Ski & Spa in Austria

It was my second day ever skiing cross-country and my legs were about to give way. Having managed a convincingly co-ordinated swish through the crystal fresh snow as I climbed the slope into a pristine pineshrouded valley, my sporting prowess suddenly deserted me. I crumpled into a heap of skis, poles, arms and legs, demolishing that morning's neat parallel tracks made fresh by a snowplough.

Polite Austrians stopped their graceful glide — all are expert at langlauf — and stepped patiently past me on their long, thin skis. Fortunately, I'd just reached the halfway house — an old-fashioned mountain lodge where I gulped down hot coffee with a huge schnapps chaser and admired the collection of stuffed Tyrolean wildlife. The journey back was a blissful blur.

Though the snow sports were addictive — skiing the best cross-country tracks in Central Europe by day, tobogganing manically down a steep mountain by night — I was actually in the rustic village of Pertisau, by Achensee, for the therapy.

Austrians take their wellbeing seriously, none more so than Hansi, whose family have owned Hotel Wiesenhof for generations. Over three days at his incredibly welcoming home (he lives on site with his wife, young children, cats and budgies) I alternated activity with relaxation.

There were special herb and mineral baths that soothed my aching limbs and restored my city-stressed skin, saunas (from which natives ran naked to roll in the snow), and even a "sound bed" — a table strung like an instrument which is strummed while you lie there drifting into a meditative trance.

Earlier that week I'd had a taster of how the Austrians unwind when I stayed at the AlpenMedHotel Lamm in ritzier Seefeld, near Innsbruck.

Once a Winter Olympics village, Seefeld attracts serious skiers with money to match — the boutiques are hung with Swarovski crystal-studded salopettes with eyewatering price-tags.

Amid the costly kitsch, Hotel Lamm is a breath of fresh air. It serves a super-healthy menu based on local, seasonal food and has a stunning new spa — complete with gym, pool and cryotherapy chamber — to attract a more fitness-conscious tourist.

During my stay, Hannes, the charming hotel owner, made sure I tried everything his health suites had to offer. I was given a medical check, then prescribed a course of cryotherapy — two-minute sessions in a giant fridge programmed to -110C — holistic therapies including moxibustion, cupping and a hot mud bath, and some bracing sessions of Nordic walking round the frozen lake with dazzling Isabella, the resident trainer.

The treatments at both hotels work perfectly to counteract the rigours of a hard day's skiing. But the villages, an hour's drive apart, tell a tale of two Austrias: one rich, glitzy and high-tech, the other simple, rural and lovingly ruled by tradition. Whatever your taste, you'll come home feeling exhilarated.