It lies 12 km southeast of Kufstein and 9km west of Sankt Johann in Tirol.

Ellmau is located in the alpine countryside, close to the Wilder Kaiser mountains and the steep forest and meadow hills to the south.

It provides a range of winter sports, while in the summer, activities such as hiking, mountain biking, and climbing are available.

The adjacent hills to the south of Ellmau have several lifts and a new (as of 2024) gondola ascending them (which replaced the funicular) .

The village is located on the south side of the B178 road which bypasses the village, and travels east toward Sankt Johann in Tirol where it continues northeast to Lofer and Salzburg or joins the B170 south to Zell Am See and Carinthia.

The nearest autobahn is at Kufstein and heads north to Germany and Munich and southwest to Innsbruck and Italy.