A belle-époque spa town stacked up a gorge in the Hohe Tauern, Bad Gastein looks like Wes Anderson designed an alpine resort: grand hotels cling to cliffs either side of a waterfall that thunders straight through the town centre. The thermal waters have soothed aching limbs since Habsburg days, and the Felsentherme's outdoor pools steam gloriously against the peaks. Winter walkers get the valley's sunny high paths. Book a hotel with spa access included; you'll use it daily.
Featured in Ten cosy winter resorts for people who don't really ski · Mountain