Apres Ski in Solden
Solden’s specialty is full on euro apres ski. Save some energy for Solden’s 85 bars, restaurants and discos that are designed to blend seamlessly with the skiing, ready to pop their corks whenever you are.
The Village of Solden
Solden buzzes with people and traffic, with hotels, restaurants, bars and shops all within easy walking distance from each other.
Bakeries, bank machines and bars — they’re all here in abundance. Clustered along one long densely packed strip of a main road, Solden’s numerous hotels and restaurants and bars are within a short walk of each other, making a car unnecessary and route finding easy. Shopping for ski clothes and equipment is plentiful and there is a large Intersport hire shop right at the base of the Gaislachkoglbahn.
The village buzzes with people and traffic, though not it must be said with as much boom-boom from the outdoor umbrella bars that some Austro-resorts can produce or that you might expect from a place so renowned for its nightlife. Still, no matter how thick the walls of your hotel, be aware of late night revellers’ noise (if you’re not out there making it youself).
The main tourist information office is on a side street within the Freizeit recreation complex. The bus trundles through town and nearby towns of Vent, Langenfeld, and Umhausen, and between the two main gondolas every 10 minutes.
Apres Ski Bars & Nightlife in Solden
Solden’s full on euro apres ski. Save some energy for Solden’s 85 bars, restaurants and discos that are designed to blend seamlessly with the skiing, ready to pop their corks whenever you are.
Beginning in the afternoon at the mountain huts at Gampe Alm. From there all roads lead to Phillips, the large indoor-outdoor complex at the base of the beginner T-bar next to Ausserwald. If you manage to escape (and some don’t), the delights of the strip are well under way by 9pm.
The centre of Solden is packed with bars. Chris&Co has live Sport on TV and serves (relatively) cheap beer; the Joker has darts, pool and shows music and ski videos; there is live music at the Snowrock Cafe till late. A cozy bar stool can be found at Die Alm, or a hard rock one at the Harley Davidson Otzi Alm bar. Fire and Ice is a large two-storey glass space that makes a lively starting point at the top end of town.
Moving down the high street, Bla Bla is next – a shoulder to shoulder tent affair complete with bubble machine. Otzi Keller, with a small cover charge, provides pool tables and darts, as well as dancing and thonged waitresses. If you’re still with the programme by then, there’s always the table dancing darlings of the Rodelhutte at the far end of town, open daily so the sign says.
Restaurants in Solden
There are over 40 restaurants in and around Solden and they cater for all. Try the Hotel Bergland or the Hotel Central Otzaler Stube, for high brow traditional Austrian food; there are the pizzeria’s Die Zwei and La Tavola and countless other eateries in the Solden area.
Solden Other Activities
No sleepy Alpine hamlet this: a BMW ice driving course, a Hannibal light and music spectacle and a pleasuredome of outdoor thermal saltwater pools are vying to tempt you away from the skiing.
Solden has a number of non-ski alternatives on offer, including cross country skiing, paragliding, sledging, bungee jumping and ice skating. “Europe’s First Test and Exhibition Center” lets you try out flash new skis and boards. In town, the Freizeit Aqua Center offers an indoor pool, sauna, cinema, tennis, bowling, shooting range. You can test drive the new BMWs on the high alpine ice driving course.
In April, a light and music spectacle on the glacier re-enacts the 200BC trans-Alpine journey of Hannibal, complete with elephants. A worthwhile 30-minute drive or local bus ride from Solden, the brand new Aqua Dome is a pleasuredome of outdoor thermal saltwater pools, saunas and spa treatments. If you’re too relaxed and pruney for the trip back, you can bed down in the adjacent four-star plus feng shui-friendly hotel.