Our Sölden ski holiday in the Austrian Alps!

Sölden is a ski resort in the Austrian Alps with 146 kilometres of pistes, two glaciers and some of Austria’s highest ski terrain, making it a great option for skiing, as well as Michelin-starred dining, mountain spas and James Bond experiences.

One of Austria’s best-known winter destinations and the long-time host of the Alpine Ski World Cup season opener, Sölden has plenty to discover beyond the pistes too. Daniel Craig filmed Spectre here in 2015, using the surrounding peaks, glacier roads and mountaintops as the backdrop for some of the movie’s most iconic scenes.

Checking in at Das Central Sölden

Our home for the week was Das Central, a family owned five-star hotel in the heart of Sölden, where ski boots and Michelin stars coexist remarkably well.

For somewhere surrounded by 3,000-metre peaks and high-alpine terrain, this ski resort in Austria is surprisingly accessible. Regular trains from Munich and Innsbruck stop at Ötztal Bahnhof, followed by a short transfer into the resort.

While parents gravitate towards the spa and restaurants, younger guests have plenty to keep them occupied. The kids’ club offers everything from chocolate bark-making sessions to skiing challenges on a Nintendo Wii, ensuring there’s always something happening once the lifts close.

Dining in Sölden: Dinner, Mr Bond?

Food is a major part of the Das Central experience. The hotel is home to the Ötztaler Stube, which received Sölden’s first Michelin star in 2025, but excellent food runs throughout the property. Breakfast features everything from freshly baked breads and pastries to made-to-order egg dishes, local cheeses and a juice bar. In theory, it’s the sort of breakfast worth lingering over. In reality, our eager skiers were usually keen to get to the slopes.

Dinner quickly became one of our favourite family rituals. After a day spent in ski gear, there was something wonderfully old-fashioned about everyone heading upstairs to smarten up for the evening. The children loved dressing for dinner and, perhaps surprisingly, were often on their very best behaviour.

Each evening brought a beautifully presented five-course menu, alongside a salad and antipasti selection and a children’s buffet that occasionally tempted the adults too.

Après-ski at this resort in the Austrian Alps

Looking out across the Ötztal Alps, a quick post-ski swim rarely stays quick at Das Central’s infinity pool in the Summit Spa. Below, church spires and timber chalets dot the valley floor while skiers make their way home for the day.

Before long, we had established a post-ski ritual: swim, whirlpool, steam bath, sauna, ice bath, repeat. Family members compared ice bath times over glasses of cucumber water in the relaxation area before inevitably deciding to have “just one more” swim.

We even joined a stretching class in the gym – a decision our ski legs appreciated the following morning.

Skiing in Sölden in the Austrian Alps

A ski holiday is far more enjoyable when somebody else worries about the logistics.

At Das Central, boots warm overnight in the ski room. A shuttle arrives to take guests directly to their chosen lift. Ski hire happens just outside the hotel at Intersport Glanzer. The result is a ski day that starts with far less faff than usual.

Most of our skiing centred around Giggijoch, where wide-open pistes and seemingly endless mountain terrain showed us exactly what makes ski resorts in Austria so appealing.

Things to do in Sölden: For your eyes only

Three experiences that deserve a place on every Sölden itinerary!

#1 Ice Q: Dining on top of the Austrian Alps

At 3,048 metres above sea level, Ice Q is undoubtedly one of the most dramatic dining rooms in the Alps. Floor-to-ceiling glass frames the Ötztal Alps and distant Dolomites, making it feel as though you’re floating above the mountains.

The futuristic glass-and-steel structure doubled as the Hoffler Clinic in Spectre, and the Bond connection is impossible to miss. Outside sit the Land Rovers used in the film’s glacier-road chase scenes, while the Gaislachkogl gondola that carries visitors to Ice Q also appeared on screen. Fans may recognise it as the cabin where Q sat tapping away on his laptop while Bond got on with saving the world.

Skiers arrive straight from the slopes, jackets open and helmets tucked under their arms, to settle in for a long lunch.

Ice Q is also Austria’s highest toque-awarded gourmet restaurant. Not a bad place for a martini. (Shaken, naturally.)

#2 007 Elements James Bond Adventure World

You don’t need to be a Bond fan to enjoy 007 Elements, but it certainly helps.

Built in to the summit of Gaislachkogl mountain next to Ice Q, this cinematic adventure world explores the making of Spectre and Sölden’s starring role in the film. Original props, film clips, interactive displays and behind-the-scenes stories reveal how this ski resort in the Austrian Alps became one of the franchise’s most memorable filming locations.

For our teenage son, however, there was only one real highlight: posing beside the battered aircraft used in the movie. It’s not every day you come face-to-face with a piece of Bond history.

#3 Cryotherapy at Das Central

Think the ice bath is cold? Think again. In Das Central’s cryotherapy chamber, guests spend 30 seconds in a pre-chamber with the air chilled to between -30°C and -60°C before stepping into the main chamber for two-and-a-half minutes, where temperatures plunge to a bracing -110°C.

While it sounds like something Q might have designed for a particularly demanding mission in the Austrian Alps, cryotherapy has developed something of a following among those looking to recover between ski sessions.

Three minutes at -110°C? Mission accomplished!

This article on Sölden in the Austrian Alps first appeared in the July 2026 issue of Expat Living magazine. You can buy the latest issue or an annual subscription or read the digital version free now.

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