Photo spot in Kitzbühel
The painted houses of the Vorderstadt
A curving pedestrian street of ochre, pink and green merchant houses under two church towers — the silver money of the 15th century still standing, and the one Kitzbühel frame that works in any weather.
About The painted houses of the Vorderstadt
Get directionsKitzbühel was rich long before it was a ski town. Silver and copper came out of the Kitzbüheler Horn from the 1400s, and the merchants built the Vorderstadt with the proceeds: deep gabled houses with painted façades, arched passages through to the courtyards behind, and oriel windows at first-floor height. The street bends, which is the whole point — from the low end the houses stack into each other and the towers of the Liebfrauenkirche and the Stadtpfarrkirche St. Andreas close the view.
Stand at the bend near the Hinterstadt junction and shoot uphill for the classic compression. The passages and the arcaded courtyards off the street are the second frame: cool, even light at any hour, and warm plaster in the background, which is what to use at midday when the street itself is hard.
The Vorderstadt is pedestrianised and the light is a matter of the sun clearing the roofs — roughly nine to ten in summer, later in winter. The last hour of the day paints the east side; overcast is genuinely good here, because the colours carry the picture and there are no shadows to fight.
In winter the street is snow-lined, lit and, for one week in January, unusable: the Hahnenkamm races bring tens of thousands of people and the whole centre becomes a grandstand. The race date moves — check it before booking anything in January. In summer the town is quiet, the flower boxes are full and mornings are yours.
Best time to shoot
Mid-morning once the sun clears the roofs, or the last hour of daylight; overcast works well
Tips
Avoid Hahnenkamm race week in January — the date shifts each year, so check it. Shoot uphill from the bend for the stacked façades, and duck into an arcaded courtyard when the midday light on the street goes hard.
Other spots in Kitzbühel
The Hahnenkamm summit and the Streif start
Eight minutes by gondola from the edge of town to a grass or snow ridge at 1,665 metres, the Wilder Kaiser laid out to the north and the most feared start gate in ski racing under your feet.
The Schwarzsee at sunset
A small dark moor lake two kilometres out of town with reeds, a wooden jetty and the Kitzbüheler Horn standing behind it — the warmest swimming water in Tyrol in July, a skating rink in January.
The Kitzbüheler Horn and its alpine flower garden
A 1,996-metre summit reached by toll road or gondola, with a hillside of several hundred alpine species below it and the Grossglockner on the southern horizon — a July and August place above all.
Ready to book?
Our concierge team will hand-pick 2-3 photographers who know The painted houses of the Vorderstadt — free of charge.