St. Anton am Arlberg

One of the birthplaces of Alpine skiing, where the Arlberg ski area links up with Lech and Zürs, offering varied runs and famous après-ski.

St. Anton am Arlberg sits at the western tip of Tyrol, Austria, on the eastern side of the Arlberg Pass at about 1,300 m. It is one of the birthplaces of modern Alpine skiing – in the early 20th century Hannes Schneider developed the Arlberg technique and founded his ski school here. Today's Ski Arlberg area takes in St. Anton, St. Christoph, Stuben, Zürs, Lech and Warth-Schröcken; since the Flexenbahn cable car opened in 2016 it has been fully linked, with over 300 km of pistes and 200 km of off-piste routes, making it Austria's largest interconnected ski area. There are three main zones: on the St. Anton side, the Galzig–Valluga main area and the Rendl ski area, known for steep, varied runs and legendary après-ski; the powder slopes of Stuben on the west side of the pass; and to the north, the upmarket ski villages of Lech and Zürs and the White Ring circuit. The best time is the ski season from December to April, with the best snow in Jan–Feb; from July to September some cable cars run and you can hike around the Valluga, the Verwall Valley and Lake Formarin. Getting there is easy: St. Anton has a railway station, about 1 hr 20 min from Innsbruck and about 2.5 hours from Zurich, and in winter ski buses connect to Lech and Zürs. Allow 5–7 days for skiing, or 2–3 days in summer. Note: accommodation is scarce and expensive in ski season, so book months ahead; for off-piste and ski touring, always hire a certified guide and watch the avalanche warnings; April–June and October–November are the low season, when most cable cars and hotels are closed.

Top sights

Where to eat

Itineraries