Key facts at a glance
Seven hotels in Zell am See-Kaprun publish a 2026/27 Christmas or New Year package on their own site, read on 20 October 2026. Hotel Salzburgerhof is the most complete: four Christmas nights bookable 20 to 27 December, a full New Year week, and the only published holiday cancellation rule for this season (free up to 31 days before arrival). Familotel amiamo builds Christmas around children, with seven or eight nights and childcare included; TAUERN SPA offers the shortest stay, three nights at Christmas with Wednesday or Thursday arrival; the Grand Hotel's New Year week ends with a lakeside gala and a midnight lobster buffet but shows no prices; Das Alpenhaus Kaprun prices five-night packages by room type; Hotel Kaprunerhof has a quiet Christmas week from 19 December; Hotel Sonnblick serves two gala dinners but gives no dates. Over the holidays the package itself is the minimum stay.
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| Hotel | Town | Christmas | New Year | Holiday cancellation rule | From (per person, 20 Oct 2026) | Booking.com |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hotel Salzburgerhof | Zell am See | 4 nights, 20–27 Dec | 7 nights, 26 Dec–2 Jan or 27 Dec–3 Jan | Free up to 31 days before arrival | €1,200 / €3,380 | Check availability |
| Familotel amiamo | Zell am See | 7–8 nights, 17–27 Dec | 7–8 nights, 26 Dec–3 Jan | Not stated on the package pages | €1,580 / €3,332 per adult | Check availability |
| TAUERN SPA | Kaprun | 3 nights, arrive Wed/Thu, 23–27 Dec | 5 nights, arrive Sun–Thu, 27 Dec–5 Jan | Page still shows the 2025/26 rule | €760 / €1,880 | Check availability |
| Grand Hotel Zell am See | Zell am See | 5=4 nights, 19–24 Dec | 7 nights, 26 Dec–2 Jan | Not stated on the package pages | No price shown | Check availability |
| Das Alpenhaus Kaprun | Kaprun | 5 nights, 20–28 Dec | 5 nights, 27 Dec–5 Jan | Different terms apply, not specified | €1,046 / €1,732 | Check availability |
| Hotel Kaprunerhof | Kaprun | 7 nights, 19–26 Dec, or 4 nights from 20 Dec | None published | Not stated on the package pages | €1,328 (7 nights) / €781 (4 nights) | Check availability |
| Hotel & Apartment Sonnblick | Kaprun | 5 nights, dates not stated | None published | Not stated on the package page | €889 | Check availability |
Over Christmas and New Year many hotels in Zell am See-Kaprun sell fixed packages rather than ordinary nights: a set number of nights, sometimes set arrival days, a gala dinner, and a cancellation rule that is often stricter than in the rest of the winter. Whether that suits you depends on terms many hotels only reveal at the last step. So this list includes only houses that publish a 2026/27 Christmas or New Year package on their own website, and ranks them by how much of it they put in writing — dates, nights, arrival days, what happens on 24 and 31 December, the price and the holiday cancellation rule. All of it was read on 20 October 2026.
At a glance: which festive stay suits whom?
- The full five-star Christmas, with every term published: Hotel Salzburgerhof, Zell am See.
- Christmas with small children and Father Christmas at the tree: Familotel amiamo, beside the Schmittenhöhe gondola.
- A short Christmas or New Year with a thermal spa: TAUERN SPA in Kaprun, from three nights.
- New Year’s Eve on the lake with a lobster buffet at midnight: Grand Hotel Zell am See.
- Five nights in Kaprun with prices by room type: Das Alpenhaus Kaprun.
- A quiet Christmas week for couples: Hotel Kaprunerhof.
- Two gala dinners in a row: Hotel Sonnblick in Kaprun.
1. Hotel Salzburgerhof, Zell am See — the most complete
The Salzburgerhof publishes more of its festive terms than anyone else here. “Stimmungsvolle Weihnachten” is four nights with gourmet full board, bookable between 20 and 27 December 2026. The programme is spelt out: a torch-lit walk through town to a “mountain Christmas” in the hotel’s garden with a campfire, mulled wine, chestnuts and wind players, a Christmas evening with a cocktail and a gala dinner from its three-toque kitchen, and Father Christmas for the children. It was listed from €1,200 per person in a Deluxe double facing the garden.
New Year’s Eve is a full week: seven nights, either 26 December to 2 January or 27 December to 3 January, with live music, a New Year’s programme and three spa treatments included, from €3,380 per person in a Comfort double. And it is the only house in this list whose published holiday cancellation rule covers this season: for stays between 20 December 2026 and 6 January 2027, free cancellation up to 31 days before arrival, then 70 per cent, and 90 per cent from 14 days.
What it lacks: flexibility and a slope. New Year comes only as a whole week, and the hotel is in town — its own shuttle takes you to the cityXpress and Schmittenhöhe valley stations.
Check availability2. Familotel amiamo, Zell am See — Christmas built around children
The amiamo sits right by the gondola up the Schmittenhöhe and plans Christmas for families. “Weihnachtsurlaub im amiamo” is seven or eight nights between 17 and 27 December 2026, all-inclusive without alcohol, with Father Christmas and the giving of presents under the tree followed by a festive dinner. Childcare from age three is included at 72 hours a week, plus 18 hours a week of baby and toddler care, Sunday to Friday mornings. It was listed from €1,580 per adult for seven nights. If you only want the run-up, a two- to six-night pre-Christmas package runs in the same window, from €452 per adult for two nights.
New Year’s Eve is seven or eight nights between 26 December 2026 and 3 January 2027, from €3,332 per adult for seven nights, with baby care bookable on top. Useful for short trips: the hotel sells remaining gaps “without a minimum stay”, from one night, between 11 and 26 December 2026 and again from 2 January.
What it lacks: the package pages give no holiday cancellation rule, so ask before you pay a deposit. All prices quoted are per adult.
Check availability3. TAUERN SPA, Kaprun — the shortest festive stay
If a week is too long, the TAUERN SPA is the one to look at. “Expedition Weihnachtsstern” is three nights, bookable from 23 to 27 December 2026 with arrival on a Wednesday or Thursday, with a Christmas programme, a gala on 24 December and a holiday programme for children; from €760 per person. “Expedition Silvester” is five nights between 27 December 2026 and 5 January 2027, arriving Sunday to Thursday, with a gala on 31 December and an extended breakfast on 1 January; from €1,880 per person. The spa covers more than 20,000 m².
What it lacks: up-to-date holiday terms. On 20 October the offer pages still showed the special cancellation rule for Christmas and New Year 2025/26 — free cancellation up to 28 days before arrival and full prepayment by then — so ask whether it applies to this season. Package extras cover up to two full-paying adults; children and further adults can cost extra.
Check availability4. Grand Hotel Zell am See — New Year’s Eve on the lake
The Grand Hotel’s New Year package is seven nights from 26 December 2026 to 2 January 2027 with half board, a New Year’s Eve gala in its lakeside restaurants and a lobster buffet at midnight. The week around it is described in detail: a torch-lit walk, a toboggan evening, a night-watchman walk, a caricaturist and a Schuhplattler dance show. The kids’ club takes children aged three to ten, Monday to Friday.
Before Christmas it sells “5=4 Bergweihnacht”: stay five nights, pay four, with half board, mulled wine on arrival, a small Christmas surprise for every guest on 24 December and free stays for two children under seven sharing with two full-paying adults, valid until 25 December.
What it lacks: prices. Neither package page showed a figure; the rate appears only in the booking engine, and the hotel notes its “from” prices are calculated in the cheapest season. The Christmas offer is dated 19 to 24 December, so check what nights after Christmas Eve cost before you build a stay around it.
Check availability5. Das Alpenhaus Kaprun — five nights, priced by room
The Alpenhaus sells both holidays as five-night packages: Christmas between 20 and 28 December 2026 with a programme on Christmas Eve, and New Year between 27 December 2026 and 5 January 2027 with a New Year’s Eve programme. Unusually, it lists the price for every room type — Christmas from €1,046 to €1,212 per person, New Year from €1,732 to €1,898 — and spells out what comes on top: parking, and per person and night from age 15 a €3.50 overnight levy, a €0.50 mobility levy and €0.05 tourism contribution from 1 November 2026.
What it lacks: detail on the festivities themselves — “programme on Christmas Eve” is all the page says. Prices follow dynamic daily rates. And while the hotel’s FAQ says different cancellation terms apply over Christmas, New Year and the winter holidays, it does not say which.
Check availability6. Hotel Kaprunerhof, Kaprun — the Christmas week for couples
The Kaprunerhof describes itself as not specialised in families, which makes its Christmas the quieter one in Kaprun. The seven-night package runs from 19 to 26 December 2026 with the hotel’s “Verwöhnpension” board and a gala on Christmas Eve, from €1,328 per person; a four-night version is bookable from 20 December, from €781 per person. Its free ski shuttle starts running in mid-December.
What it lacks: a New Year’s package — none was published — and much description of the programme beyond the gala. Children’s prices are on request.
Check availability7. Hotel & Apartment Sonnblick, Kaprun — two gala dinners
The Sonnblick’s Christmas package is five nights with breakfast, an afternoon snack and a three-course dinner, a seven-course gala dinner with sparkling wine on Christmas Eve and a five-course gala on Christmas Day, plus ten per cent off the room price. It was listed from €889 per person.
What it lacks: dates. The package page does not say which nights it covers, and no New Year’s package was published. Ask for the exact arrival and departure days before you compare it with the others.
Check availabilityMinimum stays and arrival days
Over the holidays the package is the minimum stay. That ranges from three nights at the TAUERN SPA to a full week for New Year at the Salzburgerhof, the Grand Hotel and the amiamo. Some houses also fix the arrival day: Wednesday or Thursday for the TAUERN SPA’s Christmas, Sunday to Thursday for its New Year. Outside the packages the rules are tighter than they look — the Salzburgerhof’s regular prices assume a three-night minimum with a surcharge for one or two nights, and the amiamo advertises its gap nights precisely because they come without one.
When to book, and the cancellation date that matters
The date to note is not the arrival but the free-cancellation cut-off. At the Salzburgerhof it is 31 days before arrival, which for a 20 December arrival means 19 November. At the TAUERN SPA last season’s rule was 28 days with full prepayment by then. Book the refundable version early, put the cut-off in your calendar, and decide once you can see the snow.
For the skiing: the Ski ALPIN CARD main season starts on 19 December 2026, and from that day bus line 660 between Zell am See, Kaprun and the Kitzsteinhorn runs every 15 minutes outside the midday hours. The Schmittenhöhe had not published its 2026/27 opening date when we checked; the glacier on the Kitzsteinhorn has been open since October.
What the towns themselves offer in those weeks, from the Advent markets to the start of the ski season, is in Zell am See in December. If you are travelling with children outside the holidays, the family hotels round-up compares childcare ages and room sizes.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which hotels in Zell am See-Kaprun have a Christmas package for 2026?
On 20 October 2026, seven published one on their own websites: Hotel Salzburgerhof, Familotel amiamo and the Grand Hotel in Zell am See, and TAUERN SPA, Das Alpenhaus Kaprun, Hotel Kaprunerhof and Hotel Sonnblick in Kaprun. They range from three nights at the TAUERN SPA to seven or eight at the amiamo.
Is there a minimum stay over Christmas and New Year?
In practice, yes: the package is the minimum stay. The TAUERN SPA's Christmas package is three nights with arrival on Wednesday or Thursday, its New Year package five nights with arrival Sunday to Thursday. New Year is a full week at the Salzburgerhof, the Grand Hotel and the amiamo. The amiamo also sells remaining gaps in December without a minimum stay, from one night.
When do I need to book a Christmas hotel, and until when can I cancel?
Watch the free-cancellation cut-off rather than the arrival date. The Hotel Salzburgerhof allows free cancellation up to 31 days before arrival for stays between 20 December 2026 and 6 January 2027, then charges 70 per cent, and 90 per cent from 14 days. For a 20 December arrival the free cancellation ends on 19 November. The TAUERN SPA's rule last season was 28 days with full prepayment; ask whether it still applies.
Which hotel is best for Christmas with small children?
Familotel amiamo in Zell am See. Its Christmas package is seven or eight nights between 17 and 27 December 2026, all-inclusive without alcohol, with Father Christmas and presents under the tree, 72 hours of childcare a week from age three and 18 hours of baby and toddler care. The Grand Hotel's pre-Christmas offer lets two children under seven stay free with two full-paying adults until 25 December.
Where can I celebrate New Year's Eve with a gala dinner?
The Grand Hotel Zell am See holds a New Year's Eve gala in its lakeside restaurants with a lobster buffet at midnight, as part of a seven-night package from 26 December 2026 to 2 January 2027. The TAUERN SPA has a gala on 31 December in a five-night package, and the Salzburgerhof and the Alpenhaus Kaprun include a New Year's Eve programme in theirs.
Can I ski over Christmas in Zell am See-Kaprun?
Yes. The Kitzsteinhorn glacier has been open since October, and the Ski ALPIN CARD main season starts on 19 December 2026; from that day bus line 660 between Zell am See, Kaprun and the Kitzsteinhorn runs every 15 minutes outside the midday hours. The Schmittenhöhe had not published its 2026/27 opening date when we checked.
