Alpbach Ski Resort

The village of Alpbach has more than the connection through the ski club with the UK, however. The Alpbach church of St Oswald is named after a former Northumbrian king who was revered by the monks from Scotland and Ireland who travelled to this area in the Dark Ages.

Like many villages on this side of the Inn valley, the settlement didn’t just exist because of farming. Mining was also important in the area with gold, silver and copper being extracted from deposits in the region. These days Alpbach is also well-known as the host of the European Forum think tank and discussions.

Alpbach has a good range of accommodation for a relatively small village with some luxurious upmarket hotels and other family-run pensions and guesthouses.

The link between Alpbach and Auffach, one of the Wildschönau ski areas in the next valley to the east, has brought fresh impetus to the skiing in the area. The combined area – being marketed as the Ski Juwel Alpbachtal Wildschönau (‘Ski Juwel’ means ‘Ski Jewel’) – makes both resorts even more attractive and adds much more scope and variety for intermediate level skiers.

Alpbach can be easily reached from the motorway which runs between Innsbruck, Salzburg and Munich, with access via the town of Brixlegg down in the valley. The nearest airport is in Innsbruck, but it is pretty accessible from Munich and Salzburg as well.