So I have narrowed my options (but still open to others) and looking for any advice. My family of 6, youngest 17, is looking for a wintery Christmas destination in a nice village with a Christmas feel. We are traveling by train so need to stay on train rail. We are interested in maybe a snowboard lesson for 2, tobogganing and snow tubing, a nice gondola ride to see the great views that will make us remember our only visit to Austria. Maybe try a snowshoe hike as well. I have been able to find accommodations for 2 nights between Christmas and New Years at both Seefeld, Bad Gastein, and Filzmoos. I would love to hear anyones opinions on these areas, again always willing to look at others.

Switzerland is more expensive but to me the Berner Oberland - Interlaken area and above - has so many varied things for all to do - snow-involved or not - mountain trains and thrilling aerial gondolas go off in all directions - east access from Zurich Airport. A cute mountain town like car-free Wengen would be a delight. Not knowing much about those Austrian places but this is the Alps at their most awesome - don't need to be expensive if get accommodation with cooking facilities. For lots about trains there and in Austria check www.bahn.de/en - great for schedules; www.seat61.com; BETS-European Rail Experts and www.ricksteves.com.

We spent our first winter vacation with extended family in Garmisch Partenkirchen and loved it. while there we did a day trip to Seefeld which we also enjoyed and thought it would appeal a lot to teen/20 somethings while still having appeal for older and younger. The whole area has a lot to recommend it though we were there after Christmas so I can't speak to how open things might be for the actual holiday. Easy to do a day trip to Munich as well as to innsbruck where skiing may be better than in Garmisch. Seefeld has Sledding places, ice skating and some skiing, but not sure about other pursuits. Here's a link to my trip report. We loved the Hotel Edelweiss but I'm guessing it might be already booked. It was terrific.

Winter Wonderland: Trip report on Garmisch for the holidays

If you read my trip report, please note the date of it, 2005, and factor that into price info. Otherwise things don't change so quickly in the area and most of the info should be fairly ok to apply to today We've been back to the Edelweiss since and at Christmas with our family plus twin granddaughters and I can vouch for the continuing charm of the place--and other places around it.

With low level resorts be sure to check weather data as in December some areas may be without snow - make sure yours is guaranteed to have it.

Hi saranda4

Well actually a few things have changed in Garmisch in the last 12 years, and unfortunately it's due to Global Climate Change. These days, we rarely get snow in town before February, and even the nearby mountains (Hausberg, Kreuzeck, & Alpspitze) do not reliably get enough snow for skiing by Christmas. Usually there is enough snow on the big mountain, the Zugspitze, but it takes 1h30 to get there, and even it can close due to high winds.

Garmisch lies at an altitude of about 800m. Seefeld, I believe, is at 1,180m, so there is a better chance of snow early in the season. However, as Pal says, you should probably take a look at the past seasons to see how reliable it is. Bad Gastein is at 1,100m.

I've never been to Bad Gastein, but from the images at google, it looks very pretty! Garmisch is ok (Mittenwald is prettier imo), and I personally didn't think Seefeld was particularly charming. If you are interested in charm & attractiveness, you may want to invest a few hours to look at & compare photos.

Have fun as you plan!

s

If you can revise your plans to include Switzerland consider Zermatt. I'm pretty sure it's snow sure and we also love it. Smaller than Garmisch but with a wonderful christmasy feel. We stay in the Hotel Allalin there and love it. In general, however, I think you will find that hotels are more expensive there than in Germany (and pretty much everything else). Since our son only skis,--and I'm pretty sure most skiing there is advanced since the mountain is so high (it is the Matterhorn)--I'm unfamiliar with other types of winter diversions except ice skating which they have. Perhaps someone else can enlighten you on the availability of sledding, etc. Trains in Switzerland are wonderful and Zermatt is at the very end of a cog wheel route that takes you through beautiful terrain. Again,however, they are more expensive than those elsewhere in Europe especially if you only need to use them a little and won't be getting Swiss passes.

To attract more readers to help you with your planning, you might consider making another post, say something like, Need snow sure destination with varied winter sports for Christmas trip --or something similar and possibly shorter to fit within the title limitations.

Good luck. We've found christmas vacations with family to be some of our favorites.

By this point I likely sound like a broken record when I fangirl crush on Seefeld in Tirol, but since none of you know who I am I'm good with that.

We have spent the week between Christmas and New Year's in Seefeld now twice, in 2016 and 2017; the first year with just our DS and DD (15 and 20 then) and in the second year with DS, DS's longtime girlfriend and her sister, and DD. The "children" tobogganed and winter wandered (skiing options are abundant). DH and I winter wandered and sat in Hütte eating cozy Tirolean cuisine and drinking great wine.The village is lively (stores were open on 26 December and on Sundays); and the Christmas market was still open. I can speak highly of Bergresort Seefeld for lodging; we enjoyed an alpine suite with balcony and mountain view, as well as a delicious Half Board the first year; the second winter we rented an apartment.

This said, we also like Garmisch, though our winter visits were as day trips from Seefeld. DS and DD went up to Alpsptize (too windy for Zugspitze) while DH and wandered the charming Christmas market. On the second trip we hiked Eibensee; the sky was blue and the sun was shining; my photographs are so pretty it doesn't seem like I took them!

Happy Planning!

Sounds like Seefeld provided decent snow conditions recently, so it may be superior to Garmisch on that basis and you can, as the above poster did, do a day trip to Garmisch if you stay in Seefeld and find out that they also have snow cover. Enjoy your holiday.

fourfortravel -

You suggested Seefeld on my thread as well and I think your girl crush may well have convinced me.

If I could hijack for a moment - is the Bergresort accessible via train? We'd be traveling by train (or bus) and probably coming from Munich.

Melnq8, the whole of Seefeld is accessible by train directly from Munich. The Bergresort is on the edge of the village about a kilometer from the station (though, there are taxis). We easily walked DDog into the pedestrian area from the Bergresort in about 15 must-sniff-everything hound minutes. The meals were exceptional; the facilities, our favorite of our three resort stays in Seefeld. (The fourth stay was in an apartment.) Also, the staff were most helpful in assisting us with day plans. I can offer more specific answers if you have questions.

Thank you fourfortravel - I may have more questions down the road.

Thank you for the information! All are always so helpful for an indecisive vacationer!
I would love to head to Switzerland but not enough time. We are coming from Salzburg. We are headed to Rome after Austria so wanting to stay near rail travel. We only have 2 days/nights so dont want to spend too much time in traveling.
Mainly looking for that Christmas village atmosphere that would allow for some winter fun. We could do daytrips from Salzburg but thought we would make more of time and get a better feel if we moved for a few days.
Sounds like Seefeld works. Fourfortravel you make a great case for Seefeld!
I don’t get much feed back on Bad Gastein but agree it looks pretty.
I also hear much of Zell am See but hard to find lodging for the 2 nights.
Garmish and Wittenwald sound pretty as well but concern for the snow accumulation lead me elsewhere.

Could anyone lead me to train travel from Seefeld to Munich airport? Not sure why I am not locating it. Have also considered train from Austria to Rome. Anyone have any input on such travel?

Actually you can get a pretty good Christmas village feel from Salzburg. Though it is bigger than the other places you are thinking of, it has plenty of old town area and lots of Christmas markets that are quite cute and "villagey" With or without snow, it's adorable and very Christmasy. You're going to have a great time.

St Anton and Kitzbuhel are also great winter sports areas with dependable snow I believe.