Most Important Things You Need to Know Before Booking a Vacation in Mayrhofen
Mayrhofen is a large, attractive, traditional village in the scenic Ziller Valley or ‘Zillertal’ as it’s locally known, nestled in the heart of the Austrian region of Tyrol.
It’s one of the biggest names in Austrian mountain tourism and is a longstanding favourite with Brits.
This review will show you the most important things you need to know before booking a vacation in Mayrhofen. If you stick around until the end, you will get some great tips that will help you make better decisions, save time and money and have a more enjoyable vacation.
How to get to Mayrhofen?
The closest airports to Mayrhofen are Innsbruck, with a transfer time of one hour and Salzburg or Munich, with two hours each.
Take note that there are big traffic jams on Saturdays from Munich and Salzburg to Mayrhofen and back during February.
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You can buy a train ticket to Mayrhofen at Munich Airport, with changes at Munich central station, Kufstein and finally at Jenbach for a local Zillertalbahn connection.
A round-trip ticket is likely to cost between 60 and 120 euros. As the central transport hub of the valley, the Mayrhofen railway station is served by a local bus service to the village, while buses also run through the valley on an hourly basis.
Mayrhofen train station
The Ski areas
Mayrhofen ski has a long season beginning in early December, lasting right through to late April. The ski area of Mayrhofen spans from 630 meters above sea level to 2500 meters above sea level. Interestingly, however, except for one red run that descends from Ahorn Plateau down into town, the ski area elevation ranges between 1500m and 2500 meters.
Run 31 on the Penken.
Many of the slopes are south-facing, which can be good in the middle of winter. However, the lower altitude south-facing runs can be problematic in milder March, but we’ll address the solution to that later in the review.
Run 64 on Rastkogel. South-facing runs. Eggalm just a head and Hintertux far in bkgd.
The ski area of Mayrhofen itself has 137 kilometres of ski runs. But when combined with the Superzillertal ski pass for the whole Zillertal area, it boasts a vast 535 kilometres of ski runs for your enjoyment, making the Zillertal valley the valley with the most ski runs in the whole of Austria.
From the 535 kilometres of the Zillertal, 116km are separated into small areas you won’t bother to try. We recommend on four ski areas with a total of 419 km:
The Zillertal Arena, featuring a massive 143 kilometres of connected ski runs, is the largest single ski area, and here’s how to get there from Mayrhofen.
From Mayrhofen, you can take the Zillertalbahn to Zell am Ziller, and then the red line ski bus to Rosenalmnahn lift to explore the Zillertal Arena, with a journey time of 20 minutes.
Zillertalbahn. the valley local train
The second ski area, with 91 kilometres of connected ski runs, is Ski Optimal.
From Mayrhofen, you can take the Zillertalbahn to Kaltenbach and then walk five minutes to HochZillertal gondola to explore Ski Optimal. The total journey time is just 30 minutes.
Ski optimal. Kaltenbach ski area
The third ski area is the Hintertux, with 60 kilometres of runs and a glacier where you can ski up to 3250 meters above sea level. To get there, you should take the green line bus from the Zillertalbahn station, a drive that will take around 40 minutes.
The last big ski area in the Zillertal is the main ski area of Mayrhofen itself, with 125 kilometres of ski runs.
Run 63 on Rastkogel. Mayrhofen ski area. Eggalm and Hintertux glacier.
Overall, the Mayrhofen ski area is divided into two distinct areas, and comprised of 13 runs, 27 red runs and 15 blue runs.
The first ski area is Ahorn, aka Ahorn Plateau, home to 12 kilometres of slopes and connected to the centre by the Ahorn Cable Car.
Ahornbahn
Ahorn features several easy blue runs on the plateau and a long red run back to the centre.
Ahorn ski area. mainly for beginners
The second ski area, also known as the Penken, is connected to the centre by the Penken lift and consists of 125 kilometres of slopes.
Penken Mountain in Penken ski area. Run 32.
It’s home to four mountains: Horberg, Rastkogel, Eggalm, and Penken. Experts can test their limits and try the Harakiri, the steepest piste in Austria.
This piste runs at an incline of up to 78 grade, which is about 38 degrees. To take on a steeper angle, you’d have to jump out of a plane!
Harakiri run. The steepest ski run in Austria.
Fortunately, the Harakiri run is short, so get into position, close your eyes, think of England or whatever place you come from, and enjoy the ride!
Harakiri run from Vans Penken Snow Park
Freestylers can find one of Europe best snow parks here, too: Vans Penken Park. At the height of 2100 metres, it’s divided to six separate areas on the sunny side of Horberg mountain provide for pros and beginners and guarantees everyone a considerable amount of fun. It’s one of the rare snow parks out there with a Designated chairlift.
Vans Penken snow park. Designated chairlift
Vans Snow Park. Top notch
Vans Snow Park. 150er tux cable car in bkgd
There are plenty of ski schools to choose from here, and at reasonable prices too. The main ski school meeting point is at the Penkenbahn top station, near Restaurant Pilzbar.
Penkenbahn top station from run 27
One of the cons of Mayrhofen and the Zillertal Valley is that each ski school only teaches in its ski area, so if you take a six-day group course, you won’t ski in the other ski areas of the valley. At the end of the review, we’ll give you a valuable tip for people who still need lessons but want to explore the whole of the Zillertal Valley.
Run 28 in Mayrhofen. don’t take 6 full day group lessons if you want to explore Zillertal arena and Kaltenbach.
Where to stay in Mayrhofen?
Since the building of the new Penkenbahn, there are almost no lines in the mornings, except Sundays during the peak season.
Penken lift. no more lines except Sundays.
If you stay on the outskirts of Town, you may want to consider taking a small ski bus ride to Horbergbahn to avoid the inconvenience.
Horbergbahn
Mayrhofen itself is relatively easy to get around. Hauptstrasse is the main street in the town and has many bars, restaurants and a good variety of shops.
Hauptstrasse. Looking south. Bustling yet charmful
Apres ski in Mayrhofen
Regarding Apres Ski, we recommend you pay a visit to Pilzbar & Elchbar on your ski back to the village. But don’t forget, the Penken cable car only runs until five PM.
Hauptstrasse north area. looking north
From here, you can head down the mountain to enjoy the après ski options in the town.
Take a left when exiting the Penkenbahn and grab your first beer in town at the Ice Bar.
Ice bar. Look for the polar bear
For the hungry non-vegan, cross the street to Gasser with unique local meat delicacies at low prices, and line your stomach for the evening adventure.
Then head to Brukn Stadle, the apres-ski bar located between the bridge at the end of Haupstrasse and the Ahorn parking lot, where the party continues late into the night.
Brukn Stadle. Busy until the small hours.
For calmer pubs, try The Scotland Yard Pub, aka Scotties or Mo’s.
Mo’s bar at the main cross in the center
At weekends there are usually special parties — ask the locals or your rep’ about it.
Mayrhofen offers a public pool and spa as well as an ice-skating rink.
Ice-skating rink. Hidden in a quiet place close to the center
Conclusion for Mayrhofen
Before we wrap up, here are our numbers for Mayrhofen:
Beginners: 8
Intermediates: 7.5
Advanced skiers: 8
Snowboarders: 8
Free riders:7
Freestylers: 9
Apres-ski : 8.5
Nightlife: 8
Resort Charm: 8.5
Now, before we share our final score and our promised special tips, here’s our conclusion on Mayrhofen:
On the one hand, the town is charming and vibrant;
Mayrhofen. Vibrant
The lifts are state of the art, and between the four most extensive ski areas of the Zillertal, there are no less than 419 kilometres of ski runs.
150 Tuxer. State of the art ski lifts.
On the other hand, the geography of Mayrhofen, with its low altitude and the separation between the town and ski area, and the ski areas themselves, causes unnecessarily wasted time and effort actually to get from your hotel to the slopes. So, considering all of the above, our total score for Mayrhofen is 8.
Insiders tips for Mayrhofen
Here are our tips for a ski holiday in Mayrhofen: for advanced skiers who want to utilise the Superzillertal ski pass, we recommend that you stay close to the train station.
Zillertalbahn station area. Hauptstrasse north end
Spend two days skiing to the main area of Mayrhofen, two days to the Zillertal Arena, one or two days to Ski Optimal and one day to the Hintertux.
run 66 on Rastkogel, Mayrhofen
For intermediates who still need a little coaching but want to explore the whole of Zillertal, we recommend, as we mentioned before, not to book group lessons but to book a private instructor for two hours in each ski area. That way, you won’t be confined to Mayrhofen for the whole week, and as well as the technical tuition, you’ll pick up some bonus tips from the local guide who knows the respected ski area well. It can be a little costly for an individual but is reasonably priced for two to four skiers.
Run 25 in Penken.book private lesson in each ski area in the Zillertal you want to discover
For beginners, we recommend you book accommodation as close as possible to the Penken lift, and if your budget doesn’t allow for that, hire a locker at Penken’s top station.
Beginner! Choose a hotel close to the Penken lift
And here’s our final tip:
In the second part of March, when the snow can be very slushy, particularly on the south-facing runs, we recommend that you ski in Hintertux, where the snow is good all season.
The Hintertux also served as the escape place of the Zillertal. When there are low clouds and bad weather, you can ski there, just above the clouds, and enjoy sunny weather!
Hintertux glacier at the end of the valley. From run 60 on Rastkogel
