Zell am Ziller - your holiday home at the heart of Zillertal
Zell am Ziller
With ca. 2,200 residents and 2.4 km² total land area, Zell im Zillertal represents the heart of Zillertal. The village lies at an elevation of 575 metres above sea level and serves both as the administrative and educational hub of the Zillertal. The amusement park with 45,000 m² directly at the centre provides a lot of action and fun. Also Zell is known to be home of the biggest spring and traditional costume festival of Austria, the Gauder Fest, that brings thousands of visitors into the valley each year on the 1st weekend of May. Cultural events in and around Zell as well as countless sights in the immediate vicinity make your holiday a perfect all-round experience.
Let's head for the mountains. Ready, set, go!
In winter, the Zillertal Arena is the biggest ski area in the Zillertal and we are just a 4-minute walk away from all the action. Come experience 143 km of ski slopes, 52 lifts, numerous alpine huts, snow bars and après-ski pubs. In summer, the Zillertal Arena is "The Valley of One Thousand Mountains". Everyone here finds their own special mountain adventure: Whether that be hiking, mountaineering or riding the bike along one of our numerous mountain-bike trails, or perhaps paragliding or simply taking a relaxing stroll.
Going on a ride with the steam train of the Zillertalbahn, paying a visit to the glittering Swarovski Kristallwelten or experiencing a tour with wonderful views up on the Zillertaler Höhenstraße - special adventures are guaranteed.
Zillertal
The Zillertal is the broadest and best-known valley in Tyrol. Spanning an area of some 1,098 km² - in other words, a ninth of entire Northern Tyrol - it lies in the very heart of Tyrol. Only 40 km east of Innsbruck, it extends out from close to Jenbach and the Inntal valley, for a total length of 32 kilometres in a virtually straight line to the south.
In contrast to other Tyrolean side valleys, the Zillertal does not have to ascend over an initial valley tier, climbing only slightly on its way from Strass (523 metres) to Mayrhofen (633 m), where it then divides into the Tuxer Tal, the Zemmgrund, the Stillupgrund and Zillergrund. (Smaller source valleys are known here as "Gründe"). Branching off from the northern valley are the unpopulated Märzengrund and Finsinggrund, as does the Gerlostal near Zell am Ziller.
At Strass, the first town in the Zillertal, the Ziller - a feeder river from a glacial stream in the Zillertal Alps on the border to South Tyrol and Salzburg - empties as a tributary into the Inn, which, at this point at least, flows at a very sedate pace. Until the 16th century, this was the point where Bavarian, Tyrolean and Salzburg sovereignty all came face to face.
This border remains visible to this day, with the Ziller separating the diocese of Innsbruck - formerly Brixen - and Salzburg, a fact reflected in the colours of the church steeples: on the left of the Ziller, the steeples are a radiant red, while to the right, in contrast, they are green, a symbol of their membership in the Salzburg archdiocese.
Just like the people of the Zillertal, their language is also full of life and richly facetted. The dialect is quite different from that of the Lower Inn Valley, representing a conglomeration of dialects from the Inntal, South Tyrol, Bavaria and Salzburg. Many ancient sayings, rhymes and songs remain alive and well here in the Zillertal.