How to spend a winter holiday with a toddler who has not yet taken a skiing course, but still wants to romp around in the snow a bit? Precisely. You choose a really nice Austrian farmstay, which offers a playroom, (petting) animals in the stable, delicious food, a small but nice toboggan run and good opportunities for (snow) walks in the immediate vicinity. Also, remember to take the grandparents with you if you can. So that the parents also get something out of the actual holiday! 😀
Welcome to the Austrian farm holiday Ofnerhof in southern Lower Austria …
… from where you can easily spot the highest peak of the Eastern Alps, at around 2.000 metres above sea level …
… Birgit Gruber, our host, shows us around the farm ground …
… and doors for guests are always open here!
Family farm holidays during winter: What’s it look like?
What are you able to do, you might ask? We spent a total of three days and three nights at our accommodation and can assure you: You can do quite a lot. Especially if, like us, you are travelling with a (small) child. Farm holidays are simply perfect for the young. We already noticed this during our first stay here with Liam in the summer of 2020: Back then, he was just one year old and loved to explore the playground and barn already!
The Gruber family goes even further with their quality farm offers, awarded four flowers similar to four stars in a hotel. A few years ago, they built a large “indoor stable playground” right above the actual stable buildings. Children can choose between climbing facilities, ramps, towers and ball pools… we’ll have to come back in a few years, it seems 😉
Birgit Gruber instructs Liam and his granddad on how to collect eggs for breakfast.
Goats Lotte & Gina love stale bread that Birgit collects for feeding snacks …
… whereas Liam finds that the rabbits make do with dry grass …
… the view from the stable …
… leads us directly into the indoor playground: A perfect place for children.
Around the Ofnerhof farm in St. Corona am Wechsel: Erlebnisarena ski park, alpine huts and restaurants.
Just about a hundred metres off the farm, you may find a decent-sized ski park specialised in hosting toddlers, young children and all those wishing to (re)train their skiing skills. There is but one large slope, a few smaller practice areas for beginners, as well as the aforementioned toboggan slope for all those who have not come to ski. You need nothing more and nothing less, really. Although the actual snow park is quite small, there are no long queues, no expensive ticket prices like in other, larger resorts, plus restaurants and parking right next to the slopes – just over an hour south of Vienna.
From the Ofnerhof breakfast room …
… it is just a few minutes’ walk to the training slope and ski park in St. Corona …
… alternatively, you can rent toboggans …
… explore the winter hiking trails …
… or refresh at one of the local, alpine huts, such as the Simashütte here in Unternberg.
If you are already in the area, be sure to also take a trip to Kirchberg am Wechsel. The small town spoils you to excellent “Wirtshauskultur” restaurants (Gasthof Grüner Baum, Gasthof Kernbeis), as well as nice walking trails and the Molzbachhof as one of the top hotels in the area (wellness, great cuisine, hotel rooms made entirely out of wood, etc.). Three years ago, my husband and I were guests there: read more about our experience here.