Austria

Hinterthal

Welcome to Hinterthal

Tucked at the end of a beautiful valley within the municipality of Maria Alm, Hinterthal sits at 1,020 metres and has direct lift access into the beautiful Hochkönig ski region. For buyers who are looking for a large second home / zweitwohnsitz chalet, Hinterthal is one of the best desirable and stunning locations in Austria. The unique “2nd home” status of much of the land in Hinterthal means that it has become one of the most exclusive neighbourhoods in Salzburgland and is home to some truly spectacular luxury chalets.

Popular Hochkonig Ski Region
Zweitwohnsitz / 2nd home destination
Year-round tourism
Exclusive village
Direct access to Maria Alm ski region

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Austria

Property for Sale in Hinterthal

Chalet

Hinterthal Zweitwohnsitz

Hinterthal, Austria

280m²
5
0.5km to piste

Apartment

Altore Zweitwohnsitz

Hinterthal, Austria

89 - 101m²
2 - 3
0.4km to piste

Property For Sale In Hinterthal

One of Austria’s most exclusive addresses. A private lake, Zweitwohnsitz hotspot, and a direct ski lift into the stunning Hochkonig ski region.

Hinterthal Property Guide

Hinterthal has a unique status compared to most Austrian ski resorts. Much of the village is designated as a second-home region under Salzburg's Raumordnungsgesetz 2009.

Apartments and chalets on this land, with confirmed second-home status, are highly valued investments, selling quickly and often at premiums of 20 to 50 per cent over similar properties without this designation.

These properties are often referred to as "jewels", as they seldom appear on the market and usually sell within weeks. Prices can range from €10,000 to €13,500 per square meter for apartments, while standalone chalets start at about €2 million and can exceed €5 million for the largest properties or prime locations near the Hochmaisbahn lift or Florysee lake.

Winter in Hinterthal

The skiing from Hinterthal is quietly among the best-connected in Salzburgerland, and the infrastructure investment over the past decade has removed any lingering question marks about the quality of the lift system. Just 800 metres from the village, the Hochmaisbahn is a six-person high-speed chairlift with heated seats and weather protection bubbles and connects directly into the wider Hochkonig network.

The Hochkonig ski area covers 120 km of groomed pistes served by 34 lifts, with an altitude range from 800 metres at the valley floor to 1,900 metres at the highest station. The signature route is the Konigstour, a 35 km ski circuit crossing six peaks with 7,500 metres of cumulative vertical, linking Maria Alm, Dienten and Muhlbach in a single loop. It was voted the best ski circuit in 2014 and remains one of the strongest reasons intermediate and advanced skiers return year after year.

Between 2018 and 2020, Hochkonig completed a major modernisation programme. Three new 10-person gondolas, the Natrunbahn and Sonnbergbahn in Maria Alm, and the 13 million euro Gabuhelbahn in Dienten, eliminated the last bottleneck on the Konigstour circuit and brought the lift fleet to a standard that competes with anything in the Salzburg region.

For those who want more terrain, any Hochkonig lift pass of 1.5 days or more automatically includes Ski Amade, 760 km of pistes, 270 lifts and 25 resorts across five regions.

Summer in Hinterthal

A property in Hinterthal is a year round asset, with two distinct demands: February for ski season and August for summer hiking. The shoulder season is filled with golf, mountain biking and autumn food festivals.

The Hochmaisbahn in Hinterthal operates from late May through to October, with bike transport available. The Natrunbahn in Maria Alm runs daily from May to November. A Friends Card bundles access to six summer cable cars and the regional hiking bus, giving guests a frictionless way to access high-altitude terrain without needing a car for every outing.

The Hochkonig region offers around 340 km of marked hiking trails awarded the Austrian Hiking Quality Seal including the Konigsweg, a 74 km four-stage hut-to-hut route, and the 350 km Salzburger Almenweg. For mountain bikers, there are some 545 km of trails across the region, including purpose-built flow trails in Maria Alm and Dienten and a 7 km connection trail between Maria Alm and Hinterthal that took five years to develop.

Golf is a significant draw for the higher-spending visitor. The Urslautal Golf Club, an 18-hole Par 71 championship course set on a high mountain plateau between Saalfelden and Maria Alm, roughly 15 minutes from Hinterthal.

The dining scene punches well above what you would expect from a village of this size. RAR Fine Dining in Maria Alm, led by Maximilian Reuter, previously of the two-Michelin-starred Esszimmer holds 3 Gault and Millau toques and 15 points, serving an Asian-Alpine menu that has put the Hochkonig firmly on the gastronomic map.

The Bauernherbst festival runs from September into October with cattle drives down from the alpine pastures, traditional Jakobiranggeln wrestling, game-meat weeks and village celebrations across the valley.

Hinterthal FAQs

Apartments in Hinterthal with Zweitwohnsitz (second home) designation currently list at approx. €10,000 to €13,500 per square metre, with premium new-build developments reaching higher. Standalone chalets with second-home status start from around 1.5 million euros and exceed 3 million euros for premium positions.

Hinterthal offers a compelling investment case built on structural scarcity, dual-season demand and favourable market timing. Salzburg's zoning laws have frozen new Zweitwohnsitz creation across 91 of the province's 119 municipalities, yet Hinterthal retains historically designated second-home land that cannot be replicated. This regulatory lock on supply provides long-term capital protection in a market where prime alpine property values have risen around 25% over five years. The area delivers genuine year-round rental income with net rental yields under the touristic model sitting at 4 to 7 per cent.

Hinterthal is uniquely located in a dead-end valley with only 215 permanent residents, resulting in no through traffic, no commercial area, and no mass-tourism infrastructure. However, the Hochmaisbahn chairlift is just 800 meters from the village centre, providing direct access to 120 kilometres of ski slopes in the Hochkonig area and, via Ski Amade, to 760 kilometres across 25 resorts.

Historically, Hinterthal has attracted discreet wealth, with past residents including former German President Walter Scheel, members of the Mars confectionery family, and former Formula 1 driver Keke Rosberg. The village’s accommodation options are boutique and anchored by the five-star Hotel Jagdgut Wachtelhof and the Gault Millau-recognised Hotel Der Almhof.