Sölden
Austria
Two glaciers, the first World Cup race of every season, and a road that climbs to 2,800 metres — the highest paved pass in Austria — above the village
Photo by Aron Marinelli on Unsplash
Photos by Aron Marinelli, Aron Marinelli, Aron Marinelli and Aron Marinelli on Unsplash
Best time to visit all of Austria
Late November to early May for the snow, and July to September for the high road and the walking — the glacier skis at both ends of the year
Climate month by month
The next sixteen daysOpen-Meteo
Average high and low · °C
Rainfall · mm per month
Best months to visit This month · wettest 115mm in Jul
Where it is
46.97°N, 11.01°E Open in Google Maps
Things to do
A week easily- Ski the glacier in late autumn, before anywhere else has snow
- Go up the Gaislachkogl for the Bond museum and the view
- Drive the Glacier Road in summer
- Stay up the valley at Obergurgl for a quieter week
- Stay on the pisted parts of the glacier
Sölden travel tipsthe general rules
Currency budget Austria
ExpensiveEuro, and cards are taken everywhere on the mountain — lift passes, huts, ski hire. Cash is still worth having for the smallest mountain restaurants, the village bakery and the car park machines. Never change money at the resort exchange desks, whose rate is built for people who have just landed.
ATMs & cards
Use a bank’s own machine in the valley town rather than the ones in the resort centre, which are usually independent and charge for the privilege. Always decline the conversion. Draw before going up: several villages have one machine and it empties over a holiday weekend.
Avoid these
- Euronet
- the independent machines in the resort centre
Use these instead
- Sparkasse
- Raiffeisen
- Crédit Agricole
- Intesa Sanpaolo
Decline the conversion. Draw in the valley town rather than in the resort, where several villages have one machine and it empties over a holiday weekend.
Wherever you are: if the machine offers to charge you in your home currency, decline. That is dynamic currency conversion and the rate is set by the ATM's operator, not your bank.
Safety all of Austria
SafeComfortable. The glaciers are pisted and patrolled, and off them they are crevassed — that distinction matters more here than in most resorts. The village après is heavy and the valley road through it is busy with traffic, which is a worse combination than it sounds.
Where to walk, and where to pay attention (5 areas)
Comfortable, including after dark
Worth more attention
- the glaciers off the pisted runs — crevassed, and the crevasses are covered rather than visible
- the valley road through the village at night — through traffic and a heavy après scene on the same strip of tarmac
Our own assessment, not a sourced index.
Entry & visa Austria visa rules
No visa needed
Freedom of movement — no time limit, and no visa. Bring a passport or national ID card.
Other passports
No visa neededup to 90 days
90 days within any 180-day period, counted across the whole Schengen area, not per country. ETIAS, a paid online authorisation, is being introduced for these passports — check the official link for whether it applies to your travel dates.
Visa required in advance€90 (Schengen short-stay visa)
A Schengen short-stay visa is applied for before travel, at the consulate of your main destination.
How to get it: Apply at the consulate or visa centre of the country you will spend most time in, typically 15 working days ahead and no more than six months before travel.
Entry rules change often and depend on your passport, not where you live — the official page above is the authority, and the airline checks before you board.
Health & emergencies all of Austria
Excellent and cheapRequired to enter
No vaccinations are required for entry from Europe or North America.
Jabs worth having, and what happens if you need a doctor
Worth having
- Routine vaccinations up to date
- Tick-borne encephalitis — Austria has one of the highest rates in Europe and the vaccine is routine for residents
Getting treated
EU/EEA and Swiss visitors are treated on the same terms as residents with an EHIC or GHIC card; UK visitors use a GHIC. Everyone else pays, and travel insurance is worth having for the repatriation cover rather than the treatment. Mountain rescue is superb and is charged for; check your insurance covers it before hiking or skiing.
Ticks in forest and meadow up to about 1,500m, from spring to autumn.
Orientation, not medical advice — entry rules change and what you need depends on your own history. Check with a travel clinic four to six weeks before you go.
Food tip
GoodTyrolean and functional. The mountain restaurants are large and modern; the ones worth the detour are the old huts on the Gaislachkogl side. Spätzle, gröstl, speck, kaiserschmarrn. Obergurgl up the valley is calmer and no dearer.
Getting around
Workable- UberWorks here
- BoltWorks here
- FREE NOWWorks here
- Against a taxi
- A little under the meter, since the 2021 rules put both on the same tariff.
Time zone and your working day
Europe/Vienna — 6 hours ahead of you
2 hours of overlap with a 09:00–17:00 day where you are — 09:00–11:00 your time, 15:00–17:00 theirs.
No overlap with a 09:00–17:00 day where you are. Working from here means one of you keeps odd hours — their day starts at 03:00 on your clock.
office hours both at once night
Their 09:00–17:00 is 03:00–11:00 on yours.
The difference from the UK, Europe, the US and ten more
Worked out against America/New York, which is where this request looks like it came from.
Getting online
Getting online: Airalo or Holafly — a data eSIM for Austria, installed before you fly and working the moment you land.
Source: Ookla Speedtest Global Index · measured June 2026
Must-see
Nearby day trips
Say a few words
German
- HelloGuten TagGOO-ten tahk
- PleaseBitteBI-tuh
- Thank youDankeDAN-kuh
- Yes / NoJa / Neinya / nine
4 more phrases
- Excuse meEntschuldigungent-SHOOL-di-gung
- How much is it?Was kostet das?vas KOS-tet das
- The bill, pleaseDie Rechnung, bittedee REKH-nung
- Cheers!Prost!prohst
Religion
Catholic
Catholic in tradition and calendar — many shops close on religious holidays that are not obvious to visitors.
Do's and don'ts
Do
- Use titles and surnames until invited otherwise; formality is real here
- Say Grüß Gott, which is the standard greeting rather than hallo
- Dress well for the opera, concerts and even a good coffee house
- Take your time in a coffee house — one order buys you the afternoon
Don't
- Do not call Austrians German, and do not assume the accents are interchangeable
- Do not be late; punctuality is close to a moral matter
- Do not talk loudly in public spaces
- Do not skip greeting shop staff on entering
Where to stay in Sölden
No Holistay rentals in Sölden yet — the platform is just opening up. Every listing here will have a video tour and the option to negotiate the nightly price directly with the host.
In the meantime, here is Sölden on the sites that do have the inventory — each search is already filled in:
- Booking.com hotels, guesthouses and apartments — the widest coverage almost everywhere
- Airbnb whole homes and apartments, and the better option for a week or more
How to get there
Fly into Innsbruck INN
1h 15mfrom the airport· 85 km as the crow flies
1h 15 by coach up the Ötztal valley.
Also worth pricing: Munich MUC — three hours by road over the border.
Google Flights · Rome2Rio for the trains, buses and ferries as well as the flights
