Kitzbühel: Ski Town, Summer Town, and the World’s Most Famous Downhill Race

Kitzbühel is a medieval market town in the Austrian Tyrol that became one of the world’s most glamorous ski destinations through a combination of excellent terrain, aggressive resort development from the 1930s onward, and the Hahnenkamm race weekend in January. The Hahnenkamm Downhill, run annually since 1931, is the most dangerous course on the World Cup circuit: 3.3 kilometres of terrain combining steep ice sections, high-speed compressions, and the notorious Streif section where racers briefly go airborne at 130 km/h. The atmosphere during race weekend (tickets sell out months in advance) is unlike any other alpine event.

Outside race weekend, Kitzbühel operates as a luxury ski and summer resort with a beautifully preserved medieval Altstadt at its centre.

The Skiing

The Kitzbühel ski area (KitzSki) covers 238 kilometres of marked runs across five interconnected mountains including Hahnenkamm, Kitzbüheler Horn, and Pengelstein. The skiing is intermediate-focused: the majority of runs are red (intermediate) with some genuinely challenging black terrain on the race courses. There are limited blue (easy) options compared with larger Austrian resorts like Skicircus Saalbach. The snow reliability is limited compared with higher-altitude resorts; Kitzbühel sits at 760 metres base elevation and some winters are thin below 1,500 metres. The best conditions are typically January and February.

The Hahnenkamm gondola from the town centre is the main uplift; morning queues on peak days build fast. Buy your ski pass in advance online to skip the box office line.

The Town

The Altstadt is walkable in 20 minutes and contains some of the best-preserved 15th-17th century Tyrolean architecture in Austria. The Parish Church of Saint Andrew and the Parish Church of Our Lady (Liebfrauenkirche) are both worth entering. The Kitzbühel Museum in the old town documents the history of the Hahnenkamm race and the development of skiing in the region, with genuine archives and original racing equipment from the 1930s onward.

The town has a consistently high standard of shops, galleries, and restaurants for its size. The Hinterstadt shopping street has the best mix of non-souvenir options, with Austrian craft goods, leather goods, and jewellery alongside the international ski fashion brands that dominate the main pedestrian zone.

Eating

Gasthof Goldener Greif on the Hinterstadt has been a restaurant since 1271 (the current building is somewhat newer) and serves Austrian cuisine at prices that reflect the tourist market but with quality that justifies the visit. Zur Tenne on Vorderstadt is one of the best Austrian wine restaurants in the Tyrol, with an excellent selection of Veltliner, Riesling, and Blaufränkisch from Austrian producers. The Restaurant Hagstein in the Hotel Schloss Lebenberg has panoramic Tyrolean views and a kitchen that takes local produce seriously.

For something casual after skiing: the Hahnenkamm piste restaurants serve the full range of Tyrolean après-ski food (Schnitzel, Gröstl, Käsespätzle). Seiters Station and the Hochkitzbühel area have good mid-mountain options.

Summer

Kitzbühel is underrated as a summer destination. The hiking network covers the same mountains the ski runs descend, and the cable cars operate in summer for uplift to walking trails. The Streif mountain bike descent (the ski race course converted for summer) is available for experienced riders. The Thurn Pass area between Kitzbühel and Mittersill connects to the Salzburg Alps walking routes.

The Schwarzsee (Black Lake) in the valley below town is a small natural lake that warms to swimming temperature in summer and provides a beach and café setting that feels incongruous with the alpine setting but works well.

Getting There

Kitzbühel has its own railway station on the Salzburg-Wörgl line; direct trains from Salzburg take around 1.5 hours, from Innsbruck around 1 hour. By car from Munich the journey is approximately 1.5 hours via the A8 and A10 autobahns. The town centre is pedestrianised in winter and parking is limited; use the outlying car parks and the shuttle bus system rather than trying to park centrally.

Book accommodation at least 3 months in advance for the Hahnenkamm race weekend in January and for the Christmas-New Year period.