Skiing may be the number-one pastime in the Gasteiner valley, but the area’s popularity as a meeting place for European vacationers keeps it lively the year round.

Austrians from all parts of the country head up the valley in winter. The area is a group of four ski systems: Bad Gastein, Sportgastein, Bad Hofgastein and Dorfgastein.

Here is an interactive Gastein Resort Map.

If you are looking for ski-in/ski-out, this is not the place to come. You will have to do plenty of klomping around in your ski boots. This town perched on the side of the mountain was not designed for skiing. The town has set up good storage facilities to allow skiers to keep equipment near the slope, but that also limits your skiing since you always have to return to the point where you started. An excellent system of shuttlebuses helps move skiers between the different resort towns.

Bad Gastein first gained fame as a thermal spa. It is still Austria’s top spa and one of the best-known in Europe. The therapy is based on submersion in radon-laced water. A curious hot spring-fed pool has been carved into rock for this therapy. Another form of the treatment takes place in the nearby town of Heilstollen. Here small trains carry those seeking the cure deep into abandoned mines where different chambers with high radon content and differing temperatures above 100 degrees Fahrenheit are visited according to doctor’s orders.

Because of the spas, the resort attracted the upper crust of society and a rather etiquette-conscious clientele. The formality that developed over the years, especially in the grand hotels—many of which still have private thermal pools—continues today. The winter coat of preference will probably be fur, and the lineup of shiny automobiles in front of the casino often makes it look like a Mercedes or BMW showroom. Although spa visitors still cling to protocol, the modern skiing tourist has softened the stiff rules of decorum. This is a town where you can live elegantly, complete with black tie, or casually, never changing from your ski jacket.

Kur- und Tourismusverband, Kaiser-Franz-Josef-Strasse 27, A-5640 Bad Gastein, Austria
Country code: 0043
Telephone prefix: 06434
Telephone: 06432-3393537
Fax: 06434-2531537
Email: info@badgastein.at
Internet: www.badgastein.net or gastein.at

Kurverwaltung, A-5630 Bad Hofgastein, Austria
Country code: 0043
Telephone prefix: 06432
Telephone: 06432-3393-260
Fax: 06432-3393232
Email: info@badhofgastein.com
Internet: www.badhofgastein.com or gastein.at

Tourismusverband, A-5632 Dorfgastein, Austria
Country code: 0043
Telephone prefix: 06432
Telephone: 06432-3393-460 Fax: 06432-3393-437
Email: info@dorfgastein.com
Internet: www.dorfgastein.com or gastein.at

For ticket and package prices: skiamade.com

Note: All prices are in Euros unless otherwise noted.

For more information on skiing and staying in the country of Austria, click the map.