Christmas in Zell am See: Programme and Package at Hotel Latini

For me, Zell am See is not just where I work; it is a place I have grown very fond of, with its mountains, its lake and some truly special moments.

Ursula Auer, Hotel Latini

What the Christmas package at Hotel Latini includes and costs

Hotel Latini's "Weihnachten in Zell am See" package includes a welcome drink, the breakfast buffet with regional produce and dinner on themed evenings with a five-course choice menu or a dinner buffet, and on 24 December the afternoon snack and the Christmas programme with a visit from Father Christmas and presents for everyone, followed by a festive Christmas menu. The meals are half board at Hotel Latini, breakfast and dinner.

You also get the Gold Spa with its indoor pool and saunas, a bathrobe, slippers and towels, 10% off at the hotel's ski hire, the lift pass service at reception, and advice on and booking of ski lessons, in English too. A lift pass is not included. Drinks with dinner are charged separately.

The booking page shows the price for your own party. Online the package can only be booked for the 7 nights from 19 to 26 December. Shorter stays can be booked too, up to and including departure on 27 December, even for a single night; they are not the package, so the rate you book decides whether breakfast or half board is included, and if the restaurant has room you can add half board for a supplement, ideally as early as possible. With half board the festive Christmas menu is your dinner on 24 December. Papa Rudolfo, the hotel's à la carte restaurant and pizzeria, keeps its regular hours over Christmas and New Year, daily 11.30 am to 10 pm, with the kitchen (pizza included) open until 9.30 pm. There are only a few rooms left for Christmas. Book the Christmas package.

The Christmas programme at Hotel Latini, 21 December to 1 January

Hotel Latini's programme runs from 21 December to 1 January, past the end of the package on 26 December, with dinner from 6.30 pm to 8.30 pm except on 24 and 31 December. The afternoon snack is included for guests, on 24 and 31 December too. The hotel prints it as a small booklet for guests.

In Austria 24 December is the main celebration, and the presents traditionally come from the Christkind, the Christ Child, not from Father Christmas. At Hotel Latini Father Christmas comes to the aperitif at the UNO Bar at 6 pm and hands out presents, and at 6.30 pm the festive Christmas dinner begins. The hotel asks guests to be on time and to dress up.

On 19 and 20 December, before the programme starts, package guests have dinner in the hotel.

Christmas with children at Hotel Latini

For a family Christmas, Hotel Latini has children's dishes with half board, high chairs in the restaurant and a present for every guest from Father Christmas. Its guests may also use the playroom at Hotel Der Schütthof next door. Children can use the pool during the day; from 6 pm it is for adults and young people aged 14 and over. If childcare is essential to your holiday, check with the hotel before you book.

On 23 and 30 December, in that playroom, children make keyrings, coin purses or bookmarks in a leather workshop and stamp them with their initials; sign up at reception. Family rooms take at most 4 people: "Enzian" has a sofa bed for two children, and the "Edelweiß" junior suite a separate living area with a pull-out sofa.

In town the Zell Christkind arrives by boat at the Star Advent Market at Lake Zell at about 3 pm on Sunday 20 December and hands out small presents. On 24 December the Christkind rides the Pinzgauer Lokalbahn's vintage train from Zell am See LB station to Mittersill and back, with small surprises for the children, leaving at 1.20 pm and back at 3.32 pm. Adults pay €21.80 return, children under 15 travel free, and you need a reservation. For more, read about a winter holiday with children.

New Year's Eve at Hotel Latini

On New Year's Eve the evening at Hotel Latini starts with an aperitif at the UNO Bar at 6.30 pm, followed by the New Year's gala dinner with live music at 7 pm. At 10.30 pm come the dessert buffet and live music and dancing with the band "Duo Voices & Music" at the UNO Bar. At midnight the Pummerin bell of St Stephen's Cathedral in Vienna rings, then the Blue Danube waltz, at 12.30 am a late-night snack, and the music and dancing go on until the early hours. The hotel asks guests to dress elegantly.

With half board the gala dinner is your dinner that evening, but it is not part of the Christmas package. Over New Year there are also only a few rooms left, with a 7-night minimum stay. Non-residents are welcome at the gala if there is room; please ask beforehand.

The Salzburg Philharmonic's concert "Dancing into the New Year" starts at 5 pm at the Ferry Porsche Congress Center and lasts about 120 minutes with an interval, which overlaps with the aperitif and the start of the gala dinner. For the rest of the town that night, see New Year's Eve in Zell am See.

Christmas in town: markets, the winter cruise and the Christmas tree dive

The Star Advent market on the town square runs until Sunday 20 December 2026, Wednesday to Sunday from 3 pm to 9 pm. The Star Advent Market at Lake Zell, in the Stadtpark right on the lake, opens from 4 pm to 8 pm on 21 to 23 December, from 10 am to 2 pm on 24 December and every day from 4 pm to 8 pm from 25 to 31 December. From 24 December it is the only market open. There is more on the Zell am See Christmas market and Advent in Zell am See.

The winter cruise on the MS Schmittenhöhe leaves from the Esplanade in Zell am See and lasts an hour: at 3 pm and 4.30 pm on 20 December, at 1.30 pm and 3 pm on 24 December, and at 1.30 pm, 3 pm and 4.30 pm on 25, 26 and 31 December. Mulled wine on board, biscuits at your table and Christmas music are included; places are limited, and tickets are sold in the Schmittenhöhebahn's online shop, through its winter cruise page.

On 25 December the water rescue divers bring a Christmas tree up from 15 metres below the surface of Lake Zell from 5 pm, with mulled wine and punch from 4 pm in the Oberschneiderbucht, between the Grand Hotel and the lido; entry is free.

Getting into town and back in the evening

Hotel Latini is about 3 km from Zell am See station in the town centre, and the Salzburg Mobility Ticket, included for every guest, covers buses and trains across the province of Salzburg, apart from steam and special trains and night bus services.

The Pinzgauer Lokalbahn, the local railway, runs hourly in the evening. Into town it leaves the Kitzsteinhornstraße stop, about 150 metres from the hotel, from 6.52 pm, last at 10.52 pm. Coming back, it leaves Zell am See Lokalbahn, at the station, from 6.02 pm, last at 10.02 pm, reaching Kitzsteinhornstraße four minutes later (a request stop, so press the stop button). In Advent an evening bus also runs from Zell am See to Schüttdorf, included in the Mobility Ticket. The hotel asks guests to check return times locally; the timetables are at reception.

Can you ski in Zell am See at Christmas?

The areitXpress gondola up to the Schmittenhöhe, about 5 to 7 minutes on foot from Hotel Latini, is planned to run from 4 December 2026 to 4 April 2027, from 8.30 am to 4.30 pm, with the season's start depending on snow and weather. You walk to it; you cannot ski from the door.

Nobody can promise snow at Christmas. GeoSphere Austria says a white Christmas is reasonably reliable in valleys above around 800 metres; the Zell am See weather station, at 766 metres, averaged 24.2 days in December with at least 1 cm of snow on the ground between 1971 and 2000.

If you are coming above all to ski, look at a Christmas ski holiday at Hotel Der Schütthof next door and at the Zell am See ski pass.