Zillertal with Kids in Summer

The Zillertal Valley is an extremely family-friendly adventure playground in Austria. Very close to both Innsbruck and Salzburg, Zillertal is a beautiful mountain valley filled with endless things to do with kids. Due to the ample amount of ski resorts in the area, they have gone all out to make Zillertal a fun family-friendly destination in summer.

In addition to traditional mountain recreational activities such as hiking, biking etc., there are countless opportunities to take a cable car to the top of a mountain for some family fun. With so many recreation possibilities, a visit to Zillertal with kids in summer is a great idea for your family holiday to Austria!

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9 Things to do in Zillertal with Kids in Summer

With a stunning mountain setting deep in the Austrian Alps, the Zillertal Valley is a mountain playground which all outdoor enthusiast families will enjoy. There are so many amazing things to do in Zillertal with kids, that there was no chance for us to do them all during our 5 day visit.

We had an amazing time during our summer holiday and wanted to share with you our favorite things to do in Zillertal with kids:

1. Krimml Waterfall

Celine and I have had the privilege of visiting some of the world’s most iconic waterfalls, most of which we explored before becoming parents. Among these natural wonders, we’ve been fortunate to stand in awe of Angel Falls, Victoria Falls, Iguazu Falls, and Niagara Falls. However, it’s not an overstatement to declare that our family hike to Krimml Waterfall stands out as one of our best waterfall adventures ever.

Soaring to a staggering height of 380 m, Krimml Waterfall, situated within Hohe Tauern National Park, claims the title of the tallest waterfall in Europe and ranks as the fifth tallest waterfall globally. What sets this world-class waterfall apart is its family-friendly hiking trail that traces the waterfall’s path all the way to the top.

Officially spanning 8.2 kilometers (~5 miles), the Krimml Waterfall Trail undoubtedly ranks as one of the most picturesque family hikes we’ve ever done. Along this trail, you’ll stop at 11 designated viewpoints, each offering a unique perspective of the waterfall. Some vantage points are so close that you can feel the refreshing mist on your skin, which was especially welcome on a hot July day.

Arguably, the first Krimml Waterfall viewpoint is the most jaw-dropping of them all. It’s nearly all uphill hiking from here, but our children managed the hiking trail without any difficulties. The Krimml Waterfall Trail is a popular family-friendly hiking trail near the Zillertal Valley, and we encountered numerous families with their children at the top.

The hiking trail surface is solid and well-maintained, and we observed some families pushing strollers, but most were not enjoying it. For parents with young children, we’d highly recommend utilizing a sturdy backpack hiking carrier for a more comfortable experience.

Our hike to the summit of the Krimml Waterfall Trail, with stops at every viewpoint, took us a total of 1 hour and 45 minutes. The descent was entirely downhill and considerably quicker, requiring only 45 minutes of hiking to return to the trailhead.

If you’d like to follow along, download the Krimml Waterfall trail map onto your phone before leaving your family hotel.

2. Zillertal Canyoning

Our family loves to go canyoning when we travel. We first tried canyoning in France during our visit to Briancon with kids, which we then followed up with canyoning in Manuel Antonio with kids. When we discovered we could also go canyoning in a mountain playground as beautiful as Zillertal, Austria, we instantly signed up.

Our adventure began with getting all suited up at the tour operators headquarters. Their canyoning gear was good quality and the sizes for the kids were perfect. They made sure the kids wore two neoprene jackets, which improved their buoyancy even more.

After a quick drive, we were at the river, ready to begin our canyoning adventure in Zillertal with kids. At first, it was just a river, but within a few minutes of walking upstream, we were in the heart of a gorgeous mountain canyon. With towering rocks walls on both sides and lush vegetation clinging to the walls, the canyon was breathtaking. To top it all off, the water color was an emerald green – it was truly amazing.

Our family-friendly canyoning tour had three families (including our own), with six children in total. Our guide was very skilled with handling the kids and to direct the parents to keep everyone safe. She knew exactly what the children would find fun and encouraged everyone to get in on the action.

There were a few spots where the river water was too deep for the kids and it required some swimming, but there were always parents lined up in a chain to ensure everyone made it ok. But most of the tour was wading through shallow water or on the rocky shores.

Throughout our canyoning trip with kids, our guide found the best rocks to jump off, rock slides for the kids to enjoy, and even a few caves for them to walk through. Our guide took pictures throughout it all, so we didn’t have to risk damaging our phones during this high-impact water adventure.

We thoroughly enjoyed canyoning in Zillertal with kids, and would recommend it to anyone with adventurous kids who love to get wet and have fun. We joined the Canyoning I tour through Actionclub Zillertal.

3. Nature’s Ice Palace – Hintertux Glacier

We were first introduced to an ice cave experience during our family trip to Chamonix with kids. One of the premier summer attractions within the Zillertal Valley is a tour through an ice cave carved through the heart of a local glacier.

To get to the Hintertux Glacier, it requires three back-to-back gondola rides up a mountain. The views of the Austrian Alps from the large glass windows of the gondola cars are incredible, and get better the higher you go. There are countless waterfalls thundering down the steep mountain slopes all around you as you ascend.

The Hintertux Glacier is an amazing summer destination in the Zillertal Valley! We were amazed to arrive at the upper gondola station to stand in snow and to see skiers enjoying downhill skiing in July! Amazingly, you can ski 365 days a year up here!

To begin our Hintertux ice cave tour, we had to walk a few minutes down a reasonably steep hill. We’re from the Canadian Rocky Mountains, so we had no issue with the icy descent, but some guests were slipping and sliding their way down!

The ice cave tour at the Hintertux Glacier was a ton of fun! Throughout the tour, we followed a set trail through tight tunnels carved through the ice. With the creative lighting throughout, the ice caves are a thrilling place to be.

The usual path for the ice cave tour had to be diverted somewhat due to some unexpected water on the trail. Along the way, we enjoyed poking our heads through windows to see the large caverns filled with wonderous ice formations and huge icicles. We also took a moment to look down the research hole – the deepest glacial hole in the world.

We paid for the extended tour which includes a 10 minute boat ride – the only boat trip of its kind in the world. The boat trip was a fun trip along a canal with a low enough ceiling that you needed to watch your head!

Tips for Parents Visiting the Hintertux Ice Cave with Kids:

• You pay for the gondola lift to the top of the Hintertux Glacier and the ice cave tour separately. This results in the ice cave tour being one of the most expensive family activities in Zillertal.
  
  
• There are no toilets anywhere at the upper level of the Hintertux Glacier. It’s best to all go before you board the final gondola to the top.
  
  
• There’s rubber floor tiles for traction and ropes along the walls, so you have very little chance of slipping and falling inside the cave.
  
  
• It was 6°C / 43°F at the top of the Hintertux Glacier and 0°C / 32°F inside the Ice Palace. With the wind chill factor outside the cave, it almost felt warmer inside the ice cave. We were dressed in fleece jackets with rain jackets over top. As Canadians, we were ok with this level of dress, but most guests were wearing heavier winter clothing. I believe you can rent winter jackets at one of the lower gondola stations – inquire at the ticket office if you are interested.

4. Zillertal Arena Coaster

One of the most fun things to do in Zillertal with kids is the mountain coaster at Zillertal Arena. An alpine roller coaster is very similar to a traditional roller coaster, except you are in a single car and you use gravity to propel yourself down the mountain on a fixed track.

We loved the fact that the Zillertal Arena Coaster was so affordable compared to the mountain coasters we have back home, so we splurged and bought enough tickets for three rides each!

The Zillertal alpine roller coaster adventure begins at the base of the hill, where you board your coaster car and then get pulled up 325 m / 1,070 feet of track to the top. This is when the fun really begins!

Each mountain coaster car has its own braking system, so the driver can control how fast or slow they wish to go. Once you reach the top of the mountain coaster track, gravity will hurdle you down 1,125 m / 3,700 feet of thrilling mountain coaster track all the way to the bottom. The track winds down the mountain with lots of fun turns and thrilling steep sections. If, like me, you try to not use the brakes at all, you can really pick up a ton of speed.

We really enjoyed the Zillertal Arena mountain coaster and all too quickly our three rides were over. There’s a large, fun playground at the end of the track to help your kids burn off all that excitement from the thrilling mountain coaster ride!

5. Zillertal Arena

When we recently visited Chamonix with kids, we spent a lot of time riding cable cars to the top of the local mountains. The holiday region of Zillertal, Austria is also blessed with an abundance of gondolas and cable cars, allowing visitors to easily visit the mountaintops of this beautiful valley.

The Zillertal Arena gondola is a really fun thing to do in Zillertal with kids. After a long and scenic gondola ride to the upper station, well up the mountainside, there are so many fun family activities to enjoy. There are two major sections at the top of the Zillertal Arena – the Fichtenschloss adventure playground and Spruce Lake.

It was a super hot 33°C / 91°F day at the valley floor, so it was a pleasure to step out of the gondola at the top mountain station and enjoy the much cooler air. Our kids were so excited to be up here that we practically ran to the adventure playground area.

Fichtenschloss Adventure Playground

The adventure playground atop the Zillertal Arena is awesome! There are so many fun and varied things for kids to do in this mountain adventure playground. The centerpiece of the playground is a massive wooden castle, with three large towers, connected by wooden walkways.

The walkways are well above ground, allowing kids and adults alike to get excellent views of the Zillertal Valley below. Our kids loved the massive tube slide, which must have been over 50 feet tall, from the top of the castle back to the playground floor.

Another fun thing to do at Zillertal Arena for kids is the canopy tour, which is reached from the upper floors of the castle tower. The canopy tour is through fully enclosed nets, which keep children safe as they walk 20-30 feet above ground. Our kids loved the canopy tour and must have done the loop 5-6 times.

In addition to the super-cool castle, our kids had a lot of fun with the other playground features at Zillertal Arena. They loved the unique splash park and ran through it endlessly until they were soaked.

Another attraction in the Zillertal Arena playground was the wooden marble run, which are so popular throughout the Alps. We had to buy two inexpensive wooden balls from a little vending machine, but that’s ok, we ended up getting a ton of use out of them during our family trip to Austria.

Spruce Lake

After getting their fill of fun and laughs at the playground, we walked through a stunning meadow, with thousands of alpine wildflowers, to Spruce Lake. A small-ish lake, the Zillertal Arena has made the most of it. Spruce Lake has a small area with a beach and shallow water for little ones to play in.

Our kids were too big for that area, so after changing into their swimsuits, we made our way to the dock with the diving platforms. From here, they jumped into the very chilly mountain lake over and over. Given it was a very hot July day, it was very refreshing for them.

Other family-friendly activities at Spruce Lake include renting stand-up paddleboards, paddle boats and swimming to a large dock in the middle of the lake.

There are many popular hiking trails in the area as well, but this time we elected to just let the kids enjoy their afternoon playing and swimming.

6. Swarovski Kristallwelten (Swarovski Crystal Museum)

Swarovski crystals are known around the world for their beauty and creative, sparkly crystal creations. If you are a fan of Swarovski crystals, you’ll be happy to know that they are based in Austria and they have an incredible crystal museum.

It may surprise you that the Swarovski museum is one of the best kid-friendly things to do near Innsbruck and the Zillertal Valley. In fact, we visited Swarovski Kristallwelten during our drive from Innsbruck to Zillertal. We ordered our Swarovski Crystal Museum tickets through GetYourGuide ahead of time, so we were able to skip the long ticket line on arrival.

Calling it a crystal museum is not really accurate – it’s more like the Swarovski art gallery and park. You are greeted to the crystal museum by the giant green head with a waterfall mouth (you’ll see this image all over the place during your family holiday in Austria). Despite having seen this image countless times, I thought it was still very impressive in person.

Swarovski Crystal Museum Chamber of Wonder

Upon entering the Swarovski Crystal Museum, we entered the Chambers of Wonder – a series of rooms with incredibly creative art featuring Swarovski crystals. The very first room featured the largest hand cut crystal in the world with 109 cuts.

Some of our other favorite displays within the Swarovski Kristallwelten Chambers of Wonder included:

Silent Night

From above, this looks like a beautiful wintery scene with a white tree, lined with beautiful crystals. Snow falling from the ceiling completes the wintery feeling. I couldn’t believe it when I opened the door – it was freezing inside! Including the temperature as part of the art was a brilliant creative decision. The next big surprise was the real snow falling from the ceiling – a real treat in summer!

Crystal Dome

This was one of my favorite rooms within the Chambers of Wonder. The Crystal Dome is a large indoor dome where the walls are lined with triangular crystals. Everywhere you look, you see a different reflection. We had a ton of fun looking around trying to find ourselves reflected off the dome.

Hollywood

Our kids loved this room in the Chambers of Wonder. The Hollywood room showcases some of the most famous times Swarovski crystals were featured in movies. Examples include: Michael Jackson’s famous glove, Dorothy’s red slippers from the Wizard of Oz, Cinderella’s glass slipper and so much more.

The Chandelier of Grief

This was my very favorite art display within the Chamber of Wonder. You queue up to enter a private room, which has large mirrored walls inside. At the center of the room is a beautiful crystal chandelier. Depending on where you stand, and where you look, the visual effects are truly amazing.

Looking straight ahead, the chandelier and its thousands of reflections seems to go on infinitely. I could have gazed at this effect forever. Celine soon noticed that if you got close and looked up or down, it has an equally incredible effect of an infinite kaleidoscope, reflecting the Chandelier of Grief into hundreds of patterns.

Famos

This room has beautiful crystal sculptures of world-famous buildings including the Taj Mahal, the Empire State Building and the Pyramid of Giza.

Of course, when you leave the Chamber of Wonder, you enter the world’s biggest Swarovski store!! I was so grateful for my time in the Swarovski store as it was much, much easier to walk around with an empty wallet afterwards!

The Chamber of Wonder would have been worth the price of admission alone, but there is much more to the Swarovski Crystal Museum experience. There’s a large outdoor area full of creative crystal creations, with fun things to do for kids of all ages.

Swarovski Kristallwelten Park and Play Areas

We began our exploration of the outdoor areas of Swarovski Kristallwelten with the Crystal Clouds. An art creation featuring over 800,000 crystals, the Crystal Clouds absolutely glimmer in the sunlight. The area of crystal clouds over a gazing pool is especially beautiful.

Our kids favorite thing to do at the Swarovski Kristallwelten was the playground tower. This amazing indoor playground has five floors of creative fun for kids. Our kids especially like the multi-story climbing net, which allowed them to climb up or down between floors. The see-through trampolines, multi-story slides and the floor made of net were also big hits with our kids.

We had spent so much time in the Chamber of Wonder and the playground tower that we started running out of time. We hurried the kids through the fun outdoor playground, which featured a long obstacle course, a ball course and a lot of water based games.

Our final activity at the Swarovski Kristallwelten was racing through the hand-shaped topiary maze. We’re not sure if we saw the whole maze or not, but we found a beautiful, large amethyst geode in the middle.

7. Schwazer Silberbergwerk

When traveling with our kids, we always look for new experiences to teach them something new about the world. When we discovered there was a fun guided tour into a silver mine near Zillertal, we quickly signed up!

We began our tour by putting on our fleece jackets (even though it was 32°C / 90°F outside!) as we were warned it is quite damp and chilly inside the silver mine. We then downloaded the app to hear the tour in English (the live tour guide only spoke German), picked out a hard hat and a rain jacket and followed our guide to the entrance of the silver mine.

Standing at the entrance, looking at the tunnel venturing deep into the heart of the mountain was very exciting. We all hopped on board a tiny little mining train and were quickly whisked inside the mountain. The tunnel is very tight, it’s immediately cold and wet, and it gets dark. It was a bit of a shock for our kids, who weren’t immediately sure if they liked it.

The mining train ride lasted about 5-10 minutes and was a ton of fun! When the train came to a close, we got out and started the walking portion of our Schwazer Silberbergwerk tour with kids.

Even though we couldn’t understand our German-speaking guide, and our app wouldn’t go loud enough for us all to hear, we had a ton of fun on the walking portion of the silver mine tour. There were lots of displays with mannequin-like mine workers, demonstrating what working conditions were like.

There were little movies, and a demonstration of a huge watermills to watch (which our son loved). Our guide made a special effort to come over and give us small updates in English, to ensure we had a basic idea of what was going on.

The Schwazer Silberbergwerk silver mine tour was a unique and very fun thing to do in Zillertal with kids. Even though our kids found it a bit scary at first, it was a fun scary, which over time they always look back and enjoy (kinda like riding a new roller coaster for the first time).

8. Schleierwasserfall Hike

One of the tourist board guidebooks recommended a fun family-friendly hike to the tallest waterfall in the Zillertal Valley. This family hike has many interpretive signs along the way, making it fun and interesting for kids to learn about the wildlife in the area.

The hike was a 6.5 km / 4.5 mile loop and, to be honest, while much of it was beautiful there were large parts on asphalt roads. We followed this hiking map on our Alltrails app, but based on our experience, we recommend you do it slightly differently.

In our opinion, the best way to enjoy this family-friendly hike to the waterfall is to park in front of this playground, and follow the follow the AllTrails map to the waterfall. From the playground you’ll enjoy a 2 km / 1.2 mile, leisurely hike through a beautiful forest and some open patches on the mountainside, giving excellent views of the area. Watch for wild strawberries and raspberries growing along the way!

The 90 m tall Schleierwasserfall (waterfall) is incredibly beautiful! It’s so high, it breaks into several smaller streams on the way down as it flows over many rock steps and small cascades.

After a nice break, and maybe lunch, at the Schleierwasserfall, simply turn around and hike back to your car, where your kids can enjoy some time at the awesome playground you parked at.

9. Konigsleiten Cable Car Hike (Yodel Trail)

While we were in the Gerlos region, we wanted to check out a family-friendly hiking trail known as the Jodel Wanderweg, or the Yodel Trail. I had seen some pretty cool images of this trail, and thought it’d be a fun family hike.

The ticket attendant at the Konigsleiten cable car station informed us that the hike commences at the top of the Konigsleiten gondola and follows the Yodel Trail all the way down to the base, with an estimated duration of 3 hours.

Regrettably, time constraints prevented us from completing the full hike, but we decided to take the cable car to the top anyways. As is customary at Austrian gondola stations, there were numerous fun activities for children at the top mountain station, such as wooden marble courses and water features.

My primary motivation for embarking on this family-friendly hike near the Zillertal Valley was the presence of a massive alphorn, inviting visitors to yodel into it. Based on pictures I’d seen, it seemed like a great place for a family picture of our Austrian family holiday.

However, the reality fell short of expectations. Yodeling into the small hole produced hardly any audible sound, and it seemed as though nothing emerged from the much larger opening at the other end. In addition, the angles made it impossible to achieve the picture I wanted – it was quite disappointing.

As we were standing near the disappointing lakeside alphorn, we noticed several families heading toward the summit of a nearby hill, so we decided to check it out. The panoramic views of the Alps, many of which featured massive glaciers, were breathtaking from this elevated vantage point.

The ascent to the summit of Falschriedel mountain (2,420 m) was brief but steep, taking us approximately 20-25 minutes from the alphorn location. Along the way, we were treated to beautiful wildflowers, and the mountain vistas from the summit were truly awe-inspiring.

In conclusion, I would not recommend a journey to the top of the Konigsleiten gondola solely for the Jodel Wanderweg. However, the mountain views from the Falschriedel trail more than made up for our initial disappointment, offering a memorable and rewarding experience.

5 Day Zillertal Itinerary with Kids 

Day 1 Visiting Zillertal with Kids

We began our Austrian family vacation in Innsbruck, after visiting Amsterdam with kids. We only stayed in Innsbruck for one day, then we grabbed a rental car from the airport and headed east towards the Zillertal Valley. There were two major kid-friendly attractions we stopped at on our way to our Zillertal vacation rental.

Swarovski Kristallwelten (Swarovski Crystal Museum)

Our first stop was the Swarovski Crystal Museum, only 30 minutes outside Innsbruck. This place was amazing! The Chamber of Wonder had an abundance of beautiful artwork featuring Swarovski crystals, which engaged all of your senses. Meanwhile, our kids loved the outside areas, which had several awesome playgrounds and a fun topiary maze.

Schwazer Silberbergwerk

Continuing our drive towards Zillertal, we next stopped at the Schwazer Silberbergwerk silver mine. This fun kid-friendly attraction near Zillertal takes you on a wild mining train deep into the belly of a mountain. Once off the train, we enjoyed a fun walking tour of the inner areas of the silver mine. Our kids had so much fun, I doubt they realized that they learned a lot too!

Day 2 in Zillertal with Children

After visiting two very touristy attractions on our first day in Zillertal with kids, we were craving a little solitude in nature. So, we found a fun family-friendly Zillertal hike for our first activity of the day.

Schleierwasserfall Hike

As described above, we wouldn’t recommend you follow our exact hiking path, but instead focus on the really fun section of hiking trail leading up to this beautiful Zillertal waterfall. The 90 m tall waterfall is beautiful, and I bet your kids will enjoy the playground as much as ours did.

Zillertal Arena

We felt our children did really well during our family-friendly Zillertal hike, so we decided to reward them with a trip up the Zillertal Arena gondola. At the top, there’s a massive playground where our kids went nuts for a long time. We had to drag them away from the playground to go cool off with a swim in the nearby lake.

Day 3 in Zillertal with Kids

On the third day of our family holiday to Zillertal, Austria we awoke to rain. It’s a good thing we had a wet activity already planned!

Canyoning in Zillertal

We had an amazing time on our 2-hour canyoning tour in Zillertal! The canyon was incredibly beautiful and the water color was otherworldly (and cold!). Our guide made sure that everyone made up it and down the canon safely, while having as much fun as humanly possible.

We all got to jump off high rocks into deep pools (yup – even the adults!), slide down rock slides, go through tunnels, and much more. This fun family-friendly canyoning tour was one of our favorite things to do in Zillertal with kids.

Zillertal Arena Coaster

The rain was holding off, so after our family canyoning tour, we raced back to the Zillertal Arena to enjoy their mountain coaster. We love mountain coasters and ride them whenever we have a chance. The Zillertal Arena mountain coaster is an excellent mountain coaster, and quite affordable too!

Day 4 of our Family Trip to Zillertal

We awoke to another rainy day in Zillertal, so we got clever and found a family-friendly activity which didn’t depend on sunny weather.

Hintertux Ice Palace

The Hintertux Glacier is a fun family activity in Zillertal where people can enjoy snow (and even skiing) all year around! So, we thought it’d be a great idea to escape the rain and go to the top of the Hintertux Glacier where the rain wouldn’t matter. Worst case scenario, it would be snowing, which would be super fun in July anyway!

The premiere attraction atop the glacier is the Hintertux Ice Palace – an hour long tour through an ice cave carved deep into the glacier. At some points, the ice cave is 30 m / 100 feet below the surface of the glacier. Amazing!

Due to its unique winter wonderland setting, a visit to the Hintertux Ice Palace is the perfect rainy day activity in Zillertal for kids.

Day 5 of our Family Holiday to the Zillertal Valley

Today we left the Zillertal Valley to continue our family road trip through Austria – our next stop was 5 days in Zell Am See with kids. On our way to Zell am See, we stopped at two family-friendly Zillertal Valley attractions along the way.

Krimml Waterfall Hike

As mentioned above, our family hike along the Krimml Waterfall was one of our top waterfall experiences ever. The sheer size and power of this long, cascading waterfall is easy to enjoy while following the well-designed hiking trail from the bottom to the top. The Krimml Waterfall was our favorite thing to do in the Zillertal Valley with kids and we highly recommend it for your family trip.

Konigsleiten Cable Car Hike

After hiking the Krimml Waterfall Trail, we backtracked a little to visit the Konigsleiten Cable Car. Although we didn’t get to do the Yodel Hike as we had hoped, the short hike to the summit of Falschriedel mountain was spectacular.

Where to Stay in Zillertal with Kids

The Zillertal holiday region is blessed to be home to a large number of Austrian ski resorts, making it a very popular winter destination. Each of the ski resorts has a town built around it, with many large and beautiful ski chalets for guests to stay in. As a result, for families visiting Zillertal with kids in summer have a great selection of family-friendly vacation rental homes to choose from.

We stayed in a huge 3-bedroom chalet just south of Zell am Ziller. It was located high up the mountainside, so we got to enjoy stunning views of the Zillertal Valley from virtually every room in the chalet.

There are also many family-friendly hotels in Zillertal, which seem to be more concentrated towards the larger town of Mayrhofen and the huge ski resorts nearby. We loved our Zillertal vacation rental, but if we had to do it again, we’d get a vacation rental in Mayrhofen as it is closer to the Zillertal Alps Nature Park, which is home to the highest and most beautiful mountains in the region.