Austria justifiably boasts some of the prettiest ski villages in the world and is home to a good choice of family-run small hotels and chalets. It can also lay claim to some spectacular skiing. Popular resorts include picturesque Ellmau which is part of the Ski Welt, Kitzbuhel, Sol, high altitude Obergurgl and St Anton, one of the finest of the Austrian ski resorts which offers an amazing 276km of piste.

Austria and skiing are virtually synonymous: the country was the birthplace of Hannes Schneider, who revolutionised downhill skiing in the Twenties; is the spiritual home of après-ski; and was the most popular ski destination with British skiers until the Eighties.