48 hours in Kitzbuhel

Strongly touted by The National in the pre-season, Kitzbuhel is a fashionable choice for skiing this year. And yet ArabianMoney struggled to find any expatriates or nationals from the Gulf States.

It is hard not to miss recent investment in infrastructure in this attractive traditional Tyrol town. A giant red banner proclaims that 30 million euros were invested last year.

Endless pistes

To be sure the huge interlinked ski region is the biggest selling point of skiing here. You have a series of easy blue motorway runs conjoined by cable cars and chairlifts in an endless loop over hundreds of kilometres.

Graduates of Ski Dubai will feel comfortable on these slopes, although there is an alternative collection of black runs to challenge more ambitious skiers.

This is a class act. You can arrive by train from Munich airport and be in your hotel within minutes. These hotels offer the very best in hospitality with traditional Austrian flair and style.

Emirates has a very well timed service to Munich from Dubai that allows you plenty of time to get to your hotel before dinner, and to catch the train after breakfast and still comfortably make the flight home.

Kitzbuhel itself has a neat historic centre with the de rigeur designer shops and local specialty boutiques. You can also take your apple strudel and coffee outside with a heater to warm you, or hire a horse and carriage for a trip around the town.

Convenient resort

For ski and boot hire you have several possibilities conveniently located right by the main bubble car lift on the edge of the downtown. This avoids carrying heavy ski gear around town as you can leave it there for storage overnight.

But this is mainly a resort for skiers and not snowboarders. If you are a skier you will not miss that familiar rasping sound behind you with the worry that the boarder may not be as in control as they would like to think.

In truth, this is not really a lively town for the younger winter sports person looking for fun after dark, although there is a casino. However, for creature comforts and great skiing there is nothing to fault in Kitzbuhel.