EVER ski in Germany.

Hi munich_johnny!

Okay but why exactly? Is it down to cost or perhaps the quality of the experience just doesn't compare? What makes Niederau or Skiwelt better than anywhere in Germany?

I guess it totally depends on what YOU want and YOU expect. But for me German skiing is just a much poorer version of the real thing. Lenngries I visited once and it sucked.

In Austria they just do it all better. Better slopes, nicer people, bigger areas, nicer restaurants, better apres-ski etc.

Sure if you just wanna hit the slopes for a day you can ski Germany. It's better than NOT skiing!!!

And Niederau isn't that special - it just happens to be my base in Austria from which I might ski Kitzbühel one day and Westendorf the next, then Auffach/Alpbach.

Skiwelt is the largest ski area in Austria and if you count the new shuttle bus (5 mins) from Westendorf to Kitzbühel then it's I think top 3 in the world for size.

Alessi wrote:

Okay but why exactly? Is it down to cost or perhaps the quality of the experience just doesn't compare? What makes Niederau or Skiwelt better than anywhere in Germany?

Errm,snow?

When I first started going to Niederau, (47 years ago....) at weekends the Bichlwirt filled with Bavarians. At that time Niederau had many more runs than it has now, and is only 1 1/2 hours drive from Munich.

At that time, the ski welt did not exist. Each village had one or two lifts, and there were no links over the plateau. When the villages got their act together, that all changed.

Allessi, your query is a bit academic. John and I buy KitzbuhelAllStar passes. In John's case it is a season pass, and for me generally a 2 week pass, although, if I know I will be going back in late season, I too buy a season pass.

If you are planning to ski several weekends, it makes sense for you to buy an AllStar season pass, and then it doesn't matter which resort you stay in. It is probably more relevant to suss out 2 night accommodations in different villages.

It is only a 15 min drive from Niederau to the nearest point on the Skiwelt, and within 20 minutes from there, you can access all the SW villages. John generally heads for Westendorf, whereas I like to start in Scheffau.

Having said that, I generally manage to make the last couple of runs of the day, back in Niederau!

So, maybe see you in Niederau in mid-January? Don't worry about cost, it's John's round......

Gents, thanks for the great info. I did like Niederau but I wasn't that keen on skiing in the same place again before trying something else so Skiwelt sounds perfect for broadening my skiing horizons. Nice people, better slopes and better apre-ski are all important factors! I will look at the ski pass option soon as I think I will already start heading out in a couple of weeks and I plan to be skiing until March or as long as there is snow to ski on!

Most of the Munich number plates end up in Ellmau and Scheffau but sometimes also in Brixen to access Skiwelt. To avoid paying the motorway toll these days you MUST come off at Kiefersfelden (the border) - if you miss that you will get a nasty fine. Or just buy an annual pass for €86,40

I actually always purchase the Tirol Snow card because I usually also go south to Hochfügen and Zillertal for a few days and that is not on the Kitzbühel pass.

Auffach is only 10 mins from Niederau in the valley and connects to Alpbach these days so that will keep most people quiet for a day or two.

p.s. The Dutch guys that bought the rundown place opposite the fountain have thrown money at the place so it's gonna be a really nice addition, and the new Nordbergalm Hut is lovely up on the black run:

https://www.skijuwel.com/en/news/articles/new-ski-hut-on-the-markbachjoch_news_5770