Things to do
A thermal spa carved into rock beside a waterfall. A suspension bridge 138 metres above the valley floor. Skiing into the thermal pool. And in January, ancient pagan masks and extraordinary noise.
The public thermal spa of Bad Gastein — built directly into the cliff face above the Gasteiner Ache, with indoor and outdoor pools filled with thermal water at 34–38°C and views of the mountain torrent below. The Felsentherme is the most direct connection to what made Bad Gastein famous: the same water that brought Kaiser Franz Joseph here in 1863, now accessible to anyone who shows up with a swimsuit and €20. The outdoor pool is open in winter, surrounded by snow with steam rising from the water. It is one of the finest spa experiences in the Alps at any price point.
felsentherme.com →Open year-round. Evening sessions in winter particularly recommended.
The Stubnerkogelbahn cable car from Bad Gastein rises to 2,246 metres — and at the top, a 100-metre-long suspension bridge hangs 138 metres above the valley floor, swaying gently in the wind, with views that extend across the Hohe Tauern on clear days. The hike from the summit down through the alpine meadows to Bad Gastein takes about two hours. In winter, the same cable car serves the ski area; the Stubnerkogel has some of the steepest runs in the Gastein ski region and the most reliable snow.
stubnerkogel.at →Cable car runs year-round. Bridge open summer only.
The Gasteiner Ache drops 341 metres through the centre of Bad Gastein in a series of falls that are audible from the main square and visible from both the Straubinger Grand and the Badeschloss. A path follows the gorge from the Straubingerplatz downstream to the valley floor — a half-hour walk that passes under the hotel facades and through the rock beside the water. In spring, when the snowmelt is at its peak, the falls are extraordinary. In winter, ice forms on the surrounding rocks and the mist from the water freezes on the trees. Go both times.
The most extraordinary wellness experience in the Alps — and the most unusual on this site. The Gastein Heilstollen is an old gold mine tunnel, 2.5 kilometres into the mountain, where the temperature is 37–41.5°C and the air is naturally radon-bearing. Patients with arthritis, asthma, and psoriasis travel from across Europe for courses of treatment in the tunnel. Day visitors can enter without a medical referral for a single session — you board a small train at Böckstein, travel two kilometres into the mountain, sit in the warm dark for 45 minutes, and emerge feeling, as most people describe it, as if they have slept for ten hours.
gasteiner-heilstollen.com →Bad Gastein sits within the Ski Amadé area — one of the largest ski regions in Europe, covering 760 kilometres of runs across five regions and 25 ski resorts on a single lift pass. The Gastein slopes are well-suited to intermediate and advanced skiers; the Stubnerkogel and the Graukogel above the town offer the best views. The train from Bad Gastein connects to further ski areas across the Salzburg province without a car. After skiing, the Felsentherme outdoor thermal pool is the obvious conclusion. This sequence — mountain, slopes, thermal water, Belle Époque bar — is the reason to come in winter.
skiamade.com →December to March. Gastein lift pass covers all five valley areas.
An ancient pagan midwinter tradition preserved in the Salzburg mountain valleys — men and women wearing enormous carved wooden masks (some terrifying, some beautiful, all extraordinary) process through the town with cowbells, drums, and considerable noise to chase the winter spirits away and bring blessing for the new year. The Perchten figures can be two metres tall; the masks take craftsmen months to carve. Bad Gastein’s Perchtenlaufen in January is one of the most vivid and least-visited of the Alpine winter folk traditions. Plan around it deliberately.
January each year. Check exact dates with Bad Gastein tourism.