Where to stay in Schenna with kids for skiing
With children, I would base a Schenna ski week at Hotel Kiendl: of the three family hotels on this page it is the one within walking distance of the Meran 2000 cable car, and the indoor pool and half board make the afternoons easy. Schenna is a terraced village above Merano, not a resort, so you ride up to Meran 2000 each morning, where 12 of the roughly 40 km of slopes are easy and Luckis Kinderland has three magic carpets for first turns. The three hotels here average 9.3 out of 10 across 146 guest reviews. It suits families with young or beginner skiers; teenagers who want big, steep terrain will be happier in the Passeier Valley.
Schenna is a quiet village of orchards and family-run hotels on terraces above Merano, with views across the Adige Valley to the Texel peaks. In winter it is a base rather than a resort: families ski at Meran 2000 in the morning and come down for the pool, the toboggan or the Merano Christmas market.
Where to stay
Is Meran 2000 right for skiing with kids?
Schenna works for a family ski holiday because the skiing is gentle and close, and the afternoons have a heated pool, a thermal bath or a toboggan run instead of a long drive home. The village sits at about 600 m above Merano, and the snow is up at Meran 2000, between 1,609 and 2,350 m. The trade-off is daily logistics: there is no slope back to the valley and no hotel at the lifts, so every morning starts with a bus or car ride and the cable car.
Meran 2000 is built for families more than for experts. Of its roughly 40 km of slopes, 12 km are easy and 25 km intermediate, with only 3 km graded difficult, served by 8 lifts between 1,609 and 2,350 m. For a child on the third or fourth day of lessons, that means a blue way down from almost everywhere, and for a parent it means the whole group can ski together by midweek. The flip side is that a strong teenager will have seen most of it after two days, which is why I would not pick Schenna for a family of confident skiers.
First turns happen at the top, not in the village. Luckis Kinderland, the children's snow area of Meran 2000, has three magic carpets, and the Outdoor Kids Camp behind the mountain station stays open in winter as a snow park with a ski kindergarten. The ski school of Meran 2000 has been teaching since 1966 and has always put children's lessons first. Because there is no run down to the valley, small children never have to manage a long, icy descent at the end of the day: everyone rides the cable car back down from the plateau.
You reach the slopes from the Naif valley station above Merano, where parking is free, and the Schenna tourist office lists a ski bus from the village to that station. The other entrance is Falzeben above Hafling, with an eight-seater gondola straight into the ski area and a paid car park. Hotel Kiendl is the only one of the three hotels on this page that is within walking distance of the Meran 2000 cable car: it stands on Naifstraße, about 1 km from the Naif valley station; from Hotel Walder and Appartements Dornach, plan on the bus or a short drive with the ski bags.
The non-ski hours are where Meran 2000 beats bigger resorts for children. The Alpin Bob is a mountain coaster that the Merano tourist board calls the longest in South Tyrol; its track is 1,100 m long, and children aged 3 to 9 ride with a companion over 16. There is a toboggan run through the forest at the foot of the Ivigna (Ifinger), and the Therme Meran sits in town for a rest day. The Schnee & Wärme ticket combines four hours of skiing with three hours of thermal baths, but it is not valid from 26 December 2026 to 5 January 2027.
A traveler's perspectiveI would book Hotel Kiendl for a family with children in ski school: the cable car is within walking distance, there is an indoor pool for the late afternoon, and half board means nobody has to cook after a day on the snow. Hotel Walder suits families who care most about the swim, with a heated indoor pool at about 28°C and half board too. Appartements Dornach, rated 9.6, is the one for families who want a kitchenette and their own rhythm, accepting a short drive each morning. I would not choose Schenna for teenagers chasing steep runs, or for parents who want to ski from the door: there are 3 km of difficult slopes, and every day starts with the bus or the car.
Family skiAppartements Dornach
Self-catering balconies over Schenna's garden terraces
Why guests love itBooking here means treating Schenna as a small apartment stay rather than a hotel: mornings start with coffee made in the kitchenette and eaten out on the balcony, mountain view if you asked for it at booking. The garden below has enough outdoor furniture for a family to eat dinner outside on a mild evening, which keeps costs down after a ski day. It's a practical, no-frills base rather than a pampering one, best for families who'd rather cook than wait on hotel service.
Family skiHotel Kiendl
Five minutes from the Merano 2000 cableway
Why guests love itThe five-minute walk to the Merano 2000 cableway makes early mornings easy, boots on and out the door before the queues build up top. Dinner is the highlight of the evening, five courses built partly from the restaurant's own vegetable garden, and the wellness centre's indoor pool is a welcome stop before that. Rooms lean traditional, oak floors and wooden furniture, extra-large beds that make a difference after a full ski day. It rewards guests who'd rather stay put than head into the village for dinner.
Family skiHotel Walder
Two pools and mountain balconies in Schenna
Why guests love itHaving both an indoor and an outdoor pool changes the after-ski routine here: warm up inside first, then step out to the open-air bath if the evening is clear, which the kids treated like the highlight of the whole stay. The balcony we asked for at booking looked straight at the mountains rather than the garden, worth requesting specifically. Breakfast covered gluten-free needs without any fuss, and the hotel's location near Trauttmansdorff Castle Gardens made for an easy non-ski afternoon.
Local tips
- 1Start beginners at Luckis Kinderland, with its three magic carpets, rather than on the first blue run: it keeps small children away from the traffic of the main lifts.
- 2Plan the last run of the day to the top station of the cable car, because Meran 2000 has no slope back to the valley and tired children cannot ski down to the car.
- 3Children aged 3 to 9 can ride the Alpin Bob only with a companion over 16, so plan for an adult to ride with each young child on its 1,100 m track, which runs up to 12 m above the ground.
- 4Skip the Schnee & Wärme ski and spa ticket over the New Year holidays: it is not valid from 26 December 2026 to 5 January 2027, nor from 5 to 8 December 2026.
- 5Park at the Naif valley station, where parking is free, rather than at Falzeben above Hafling, where you pay; with young children and their gear, the hotel car is often easier than the ski bus.
- 6For a rest day, the Schenner Waalweg is listed by the tourist office as a winter walk through chestnut groves and orchards; bus 233 runs from the village centre to the Taser valley station.