We will be in Salzburg for a few days next winter and would like to go into the mountains to see the scenery and do some tobogganing, if the weather is right.
Does anyone have recommendations for a good place to go for this? Ideally as a day trip from Salzburg, and accessible via bus or train?
We will have two teenagers with us. We are not skiers.
Would love any recommendations. Thank you.
It is worth noting that will will need snow boots and snow pants to toboggan as you steer with your feet. It is not the gentle downhill you might be envisioning.
Have a look at the Schladming area or see this link - https://www.salzburgersportwelt.com/en/activities/winter/tobogganing.html
Thank you Emily, that website is very helpful. And yes, we have been thinking about the need for snow boots and pants. We live in a snowy, cold city so we do own this stuff, but we also want to pack light and travel light on our trip. I am not sure if that will be possible if we need to bring snow boots. We will need to give that some thought.
We planned to bring waterproof hiking shoes with us on the trip. We thought that would give us good grip / traction if the streets are snowy, and keep us dry if it’s rainy or snowing. But that’s probably not enough for a winter snow sport… our ankles / legs / feet would get wet. I wonder if we can rent boots for the day…
Thanks for the info on the resorts. Very helpful!!
I don't think you can easily rent snow boots, alas. And for tobogganing, you need boots that cover your ankle and with a very good tread (I've even rented cleats for tobogganing in hardpack conditions). Snow pants are optional IMO: a stopgap options would be to have some sort of waterproof overpants, those don't take up much space.
Balso, thanks for your reply. I was considering our waterproof rain pants (instead of snow pants) because they don’t take up too much space, like you said. If we wear them with pants and long underwear, hopefully we would be warm enough. I did a test of our luggage and I think we can each fit our snow boots in our carryon, which is good.
Someone said snow boots are needed because you use your feet to steer on the way down. This makes sense, and boots above the ankle would help keep the feet dry while going down.
You mentioned good tread. Is the good tread necessary for walking up hills without chair lifts (and generally walking around in icy/hard pack conditions)? Or is the tread also needed somehow for going down?
My husband and oldest son have good tread on their snow boots. My youngest son and I do not - we just have “regular” snow boots, from Lands End if you’re familiar with that store. The bottoms have some tread but not much. I have worn them hiking on flat trails in the winter, but if it’s icy or hilly we attach yaktrax to the bottom for more grip. That would work in Austria if the tread is just necessary when walking around, but if tread is necessary when going down, the yaktrax would fall off. Thoughts? When and where is the tread necessary? I suppose we could also bring our ankle-high waterproof hiking boots as another option, although not as warm.
Thanks so much.
The tread is needed to brake on the way down: the toboggans have no brakes, you use your feet to brake and steer sharply (and pull up the front of the toboggan for a hard stop). To steer moderately, you drag your hands, so you need good gloves.
But if you have some tread, despite my earlier mention of "very good tread", I think you are good (don't use the yaktrax on the toboggan for sure, they'll fly off 😂). Mine don't have deep tread and I manage tobogganing fine. I was able to rent special cleats for steeper tobogganing tracks.
Some snow boots, like Moon Boots, really have no tread at all, and those could be troublesome.
Thanks so much, that’s really helpful information. I just looked at the bottom of our boots and they all have more tread than I thought. We wear them fine walking around Chicago in snowy/icy conditions, including climbing up small sledding hills, without issue. So I think they will be fine and appropriate for what you are describing. We plan to stick to the beginner or intermediate hills. I don’t want to do anything too extreme or steep because we are inexperienced and I am not a thrill-seeker (although I am sure my teenage boys would love that, haha).
And it’s good to know that we need our sturdy snow gloves too. Thank you for mentioning that. I will be sure to book hotels with laundry, so we can pack fewer clothes and make room for all this snow gear!
You seem very knowledgeable about this. Do you have any suggestions for locations we can go, accessible with public transportation from Salzburg? We don’t mind a 1-2 hour trip if it gets us to a worthwhile spot. We are planning to spend one full day doing this. It will be around New Years so I know there is a risk of insufficient snow. There are some ideas in a prior reply to my post here; I am wondering if you have different (or the same) suggestions.
Thanks so much for the great info. Very helpful.
The Rodelbahnen I visited when I was younger were mostly in Tyrol and Vorarlberg. Unfortunately, they are a good way from Salzburg. Maybe try the Salzburg Tourist Office? Maybe the Neue Rodelbahn Jennerhex am Königssee? Once in Imst after an hour in an Alm, we came out and our sled was gone, so secure your sled! Hope you have enough snow and freezing temps.
https://www.salzburg.info/en/travel-info/tourist-information
https://www.rodelfuehrer.de/
https://www.skiwelt.at/de/rodelbahnen-skiwelt-wilder-kaiser-brixental-kitzbueheler-alpen-tirol.html
https://www.adac.de/reise-freizeit/reiseplanung/inspirationen/deutschland/rodelbahnen-tipps/
https://www.berchtesgaden.de/rodelbahn-jennerhex#:~:text=Neu%20ab%20Winter%202022%2F23,den%20namensgebenden%20Gebirgsstock%20Schlafende%20Hexe.
Unfortunately Austria is far from me, based in Paris, so I mostly went tobogganing in Switzerland (and a little bit in France but they don't use proper toboggans there, mostly plastic sleds, so it's less fun).
Thank you both for the helpful information!
