Bad Gastein
Slope Breakdown
Bad Gastein at a glance
Bad Gastein is a ski resort in Austria, part of the Ski Amadé ski area. It offers 200 km of slopes served by 80 lifts, with skiing between 1,083 m and 2,686 m (1,603 m vertical). That makes it the 18th largest of the 49 ski resorts in Austria listed on Intski. The season usually runs from December to April. Bad Gastein is an intermediate's mountain: roughly 58% of the slopes are red runs.
Top features of this resort
Snow forecast
About 17 cm of new snow at the top (2,686 m) in the next 3 days, none at the base.
New snow and temperature at the top station. Estimated by Intski from the MET Norway forecast, updated every few hours. Where it snows most this week
Email me when it snows
An alert when 15 cm or more is on the way at Bad Gastein, and a heads-up before it opens.
Getting there & lift pass
Nearest airport
Salzburg (SZG) — about 76 km from the resort, straight-line distance, allow more by road.
Lift pass
Adult day pass around 81.50 EUR (2026/27 season). Ski Gastein day pass. Valid across a wider pass network, not only this resort.
Compare lift pass prices at all resortsPrice source, checked 2026-09-14
Driving to Bad Gastein
Rules for a car in Austria, checked 30 September 2026 against official sources.
Road charge
Vignette, plus tunnel and Brenner tolls. 1-day vignette (digital only) €9.60, 10-day vignette (digital or sticker) €12.80, 2-month vignette (digital or sticker) €32.00
Winter tyres
Required in wintry conditions, 1 Nov to 15 Apr
Studded tyres
Allowed 1 Oct to 31 May (up to 3.5 t, rear sticker, 80/100 km/h)
Bad Gastein resort facts
These figures cover the lift network Bad Gastein shares with Bad Hofgastein on Intski: one sector of the Ski Amadé pass, not the whole pass. Difficulty shares from skiresort.info.
About Bad Gastein
Bad Gastein is a spa town in the St. Johann im Pongau district of Austria, picturesquely set in a high valley of the Hohe Tauern range.
Resort Highlights
Grand hotels in a high valley
Bad Gastein is a spa town in the St. Johann im Pongau district of Austria, picturesquely set in a high valley of the Hohe Tauern range. Two things define its look: the Gastein waterfall, and a collection of grand hotel buildings that few ski resorts can match; a town built to receive guests on that scale has the beds, restaurants and infrastructure to go with it. The result is an atmosphere quite unlike the timber-chalet village most people picture when they think of Austrian skiing, and it is the reason Bad Gastein carries a traditional-charm tag of a rather different flavour from its neighbours.
The skiing
Bad Gastein’s slopes are part of Ski Amadé, a network of linked ski areas sharing one pass, and the figures listed here, 200 km of pistes and 80 lifts, describe the Gastein valley’s skiing. The lifts rise from 1,083 m to 2,686 m, a vertical of 1,600 m, and the top station is well above the 2,200 m mark that matters for snow reliability. Eighty lifts on 200 km is a dense network, one lift for every two and a half kilometres, which keeps the skiing flowing and the queues short. A base at 1,083 m is moderate, and the town sits in a high valley rather than on the mountain, so most days begin with a lift up before the skiing starts in earnest.
The site tags Bad Gastein for off-piste, which alongside the 1,600 m vertical marks it out as a valley for capable skiers. There is no published split by difficulty, but the altitude profile and the off-piste reputation make it more rewarding for strong intermediates and above than for first-timers, who will find the town base a long way below the best snow.
Après-ski and spa
Bad Gastein is also tagged for après-ski, and the combination of a spa town, a lively evening scene and grand old hotels is unusual. The thermal water that gave the town its name and its “Bad” prefix remains part of the visit, and a day on the mountain followed by an evening in warm water is the natural rhythm here. For skiers who want their week to have a second dimension beyond the pistes, that is the case for Bad Gastein over the valley’s other bases.
Practicalities
Salzburg airport is roughly 76 km away as the crow flies. The season runs from December to April. The town’s official website carries local information; for lift passes across the network, Ski Amadé is the name to look for.
Frequently asked questions about Bad Gastein
The Gastein waterfall, its grand hotel buildings and its identity as a spa town in a high valley of the Hohe Tauern.
Bad Gastein is part of the Ski Amadé network, with 200 km of pistes and 80 lifts listed for the Gastein valley.
It is tagged for off-piste, and the 1,600 m vertical from 1,083 m to 2,686 m gives capable skiers plenty to work with.
A spa town, picturesquely set in a high valley of the Hohe Tauern range, with an unusual stock of grand hotel architecture.
Bad Gastein has 200 km of marked slopes: 76 km easy (blue), 115 km intermediate (red), 9 km expert (black), served by 80 ski lifts.
The skiing in Bad Gastein ranges from 1,083 m at the base to 2,686 m at the top — a vertical drop of 1,603 m.
The ski season in Bad Gastein typically runs from December to April. Exact opening dates vary by year and snow conditions.
Bad Gastein works for beginners, though it is not a dedicated beginner resort: about 38% of the slopes (76 km) are easy blue runs.
Bad Gastein has 9 km of expert (black) slopes — about 4% of the total. It is also known for its off-piste terrain.
An adult day pass in Bad Gastein costs around 81.50 EUR (2026/27 season). Ski Gastein day pass. Valid across a wider pass network, not only this resort.
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