Hi, we will be staying a week in Zell am Ziller from July 11-18 and are debating about heading to Zell am see for another week or heading over to Lucerne for 1 week. We have 2 kids ges 5 and 2 - any thoughts would be greatly appreciated!
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Zell am See is relatively close to Zell am Ziller (distance only 70km). Moreover, it would probably be boring to move to a place having almost the same name. :)
Zell am See is rather a big village, while Lucerne may be seen as town or even small city. Lake Vierwaldstättersee (See=lake) is much larger than the Zeller See. The mountains around Zell am See are higher and more impressive, but as you arrive from the Zillertal peaks are probably secondary.
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Thanks for your your response. We are leaning towards Lucerne as we have never been to switzerland but have a sentimental attachment to Austria! Thanks again.
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Lucerne. Though, as it%26#39;s summer time, Zell would figure quite highly.
Zell is a much better summer destination than a winter destination. It%26#39;s not highly recommended during the winter. Though bear in mind, even in summer, Zell is for hill and mountain walkers mostly, as the town itself, very quaint for a while, is kind of retarded in its services. It looks like someone has decided quaint means uninvolving, uninteresting and vastly underdeveloped. Beyond the initial charmingness which Zell offers and which is unlikely to sustain more than a short while in the town centre, the town of Kaprun is much nicer to me, a more pleasant place to stay. And even Schuttdorf, a very unquaint place, is much more interesting to me - some would call it modern functionalist, perhaps even industrialist.
The poster may not be interested in what I%26#39;m going to write, but I find myself finding an opportunity to communicate to anyone interested about Zell as a winter destination.
For skiiers, it%26#39;s only an O.K. place at best.
It really is a significant resort, you know there are some resorts which 2 days would be the very maximum time for enjoyment.
But zell is CERTAINLY not in the top 10 or even top 15 of Austrian ski resorts (I think not quite even in the top 20 Austrian resorts), let alone resorts near here - including in Switzerland, Italy, Southern French Alps, even Germany. There are much better Austrian resorts near here.
The biggest plus about Zell is that there is a regular bus to and from a much better ski resort, Saalbach-Hintergleem, it takes only 32 minutes. While the Kaprun bus, part of the same ski area, free with a ski card, took 1 hour 25 minutes, plus the extra Kitzsteinhorn gondola time - actually 2 gondolas - there is no skiing to the bottom there, you also have to take the gondola back down, descent runs ending about 3.45 p.m. What%26#39;s more is that there is no Zell to Kaprun ski bus at lunchtime, none between 11.30 and after 2 p.m. A very dodgy place.
Also this other part of the %26#39;Europa%26#39; ski area around Kaprun is way further down the best Austrian resorts chart, the bus between the two places must be the longest bus for any bus in the same ski area (noticeably longer than Monetier to Briancon in the huge Serre Chevalier). Both are quite advanced intermediate skiier places, with a few exceptions in Zell and a few in Kaprun at the low ski part and away at the very top of the Kitzsteinhorn glacier, if you could be bothered with the gondola journeys up and down, where there is no skiing to the bottom.
I%26#39;d avoid Europe altogether in favour of the much better Kitzbuehel. (Kitzbuehel%26#39;s still not a top rung resort - it%26#39;s a really good place only, if you are at least unwaveringly an advanced intermediate skiier, though it is reasonable, not very good, for learning for lowest intermediates like me.)
And if staying in Zell I would mostly ski at Saalbach Hinterglemm. But Saalbach has a lovely atmosphere itself and a great nightlife as well as a nightbus, so I%26#39;d prefer to stay there actually. The lake and scenery at Zell is lovely for a while in the winter, though for me it%26#39;s really a summer destination, and a place to spend a weekend only for skiing.
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One more thing, the Zeller See, the lake at Zell, is lovely itself. It does make this place worth visiting if skiing is not your concern. While it is true, as I suggested in my comment above, that it seems peope decided that %26#39;picture postcard%26#39; means %26#39;made of cardboard, just a quaint image, nothing rewarding beyond that%26#39; regarding Zell centre, the lake is lovely.
I dipped my legs in the lake at Christmas 2008 and I loved it. Although it felt completely freezing, and though it was snowing quite a lot at the lake when I arrived, Zell became quite warm days afterwards and the lake was far from icing over temperature. You could go for a dip with some tolerance. If I had not been unwell, I would have swam in the lake for a bit. The opportunity to swimm particularly in the quieter evenings, in spring, summer and autumn makes it an attractive place.
But it is very low key. You might, very naturally, at any time of the year be appalled by the lack of services, interest and real life in Zell, especially considering it is a really famous tourist destination, as this area of Austria is separately very popular (less so than Zell) with tourists. I don%26#39;t like going somewhere which seems to have adjusted to tourist visits in the way of making itself an untarnished, dead picture postcard place. What Zell offers in fact is way, way, way below what any tourist attraction like this would offer in most other places. It does seem like one is supporting this %26#39;nothingness to visit%26#39; when one is there, happily smiling, trying to conclude it%26#39;s as quaint and natural as had been supposed.
There is a new conference centre at the very centre which offers hope I suppose. But no concerts etc. over Christmas or New Year, it wasn%26#39;t even open once. Don%26#39;t forget the truth of the descriptive world in that the apparent persons who decided that Zell%26#39;s quaintness would mean underdeveloped and quite empty actually, will happily have you think %26#39;This offers hope, that%26#39;s what you should think now, and we%26#39;ll see... maybe a concert sometime.%26#39;.
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I think we communicated before.I don%26#39;t recall for sure, but I think you told us then that you will be driving.
After Zell an der Ziller, you probably would like the area around Luzern. It is quite different. You may want to stay outside of Luzern and just visit it on one or two day trips. I like Weggis or Vitznau on the lake, with boat connections to Luzern, and cog railway and/or cable car to the top of the Rigi.
Routing (with 2 kids): Zell, Autobahn A-12 to Innsbruck, to exit Feldkirch. I assume you will have an Austrian Autobahn users%26#39; Vignette.
From Feldkirch cross over to Buchs, via Vaduz (Lichtenstein) and onto the Swiss Autobahn A-13 (you will need to buy another vignette for the Swiss autobahns). Take the A-13 south to the A-3, and head west to the Pfaeffikon exit. Head south on Route 8 to Schwyz and Brunnen, and from there along Lake Luzern (Vierwaldstaettersee) to Weggis, Kuessnacht, Luzern. Along Route 8, a detour to Maria Einsiedeln (place of pilgrimage) is worth it.
There is another route, more scenic, but it crosses a pass with many hairpin curves. Don%26#39;t know how your kids can handle these. Not like the QEW. Exit the A-3 at Weesen and go to Klarus and Altendorf, across the Klausenpass. From Altendorf head north to Brunnen,, etc.
What are your plans for dropping off your car? Remember, you should plan to drop it off in the same country where you picked it up, or there is a fairly steep across-border drop-off charge.
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Thank you for the information on the drive - that%26#39;s great. We are picking the car up and Munich and dropping it off in Landau. From Landau we will take a quick train ride into Switzerland and start to use our swiss rail pass to get to Lucerne and to expolore the area for the week. While the scenic route does sound nice I wonder how comfortable we would be travelling these roads with two young kids. If I am not mistaken the drive is about 3 1/2 to 4 hours - is this correct? I appreciate your response - thanks again!
Shawne
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I think you are making the right decision. The drive is probably 4 hours, with some stops. The car drop-off would be a pain. Spend a little time in Lindau. Did you check out the Montfort Schloessle on Bavaria Ben? You would need your car there, so if you are staying there, keep the car until you get ready to leave for the station. The last time I dropped a car off in Lindau (I think it was AVIS through AutoEurope), it wans%26#39;t very far from the RR station.
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