Guide to Zell am See & Kaprun: Austria’s Best-Kept Alpine Secret

These are the three things you cannot miss. Between them, they’ll fill three solid days.

Lake Zell is the anchor. Drinking-water clean (they actually test it regularly), warming to about 23°C in summer. There are three lido beaches with heated pools, water trampolines, and direct lake access. The boat cruise does a full loop and is included with the Summer Card. On a hot day, the lake is the best thing in the valley. I made the mistake of rushing past it to get up the mountains and wished I’d spent a full day just swimming and doing nothing. The Esplanade along the lakefront is a lovely evening walk too, lined with restaurants and ice cream spots.

Schmittenhöhe (2,000 m) is Zell am See’s home mountain and the one most visitors do first. A Porsche-designed cable car takes you to the summit with views of 30+ peaks above 3,000 metres. On a clear day you can pick out the Grossglockner, the Kitzsteinhorn glacier, and even the Wilder Kaiser range in Tyrol. The high-altitude hiking promenade between the summit and Sonnkogel is one of the best easy walks in the region, passing mountain huts and quirky art installations along the way. Without the Summer Card, the Summit Charger ticket costs €41/£35/$46 per adult return.

Kitzsteinhorn (3,203 m) is the glacier and the real showstopper. Multiple cable cars take you up to Gipfelwelt 3000 at 3,029 metres, where there are two panoramic platforms, Cinema 3000 (Austria’s highest cinema), a National Park info tunnel carved through the mountain, and a snow playground in summer where you can actually toboggan in July. It’s properly cold up there, even on a scorching valley day, so bring a jacket and decent shoes. Without the Summer Card, a TOP OF SALZBURG ticket costs €61/£52/$69. I nearly skipped this, figuring the Schmittenhöhe would be enough. Completely wrong. Standing on the glacier platform with nothing but snow and peaks in every direction is a different experience entirely.