A Valley East of Innsbruck, Not South of It
The Zillertal branches south off the main Inn valley at Jenbach, roughly 30 km east of Innsbruck as the Inn flows downstream. It is easy to place wrong on a first look at the map: people arriving from the Stubai valley, which sits south-west of the city, sometimes expect the Zillertal to be a similar short hop in the same direction. It isn’t. Reaching it means driving or riding east along the Inn valley first, then turning south at Jenbach onto the valley’s own road and rail line.
By car, the A12 motorway gets you to the Zillertal turn-off at Wiesing or Strass in about 30-40 minutes from Innsbruck, and the lower valley villages such as Fügen are reachable in around 40-50 minutes. Mayrhofen, at the head of the valley where the Ziller splits into its side valleys, is closer to an hour by car depending on traffic and season. By train, the fastest route is a regional train to Jenbach followed by a change onto the narrow-gauge Zillertalbahn, which runs the length of the valley to Mayrhofen; door to door this is usually about 1 to 1.5 hours, and it is a genuinely scenic way to arrive, not a compromise for people without a car.
One Valley, Three Destinations With Their Own Pages
This page exists to orient you, not to repeat what is already written in more detail elsewhere on the site. The Zillertal is really three headline stops strung along one road and one railway, and each has earned a full page of its own:
- Mayrhofen — the valley’s main town, at the point where the Ziller splits into the Zillergrund, Tuxertal and Zemmtal side valleys, and the base for most lift-served skiing and hiking in the area.
- The Schlegeis reservoir — a turquoise high-altitude dam at the head of the Zillertal, reached by a toll road and a short walk, with glacier views and a network of hut-to-hut hiking routes.
- Hintertux — the glacier at the top of the Tuxertal side valley, one of the very few ski areas in the Alps that operates every day of the year.
If you already know which of the three you want, go straight to its own page for opening times, prices and route detail. What follows here is the comparison and the planning logic that ties them together.
The One Fact Worth Getting Right: Hintertux Skis All Year
Tyrol has two well-known glacier ski areas reachable from Innsbruck, and they are not interchangeable. The Stubai Glacier, south-west of the city, has a long season that typically runs from autumn into early summer, but it closes for a maintenance break most years — it is not open every single day.
Hintertux, at the head of the Zillertal, is the one that operates year-round, closed only for occasional short technical stoppages rather than a seasonal break. That distinction matters if you are planning a July or October trip specifically to ski: Hintertux is the safe bet, and Stubai needs its current dates checked first. The two glaciers are covered in more depth, side by side, in a dedicated comparison — worth reading before booking lift tickets in the shoulder months.
Winter: Valley Skiing Plus a Glacier That Doesn’t Close
In winter the Zillertal offers two distinct kinds of skiing, and most visitors do both across a multi-day stay rather than choosing one. The valley’s own ski areas — around Mayrhofen and the side valleys — run on the standard Alpine season, roughly December to early April, with groomed pistes, off-piste terrain accessed from lift stations, and a lively après-ski scene that Mayrhofen in particular is known for. Hintertux, reached by driving or taking a bus up the Tuxertal, adds glacier skiing above roughly 2,500 m that is reliable even when valley snow is patchy at the start or end of the season.
The two are usually combined rather than compared: a week based in or near Mayrhofen commonly means a few valley-ski days and a glacier day at Hintertux, with the glacier acting as an insurance policy against a thin early- or late-season valley snowpack. For visitors who prefer to stay in Innsbruck and day-trip out, the drive time to Mayrhofen (around an hour) makes a single Zillertal ski day workable but tiring if paired with the drive back the same evening — it suits a trip built around one full day here rather than a quick add-on.
Summer: Hiking, the Schlegeis Reservoir and the Valley Floor
Summer flips the emphasis toward hiking and the outdoors rather than lifts. The classic Zillertal summer day combines a drive up the toll road to the Schlegeis reservoir with a walk along or above the dam — the turquoise water against glacier-streaked peaks is one of the most photographed views in Tyrol — and, for those with more time, a hut-to-hut route into the surrounding high terrain. The reservoir sits at the head of the valley past Mayrhofen, so a Schlegeis day usually already includes passing through Mayrhofen on the way.
The valley floor itself, flat and gently graded along the Ziller, is popular for cycling and gentler family walks, an easier alternative to the high-mountain routes for a first day in the area. Canyoning and paragliding are also well established here — the Zillertal’s gorges and launch sites are used by several operators running trips out of Mayrhofen and the surrounding villages, alongside the more adrenaline-focused options like a cable slide across the Schlegeis dam itself.
a tandem paragliding flight above Mayrhofen puts the whole upper valley — the Ziller’s side valleys, the ski lifts, and on a clear day the glacier at the head of the Tuxertal — into a single view that a car or a train never quite delivers. It runs through the warmer months when thermal conditions are reliable.
For something closer to water than air, a guided canyoning descent through one of the Zillertal’s gorges is a half-day activity that needs no prior experience, run with full safety gear by local guides who know the water levels for the season.
Villages Along the Way
Driving or riding the Zillertal and the lower Inn valley toward it, several villages sit along the route with their own pages and their own reasons to stop, even though none of them is the main event of a Zillertal trip. Fügen is the first proper Zillertal village past the valley mouth and a common base for a quieter, less built-up stay than Mayrhofen. Just outside the valley proper, Kramsach and Rattenberg sit in the lower Inn valley near the Zillertal turn-off — Rattenberg for Austria’s smallest town and its glassblowing tradition, Kramsach for its open-air farmstead museum.
Alpbach, technically in a side valley of its own rather than the Zillertal itself, is often visited on the same swing through this part of Tyrol for its picture-postcard chalet architecture. Schwaz, on the Inn between Innsbruck and Jenbach, has its own silver-mining history worth a stop if you are driving rather than taking the direct train.
None of these is detailed further here — each has its own page — but knowing they sit along the same corridor helps with route planning: a Zillertal day trip that also touches Rattenberg or Schwaz on the way is realistic; trying to add all of them plus Mayrhofen, Schlegeis and Hintertux in a single day is not.
an early-morning high-altitude paragliding flight from Fügen is a good option for visitors based in the lower valley who want to fly before the day’s thermals and crowds pick up, then still have a full day left for the drive further up toward Mayrhofen or the Schlegeis road.
Getting Around Once You’re in the Valley
The Zillertalbahn narrow-gauge railway runs the length of the valley from Jenbach to Mayrhofen and is the backbone of getting around without a car — useful for reaching Fügen or Mayrhofen, but it does not go up the side valleys to Hintertux or to the Schlegeis dam. Those require a bus connection or a car from Mayrhofen; the Schlegeis road in particular is a toll road with hairpin sections that some visitors prefer to leave to a bus or organised transfer rather than drive themselves.
Within the valley, local buses connect Mayrhofen to the Tuxertal and to the Schlegeis road in season, and ski buses in winter link the various lift stations for pass holders. For a single day trip from Innsbruck, a car is the most flexible option because it avoids a second change at Jenbach and gives direct access to whichever of the three headline stops you’ve chosen; the train is a perfectly workable alternative if Mayrhofen itself, rather than Hintertux or Schlegeis, is the day’s target.
How Long to Stay, and Where From
A single well-planned day trip from Innsbruck can cover one of the three highlights properly — Mayrhofen’s town and lower lifts, a Schlegeis reservoir walk, or a glacier day at Hintertux — but not all three. Visitors who want the full valley, including some hiking, a Schlegeis visit and at least one glacier or ski day, are generally better served by 3 to 5 days based in or near Mayrhofen, which cuts out the repeated hour-long drive back to Innsbruck each evening and puts the side valleys within a short local hop.
Staying in Innsbruck and day-tripping out remains the simpler choice for a first visit or a trip that also wants to fit in the city itself, the Nordkette and other areas closer to town. It works especially well for a single Schlegeis or Mayrhofen day, less well if a glacier day at Hintertux is the goal, since the drive up the Tuxertal adds meaningfully to an already long round trip.
the cable slide across the Schlegeis dam is one of the few activities in the valley that genuinely needs to be booked around the dam itself rather than fitted in on the way to somewhere else, so it’s worth building a Schlegeis-focused day around it rather than treating it as an add-on to a Mayrhofen visit.
Zillertal, Achensee and Stubai: Keeping the Names Straight
Three names get mixed up by visitors planning this side of Tyrol, and it’s worth being explicit about the difference. The Achensee is a separate lake destination downstream of the Zillertal, on the same rail and road corridor through Jenbach but a different valley system entirely, with its own historic cog railway and its own page.
The Stubai Glacier is south-west of Innsbruck, not east, and shares only the general idea of glacier skiing with Hintertux — as covered above, the two glaciers differ in a way that actually matters for trip planning, since one closes for part of the year and the other doesn’t. Treat the Zillertal, the Achensee and the Stubai valley as three separate trips that happen to be roughly the same distance from Innsbruck, not as three parts of one outing.
For a longer stay that legitimately combines the Zillertal with the Achensee rather than confusing the two, a multi-day itinerary through both is a cleaner way to plan than trying to improvise the connection on the day.
Zillertal Trip Planning at a Glance
| Approach | Best suited to | Typical time needed |
|---|---|---|
| Day trip by car from Innsbruck | One clear target: Mayrhofen, Schlegeis or Hintertux | 1 day, 8-10 hours round trip |
| Day trip by train via Jenbach | Mayrhofen town and lower lifts, no car needed | 1 day, allow extra time for connections |
| Short stay based in Mayrhofen | Covering all three highlights without rushing | 3-5 days |
| Combined with the Achensee | Visitors with a car doing a wider loop east of Innsbruck | 4-6 days |
Zillertal Questions Before You Plan the Trip
How long does it actually take to get to the Zillertal from Innsbruck?
By car, expect about 30-40 minutes to the valley mouth near Jenbach and Strass, and 40-50 minutes to reach the lower villages such as Fügen; Mayrhofen, at the head of the valley, is closer to an hour. By train, a regional connection to Jenbach plus the Zillertalbahn narrow-gauge line to Mayrhofen typically takes 1 to 1.5 hours in total, depending on connection times.
Is Hintertux really open all year, or is that an exaggeration?
It genuinely operates every day of the year, with only occasional short technical closures, which makes it the reliable choice for skiing in months when most other Tyrolean lifts — including the Stubai Glacier for part of the year — are closed. That reliability is the single biggest practical difference between the two glaciers.
Can I visit Mayrhofen, the Schlegeis dam and Hintertux in one day?
It’s possible on paper but not advisable. Each is a genuine destination in its own right with its own drive or lift time, and cramming all three into one day usually means arriving late and leaving early at each. A focused day on one of them, or a 3 to 5 day stay covering all three, are the two approaches that actually work.
Should I stay in Innsbruck or in the Zillertal itself?
Innsbruck works well if the Zillertal is one stop among several on a wider Tyrol trip, or if a single day trip is all the time available. Basing yourself in or near Mayrhofen for a few days makes more sense if skiing, hiking and the Schlegeis reservoir are all on the list, since it removes the repeated drive back to the city.
Is the Zillertal the same as the Achensee?
No. The Achensee is a separate lake destination reached along the same road and rail corridor through Jenbach, but it sits in its own valley system with its own attractions, including its historic cog railway. They’re often combined in a longer itinerary but are not the same place.
Do I need a car to see the Zillertal properly?
Not for Mayrhofen itself, which the Zillertalbahn train reaches directly. A car or an organised transfer becomes more useful for the Schlegeis toll road and for reaching Hintertux up the Tuxertal, since public transport connections to both exist but add time compared with driving directly.
What’s the best time of year to visit the Zillertal?
December to March suits valley and glacier skiing. Late June through September suits hiking and a Schlegeis reservoir visit, once high trails have cleared of snow. Hintertux is the exception that works in any season, including the shoulder months when most other lifts in the region are closed for maintenance.
Does the Zillertal have gorges and rafting like the Ötztal?
Yes — canyoning and whitewater activities run in the Zillertal’s own gorges through the warmer months, alongside paragliding launches around Mayrhofen and Fügen, independent of the Ötztal’s better-known rafting and canyoning routes further west.
