Kitzbühel

Free, and worth knowing

The walled old town, Vorderstadt and Hinterstadt. This is the thing Kitzbuhel has that a purpose built resort cannot build. The medieval core is two parallel streets, Vorderstadt and Hinterstadt, lined with painted burgher houses, and walking it costs nothing at all. The casino, the museum, the parish church and most of the galleries sit inside it within about four minutes of each other, so a guest who is not skiing can fill a morning without a lift, a bus or a ticket.

The seven churches. Seven across the four Kitzbuhel Tourismus villages and no admission charge published for any of them. In the town, the late gothic Pfarrkirche St. Andreas of 1506 with renaissance work inside, the fourteenth century Liebfrauenkirche on the rise beside it, the late classical Spitalskirche, and the high gothic Katharinenkirche wedged between the two main streets. Out in the villages, the baroque eighteenth century parish churches at Jochberg, Aurach and Reith bei Kitzbuhel.

Ten free practice lifts down in the valleys. The best free thing in this ski area and it is barely marketed in English at all. Bergbahn AG Kitzbuhel runs ten beginner lifts and magic carpets in the valleys and every one of them is free to use. The regional board puts it plainly: in every village of the Kitzbuhel and Kirchberg ski area, the valley practice lifts cost nothing.

Seventy kilometres of cross country track, and no Loipenpass. Sixteen groomed loipen totalling seventy kilometres, and the tourist board states they are free to use with no Loipenpass at all. That is worth saying out loud, because the Paznaun a valley over charges for exactly the same thing. The Stadtloipe runs almost eighteen kilometres from Kitzbuhel through Aurach to Jochberg, the Lisa Hauser Loipe is eleven and a half from the golf course over to Reith, and a stretch of the Sportloipe on the golf course is floodlit until nine at night, which is the one to send somebody on after dinner.

Thirty five winter walking paths, and which ones need a ticket. The tourist board counts more than thirty five marked winter walking paths and four or more snowshoe routes. The valley paths cost nothing and are often snow free underfoot, and the Schwarzsee circuit is the easy one to walk to straight out of town. The ones with the views sit above a lift: the Kitzbuheler Horn path off the gondola, the Hahnenkamm panorama ridge past five traditional huts, and the kilometre of Walk and Fly down to Pengelstein all need a pedestrian ticket to reach.

Two free toboggan runs, walked up. Both runs cost nothing and both have a hut at the top, which is the classic Austrian version of this. The Kelchalm run starts at the chapel in Aurach and climbs through switchbacks to the Bochumer Hutte, which does hot food and Gluhwein and hires sledges on site, so nobody has to carry one up the hill. The Trattenbachalm run in the Jochbergtal is the long one at five and a half kilometres with a two and a half hour walk up, so treat that one as a half day out.

Kitzbueheler Advent. From 18 November to 27 December 2026 in the Hinterstadt and the Stadtpark, free to walk into, with live music every day between six and seven in the evening. Stalls, punch and Gluhwein, regional food, woodturning and felt making demonstrations, a children's carousel and pony rides from Friday to Sunday, storytelling on Thursday afternoons, a St Nicholas procession on 6 December and a nativity postbox. Bergadvent moves the whole thing up to the Hahnenkamm valley station on two December Saturdays.

The Hahnenkamm training days, free to everybody. The organisers say it directly: admission to the downhill training sessions and the juniors race is free for everyone. That is three days of World Cup downhill training on the Streif at no cost, on the Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday of race week, which are 19, 20 and 21 January 2027, plus both runs of the Longines Future Hahnenkamm Champions juniors slalom on the Ganslern on the Wednesday.

The Starthaus at the top of the Streif. The start hut of the most famous downhill in the world, and you can walk into it. In summer it is staffed daily from ten until four, and in winter the tourist board lists it as open but unstaffed. It is run by the Kitzbuheler Ski Club and no admission fee is published for either season.

The KitzCard, and what it is worth in winter. It comes free with accommodation in Kitzbuhel, Reith, Aurach and Jochberg, it cannot be bought, and in winter it is a discount card. Roughly five per cent off lift tickets, which takes a full pedestrian return from thirty five euros to thirty three, five per cent off a single ticket at the Aquarena, two euros off adult skating at the Sportpark and ten per cent at selected restaurants and shops. Take it, use it at the till, and plan the transport separately.

The ski bus, and who actually travels free on it. Three routes and no fare for anybody holding a Bergbahn AG Kitzbuhel ski pass or carrying ski equipment. The long line runs from Aschau through Kirchberg, Kitzbuhel, Aurach, Jochberg and Pass Thurn to Mittersill, a town loop runs from Kitzbuhel by way of Siedlung Frieden to Staudach, and a third connects Reith with the Fleckalmbahn. Anybody skiing has the run of the valley for nothing, so carry the pass even on a day off the slopes.

A few of the rest

KitzSki winter walking tickets for pedestrians. This is how a guest who is not skiing gets up the mountain. Seven lifts are approved to carry pedestrians with no winter sports equipment: the Hahnenkammbahn, the Kitzbuheler Hornbahn, the Bichlalm chairlift, the Fleckalmbahn, the Gaisberg chairlift, the Wagstattbahn and the Panoramabahn Kitzbuheler Alpen. A single return from valley to top is thirty five euros, and the guest card takes it to thirty three. 20 to 50 euros.

The Walk and Fly ticket. One way up and walk back down, on two specific lifts, and cheaper than a full walking day if all anybody wants is a single trip. It is valid on both sections of the Wagstattbahn on the Kirchberg side and on the 3S between Pengelstein and Jochberg. Buy it before noon, because KitzSki flags that the walk down takes time and asks people to allow for it. 20 to 50 euros.

Night tobogganing on the Gaisberg. The proper Austrian floodlit toboggan evening with a hut on the way down, and the only one in this ski area with a lift rather than a two hour walk up. Three and a half kilometres with 435 m of vertical, carrying the Tyrolean quality seal for natural toboggan runs, and the Gaisberg four seat chairlift runs the evening shift from six until half past eight. Sledges are hired at the valley station, and there are two huts on the run, the Gaisbergstuberl and Ober Gaisberg. 20 to 50 euros.