Things to do in Ischgl: the days, not just the nights
Ischgl is famous for its nights, but the days off the skis hold up well. Walking from the valley floor needs no lift, children under eight go free on the lift pass with an adult, and the night toboggan run comes seven kilometres down into the village. For anyone not skiing, the pedestrian pass over the lifts to duty free Samnaun is the day to plan.
Ischgl is known for what happens once the lifts close, so the days without skis tend to surprise people. The village is compact, and the one thing that sets the place apart works for somebody who has never skied: you can ride the lifts over the ridge and come down in Switzerland.
Start with what is free. More than a hundred kilometres of winter paths run through the valley, and the four Ischgl routes all start on the valley floor, so nobody needs a lift. Children under eight go free on the Silvretta pass with an adult, and the rink is free for anyone under six, though the skates are not. For getting about, it is the guest card that carries the bus rather than the lift pass: carry the card and the whole valley is a free ride.
For anyone not skiing, plan a day around the crossing to Samnaun. The pedestrian day pass covers the round trip, up the Ischgl lifts and down the far side on the Twinliner, a double decker cable car, into a duty free Swiss village. Set off in the morning: the way back is over the lifts too, and they have to be running. If the weather shuts the top, the Silvretta Therme in the middle of the village has pools, saunas and a spa. On a grey afternoon, take the ski bus to Galtür for the Alpinarium, the most affecting hour in either village.
Evenings here are known for the bars, but the night toboggan run is the other way to spend one: seven kilometres from the top of the Silvrettabahn into the village, floodlit, with the lift running to take you up. Four open air concerts are set for this season, and for the opening one the day ski pass is the ticket. The rink has a single curling lane, so book it well before you want it.
Free, and worth knowing
Walks from the valley floor that need no lift, and two real breaks for children, one on the lift pass and one on the rink.
A hundred kilometres of winter walking paths
The tourist board puts the valley wide network at more than a hundred kilometres, running from 1,060 m up to 2,036 m, and four Ischgl routes are published with real numbers against them. The Mutta path is six kilometres and an hour and a half with 267 m of climb, starting at the Silvretta Therme. Ischgl to Mathon is 5.1 km, an hour and a half and 133 m, from the Silvrettaparkplatz.
The gentle one is Ischgl to Ebene, 3.74 km and two hours with 32 m of climb, also from the Therme. The long one is the Panoramatour Verwall, seven kilometres and four hours with 500 m of climb from the Mathon car park. All four start on the valley floor and none of them needs a lift.
Ischgl and Mathon, with the wider hundred kilometres covering Galtur, Kappl and See
The ski bus
Five ski bus lines through the valley, and the model here is the opposite of Kitzbuhel's, because it is the guest card that carries the bus rather than the lift pass. Line 12 runs Galtur to Ischgl, line 10 Ischgl to Kappl, line 9 Kappl to See, and lines 11 and 13 work within Ischgl itself. Carry the card and the whole valley is a free ride.
Ischgl, Galtur, Kappl, See and Mathon
Free public transport, Landeck to Galtur Wirl
The guest card's headline winter benefit and a genuinely good one. Free use of local public transport along the whole length of the valley, from the railway station at Landeck-Zams up to Galtur Wirl, which is the line 260 corridor and runs every half hour all year round. A guest with no car can come off the train and move up and down the valley all week for nothing.
The whole Paznaun valley plus Landeck-Zams station
The guest card's VIP lift pass rate
Worth knowing because the money involved is real and only one of the two lift companies publishes it. Bergbahnen Samnaun's 26/27 tariff shows a VIP six day pass for guest card holders at CHF 374 against CHF 438 for the standard Silvretta pass, a difference of CHF 64. Ask at the Ischgl ticket office what the card is worth in euros before anybody pays the published rate.
Both sides of the Silvretta Arena
What comes free for children
Two clear ones. Children under eight travel free on the Silvretta lift pass with an accompanying adult, confirmed for 26/27, which is generous. And the ice rink that loops around the Silvretta Therme is free for anybody under six, although the skate hire is still charged on top.
Silvrettabahn for the lift pass, Silvretta Therme for the rink
Shapes in White
A snow and ice sculpture competition with the finished works installed around the resort, and the dates are confirmed for 26/27: 10 to 15 January 2027. On the face of it this is a walk past and look event, which makes it one of the few things in Ischgl that asks nothing at a till.
Ischgl
On the mountain
Over the border to Samnaun without skis, seven kilometres of floodlit toboggan into the village, and four open air concerts across the season, from the opening to the close.
Crossing to Samnaun on foot
The distinctive thing about Ischgl, and it works for somebody who has never put on a ski. The Ischgl tariff sells a pedestrian day pass at 57 euros adult and senior and 27 for a child, explicitly for the round trip from Ischgl to Samnaun and back. The Samnaun side sells the mirror image, a pedestrian day card for the single journey from Samnaun to Ischgl and back, at CHF 56 and CHF 27. Both are confirmed for 26/27 and neither is converted into the other.
Over 50 euros · Up the Ischgl lifts and down the far side by cable car, or over the Idalp and Alp Trida on skis · Their page
Night tobogganing in Ischgl
The full Austrian floodlit toboggan evening and a serious one: seven kilometres with 950 m of vertical from the Silvrettabahn top station at 2,320 m right down into the village. It is lit on Mondays and Thursdays between seven and half past eight, the Silvrettabahn runs those hours to take people up, and tickets go on sale at a quarter to seven. Come for the evening, because the run is closed during the day.
20 to 50 euros · Silvrettabahn, Ischgl village · Their page
Top of the Mountain, the four concerts
Four open air concerts across the season and all four dates are confirmed for 26/27. The opening concert is on Saturday 28 November 2026 on the Silvrettabahn car park, the Easter concert on 28 March 2027, the spring concert on 17 April 2027, and the closing concert on Saturday 1 May 2027 from one in the afternoon at Silvrettaplatz. Past acts named by the tourist board across the series since 1995 include Elton John, Tina Turner, Bon Jovi, Rihanna, Katy Perry, Helene Fischer and Robbie Williams.
Over 50 euros · Silvrettabahn car park, Silvrettaparkplatz Ost P1, for the opening. Silvrettaplatz 2 for the closing · Their page
In the village
The spa building in the middle of the village is the default for anyone not skiing, and the rink looped around it is the best value paid thing there.
Silvretta Therme Ischgl
The big one, opened for the 2022/23 season on the site of the demolished Silvretta Center and owned by the lift company. Pool world, sauna world, spa, fitness studio, physiotherapy, an Italian trattoria, a grill lounge, a pool bar, a self service restaurant, an ice bar and a wave simulator, all in the middle of the village at Brandweg 2. This is the default answer for a guest who is not skiing.
Price on request · Brandweg 2, Ischgl village · Their page
The ice rink around the Silvretta Therme
Thirteen hundred square metres of ice looped right round the spa building, with a 250 m tunnel and an ice bar built into it and the Alps standing behind. Skating and Bavarian curling on the same site, and at nine forty for an adult day ticket it is the best value paid thing in the village. Book the curling well ahead, because there is only one lane and it takes ten people at a time.
Under 20 euros · Silvretta Therme, Ischgl village · Their page
Nearby
Galtür on ski bus line 12, and the Alpinarium, built into the avalanche wall and about living with the mountains, not admiring them.
Galtur, and the Alpinarium
Galtur sits about twenty five minutes down the valley from Ischgl on ski bus line 12, which the guest card already covers, and the reason to go is the Alpinarium. It is built into the 345 m avalanche protection wall put up after the 1999 disaster, and it is about living with mountains rather than admiring them. Ten euros for an adult, six for a child, twenty for a family of two adults and up to four children.
Under 20 euros · Galtur, on ski bus line 12 from Ischgl, free with the guest card · Their page
These are our own picks, not paid placements. Prices and opening times change, so it is always worth checking before you set off.