1) Salzburger Sportwelt Loipen

2) Ramsau am Dachstein Loipen

Ramsau - Dachstein Tauern

Ramsau has an excellent selection of cross country skiing for all levels. It is nice and high so the snow stays well. Cross country skiing is bigger business in Ramsau than downhill skiing so is a great place to go if you intend to just cross country ski. It has a number of ski schools specializing in both cross country styles. To use the routes at Ramsau you should buy a cross country ski pass which are available from the tourist information centre and from the stadium which is the start point for many routes. A downhill Ski Amade season pass is not valid as a cross country pass.

Filzmoos - Salzburger Sportwelt

Filzmoos has 3 cross country routes in the valley and one which is set out at the top of the gondola. We have not yet skied the route from the top of the gondola but it is a mix of red, blue and black looking at the piste map. The routes are pleasing and the easy routes are really enjoyable if you are a beginner. However if you wanted to do a lot of skiing without travelling out of your base village this is not the ideal place.

Flachau, Flachauwinkl, Altenmarkt, Radstadt and Wagrain - Salzburger Sportwelt

We have combined these areas for review because all of these places are linked by cross country ski routes. The area is great for beginners with most routes being blue routes.  Although the terrain is not too testing you can ski for miles without crossing the same track twice. Particular recommendations are:

1) The route from Flachauwinkl back to Flachau or Altenmarkt taking either the route there and back or catching the ski bus to Flachauwinkl and skiing back. This is a red route but not too challenging and has a variety of terrain, through trees, by Winklsee, across fields and running directly along the bottom of the pistes in Flachau. 

2) The route from Flachau through to Radstadt along the Enns taking in the Atomic route is a lovely easy route made challenging by the distance and is circular so no need to cover the same route twice.

3) Radstadt to Untertauern is a red route and it does have some challenging slopes but runs through a beautiful valley from the bottom of the ski lift in Radstadt. There are opportunities for lunch or drinks along the way.

4) Flachau to Altenmarkt or Reitdorf via Schloss Hoch is a really interesting route with a big uphill obviously compensated by a nice downhill past the Schloss. What makes this route interesting is the height plus the route close to the Schloss.

Kleinarl - Salzburger Sportwelt

Kleinarl has exceptionally well prepared routes travelling through beautiful scenery. There are not many routes but the routes available are long and well worth skiing. Our particular recommendation if you want a long ski is to park up just out side Wagrain on the way to Kleinarl at the start of the loipe and take the route all the way through Kleinarl to Jägersee and back. Alternatively you could take the bus from Wagrain to Jägersee and ski back to Wagrain picking up the bus for just the last kilometre or so back to town. Or take the slightly shorter route from Kleinarl to Jägersee and back. There are no tracks around Jägersee however we skied easily around it and it was well worth doing for the views of the lake. The restaurant at Jägersee was open on the occasion that we did the route but it is probably worth checking at the tourist information in Kleinarl on the way through.

Sport Gastein - Gasteinertal

Sport Gastein is a glacial ski area. It has six different cross country ski routes set in the bowl at the base of the downhill ski area. They vary in length and difficulty and are ideal for when the cross country conditions lower down are not so good. There is also a facility to hire skis and boots. This is where we tried cross country skiing for the first time. We just hired some equipment which is really good value and gave it a go. The beginners routes made it really easy to try. There are two restaurants on the cross country ski routes and one at the base of the ski area.