Day Trips from Kitzbühel

Kitzbühel sits on the ÖBB line through the Kitzbühel Alps, with a car-free route to two cities and several small towns. The sights that need a car are the high-mountain ones, and those are mostly summer trips. That split shapes this list more than anything else.

Each entry tells you how to get there, how much of the day it takes, which season it works in and who should skip it. We haven’t quoted travel times: they vary with the connection, and the ÖBB timetable is the place to check them for your date. For everything closer to base, see our full guide to Kitzbühel, and if you’re still at the early stage, start with how to plan your trip.

1. Salzburg

Salzburg is the best city day trip from Kitzbühel, and the one we’d pick in winter if you only do one.

Go by train. Depending on the departure, you’ll either travel direct or change once, so look up your date on ÖBB the evening before. Take an early train: the old town, the fortress above it and the Mozart sights fill a full day without trying. Two timetable notes for this winter: the 2027 rail timetable starts on 13 December 2026, and ÖBB says the German line between Rosenheim and Freilassing closes from 8 February to 9 July 2027 (ÖBB), so from February expect Salzburg trains to run via Saalfelden rather than Wörgl.

In winter the city is a good counterweight to a week of skiing, with museums and cafés for cold days. In summer it’s busy, and you’ll share the old town lanes with coach groups.

Skip it if you’ve already spent time in Salzburg on the way in. Many visitors fly into Salzburg anyway, and our guide to travelling from Salzburg covers that route.

2. Innsbruck

Innsbruck gives you a city and a mountain in one day. The old town is small, and the Nordkette cable cars climb straight from the city to high alpine terrain, which no other city on this list can match.

It’s a train trip. Connections from Kitzbühel usually run via Wörgl, sometimes with a change there, so check ÖBB for your date. Plan a full day if you want the Nordkette as well as the old town; the city alone takes half a day.

It works all year, though in winter the top of the Nordkette is serious alpine ground, and you should check conditions on the operator’s site before riding up. Skip it if you’re flying into Innsbruck and can spend a few hours there on arrival or departure day instead.

3. Krimml Waterfalls

The Krimml Waterfalls drop about 380 metres in three stages, according to the official site (as of November 2026). A 4 km path built by the Austrian Alpine Club climbs beside them, with viewpoints along the way. This is our pick for a summer day trip.

It is a summer trip in practice. The official site gives the trail season as mid-April to the end of October, with the paid path open continuously from 1 May (wasserfaelle-krimml.at, as of November 2026), and the falls are at their fullest in early summer when the snow melts.

By car, the drive goes south over the Pass Thurn to Mittersill and then west to Krimml. You don’t need the Gerlos Alpine Road, the toll road that climbs from Krimml into the Zillertal, unless you want to loop back that way; its operator says it is open all year (gerlosstrasse.at, as of November 2026). Without a car it’s a long day via Zell am See, and a tour is easier: see Krimml Waterfalls tours (affiliate link).

Skip it if anyone in your group can’t manage a steady uphill walk, since the best views are well above the lowest fall.

4. Grossglockner High Alpine Road

This is the famous mountain road to the foot of Austria’s highest peak, the Grossglockner. It’s a full day with a car, and a spectacular one in clear weather.

It’s summer only. The road closed for winter on 2 November 2026 and reopens in early May 2027 (grossglockner.at, as of November 2026). It’s a toll road; check the current toll on the official site, as we haven’t found a confirmed figure for 2027.

Without a car, take a tour. Public transport to the high points is limited and slow. Skip it on a cloudy day, since the views are the whole point, and skip it with young children who get carsick on hairpin bends.

5. Kufstein

Kufstein is the short one: a small town on the Inn river with a big fortress on a rock above it. It makes a good half day, so it suits a rest day or a day when the weather on the mountains is poor.

Take the train, usually changing at Wörgl. The fortress is the main sight, and it has its own museum; check the Festung Kufstein website for opening times before you go.

It works all year. Skip it if you’ve already planned Salzburg, which offers a bigger version of the same old-town-and-fortress day.

One trip that didn’t make this list is Hallstatt. It’s a long day, about two and a half hours each way by car and slower by train, so it only works with an early start or a driver. We’ve covered Hallstatt as a day trip on its own page.

6. Wilder Kaiser: Ellmau and Going

The Wilder Kaiser is the limestone range on the northern skyline behind the Schwarzsee, and the villages at its foot, Ellmau and Going, are a summer hiking destination. The walking here feels different from the grassy Kitzbühel Alps: rock walls above, meadows and lakes below.

By car it’s a short drive. Without one, take the train to St. Johann in Tirol and a regional bus on to the villages; plan the bus leg on vvt.at.

In winter, Ellmau and Going belong to a different ski area, so it becomes a ski trip rather than a sightseeing one; compare it with other ski resorts nearby. Skip it in summer if you’re not a walker. The villages themselves are pleasant but quiet.

7. Saalfelden Leogang

In winter, Saalfelden Leogang is the best non-ski day out from Kitzbühel. It’s the only destination on this list we’ve visited ourselves: we were there at the end of December 2024 and found the Ritzensee frozen and full of skaters on 31 December.

Direct trains run between Kitzbühel and Saalfelden. Go for skating on the lake when the ice is open, the long toboggan runs at the Biberg and the Asitz, and cross-country trails through the forest. Our guide to a winter trip to Saalfelden Leogang has the details.

Skip it if the ice isn’t open and nobody wants to toboggan. In summer it’s a good hiking and biking area, but there’s no reason to prefer it over the trails at home.

8. A Christmas-market trip

Salzburg and Innsbruck both hold large Advent markets in their old towns, and a train trip to one makes a festive day out in December. Salzburg’s is the grander setting; Innsbruck’s is easier to combine with a ride up the Nordkette.

That said, you may not need to leave. Kitzbühel has its own small market, and the Advent market in the old town is calmer than either city’s. Check each market’s dates on its official tourism site, as they change every year.

Skip the city markets on December weekends if you dislike crowds; go midweek instead.

Comparison table

Tours vs going on your own

Go on your own wherever there’s a train: Salzburg, Innsbruck, Kufstein and Saalfelden are all simple by rail, and a tour adds cost without adding much.

A tour makes sense for the two mountain trips. Krimml and the Grossglockner road are slow by public transport, and a driver who knows the road lets everyone look at the view. Hiring a car is the other option, and it pays off if you plan more than one of these trips. In winter, ask for a car with winter tyres.

How many trips to plan

A good rule: one day trip for every three days of your stay. Any more and you’ll spend your holiday on trains instead of on the mountains you came for. Fit it into a day-by-day plan so it lands on a day with poor weather in Kitzbühel, and if you haven’t booked yet, choose where to stay near the station to make early trains easy.