The best things to do in Innsbruck

The Old Town

A tight knot of arcaded medieval lanes, a few minutes across.

1. 01

   The Golden Roof

   Landmark

   

   Innsbruck's emblem is smaller than you expect and shinier than you can believe: an ornate late-Gothic balcony jutting from a house in the heart of the Old Town, roofed with more than two and a half thousand gilded copper tiles. Emperor Maximilian I had it built around 1500 as a royal box from which to watch tournaments in the square below.

   The reliefs beneath show the emperor and a troupe of twisting dancers. A small museum inside tells his story.

   Tip: For a photograph without the crowds, come before breakfast, when the morning light hits the tiles.

2. 02

   The City Tower

   Landmark

   

   A few doors from the Golden Roof, the old town hall's watchtower has kept an eye on Innsbruck since the fifteenth century. Guards once looked out from here for fires and trouble. Now visitors climb its steps to a narrow open gallery that runs around the tower.

   The view is the best orientation in the city: the Golden Roof almost directly below, a jumble of medieval rooftops, the green River Inn and mountains on every side. A good first stop.

3. 03

   The Hofburg

   Landmark

   

   The Habsburgs' Imperial Palace in Innsbruck began as a medieval castle and was turned into a pale yellow rococo residence by Empress Maria Theresa in the eighteenth century. After Schönbrunn and the Hofburg in Vienna, it is among the most important palaces in Austria.

   The highlight is the Giants' Hall, a long white and gold ballroom lined with full-length portraits of the empress's many children under a painted ceiling. The state apartments suit anyone with a taste for chandeliers and court gossip.

4. 04

   The Hofkirche

   Landmark

   

   From outside, the Court Church looks plain. Inside is one of the most extraordinary sights in Austria. In the middle of the nave stands the vast marble tomb of Emperor Maximilian I, flanked by twenty-eight larger-than-life bronze figures of his ancestors and heroes, among them King Arthur. Locals call them the Black Men.

   The odd thing is that the tomb is empty: Maximilian is buried elsewhere. The Tyrolean folk hero Andreas Hofer does lie here. Go slowly and look at the faces, armour and extravagant costumes.

5. 05

   Maria-Theresien-Strasse

   Neighbourhood

   

   The city's grand main street runs south from the Old Town, wide, largely traffic-free and lined with baroque town palaces in pastel colours. It frames the classic Innsbruck view: the slender St Anne's Column in the foreground and the Nordkette range filling the sky behind.

   At the far end stands a Triumphal Arch put up by Maria Theresa. In between are shops, cafés with terraces and a modern shopping gallery with a rooftop bar. It is where the whole city comes to stroll.

Up the mountains

The peaks start where the tram lines end.

1. 06

   The Nordkette

   Nature

   

   No other city makes it this easy to get above the treeline. A funicular leaves from a station in the centre, a short walk from the Old Town, with swooping glass roofs designed by Zaha Hadid, and climbs to the hillside district of Hungerburg. From there, two cable cars continue to the Seegrube and on to the Hafelekar, at well over two thousand metres.

   From the top station it is a short walk to the ridge. On one side the city lies far below; on the other is a wilderness of bare peaks.

   Tip: It can be warm in town and icy at the top, with snow underfoot well into spring. Bring a jacket and proper shoes.

2. 07

   The Bergisel Ski Jump

   Landmark

   

   On a wooded hill at the southern edge of the city, a sleek tower of concrete and steel curls over the trees like a cobra about to strike. This is the Bergisel ski jump, rebuilt to a design by Zaha Hadid and one of the venues of the famous Four Hills Tournament each winter. It was an Olympic site in 1964 and 1976.

   A lift takes you to a café and viewing terrace at the top, where you can stand at the start gate and consider what the jumpers see. It is not for the faint-hearted.

3. 08

   The Patscherkofel

   Nature

   

   The rounded mountain south of the city, topped with a transmitter mast, is Innsbruck's gentler peak. A gondola rises from the village of Igls, where the Olympic downhill was once raced, to a station just above the treeline.

   In summer the draw is the Zirbenweg, a broad, almost level path through one of the oldest stone pine forests in the Alps, with huge views across the Inn valley all the way. In winter there is easy skiing. It suits families and unhurried walkers.

Castles and museums

1. 09

   Ambras Castle

   Museum

   

   On a hill above the city stands a white Renaissance castle that Archduke Ferdinand II fitted out in the sixteenth century for his wife and for his collections. He was one of the great collectors of his age, and his galleries of armour and his chamber of art and curiosities, full of the strange and the marvellous, are still shown where he placed them.

   The Spanish Hall, a long banqueting room with a coffered wooden ceiling and painted walls, is one of the finest Renaissance interiors north of the Alps. The park is lovely too.

2. 10

   The Tyrolean Folk Art Museum

   Museum

   Next door to the Hofkirche, in a former monastery, is one of the best museums of its kind in Europe. Whole wood-panelled parlours rescued from old farmhouses have been rebuilt inside, complete with tiled stoves and painted furniture, and you can step into them.

   There are carnival masks, festival costumes and a marvellous collection of carved Christmas cribs. It is the place to understand how people actually lived in these valleys, and it is far more engaging than the name suggests.

3. 11

   Swarovski Crystal Worlds

   Day trip

   

   In the small town of Wattens, a short way down the valley, the crystal maker Swarovski has built a thoroughly eccentric attraction. You enter through the mouth of a grass-covered giant's head with a waterfall pouring from it, into a series of underground chambers created by artists and designers.

   Outside there is a garden with a cloud of crystals floating over a mirror pool, and a play tower for children. Part art installation, part showroom, it is a good wet-weather outing. Shuttle buses run from Innsbruck.

Eat and drink

1. 12

   Tiroler Gröstl

   Food

   

   The definitive Tyrolean mountain lunch: sliced potatoes fried in a heavy pan with onions and pieces of beef or bacon until everything is crisp at the edges, then topped with a fried egg and served, pan and all, with a little cabbage salad on the side.

   It began as a way of using up Sunday's leftovers and is now on the menu of every traditional inn in Innsbruck and every hut on the mountains. Ideal fuel for a day outdoors.

2. 13

   Kaiserschmarrn and strudel

   Food

   

   Austria takes pudding seriously, and Innsbruck's cafés are the proof. Kaiserschmarrn is a thick, fluffy pancake torn into pieces, caramelised, dusted with icing sugar and served with stewed plums or apple sauce. It is filling enough to be a meal.

   Then there is strudel, thin pastry wrapped around apple, curd cheese or all sorts of other fillings. Find a coffee house in the Old Town arcades and settle in.

Day trips

1. 14

   Hall in Tirol

   Day trip

   Ten minutes down the valley by train, Hall was once richer and more important than Innsbruck, thanks to its salt mines and its mint. Its medieval old town is larger than its neighbour's and far quieter, a place of tall painted houses, sloping squares and church spires.

   The landmark is the Mint Tower at Hasegg Castle, where some of Europe's first large silver coins were struck. It makes an easy, pretty half-day.

2. 15

   The Stubai Glacier

   Day trip

   At the head of the Stubai Valley, south-west of the city, lies Austria's largest glacier ski area, with skiing from autumn until late spring. Gondolas carry everyone, skier or not, up to a viewing platform above three thousand metres, with a panorama of peaks stretching to the Dolomites on a clear day.

   The valley itself is classic Tyrol: onion-domed churches, waterfalls and flower-decked chalets. Buses run from Innsbruck, and a pretty narrow-gauge tram climbs as far as Fulpmes.

Where to stay in Innsbruck

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  ★★★★

  Hotel Goldener Adler, Bw Signature Collection

  Innsbruck

  43 rooms · Pets allowed · Parking

  From £225 a night, taxes incl.2 adults · checked 14 Nov, 22:07

• 

  ★★★★

  The Penz

  Innsbruck

  Parking

  From £208 a night, taxes incl.2 adults · checked 14 Nov, 22:07

• 

  ★★★★

  aDLERS Hotel Innsbruck

  Innsbruck

  Spa · Parking

  From £240 a night, taxes incl.2 adults · checked 14 Nov, 22:07

• 

  ★★★★

  Hilton Garden Inn Innsbruck

  Innsbruck

  Parking

  From £129 a night, taxes incl.2 adults · checked 14 Nov, 22:07

• 

  ★★★★

  Sporthotel Igls

  Innsbruck

  Spa · Pool · 74 rooms

  From £155 a night, taxes incl.2 adults · checked 14 Nov, 22:07

• 

  ★★★★

  AC Hotel Innsbruck

  Innsbruck

  Spa · Parking

  From £239 a night, taxes incl.2 adults · checked 14 Nov, 22:07

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  ★★★★

  Alpenhotel Karwendel

  Leutasch

  Pool

  See prices and rooms →

• 

  ★★★★

  AlpenParks Chalet & Apartment Alpina Seefeld

  Seefeld in Tirol

  Spa · 43 rooms · Parking

  From £219 a night, taxes incl.2 adults · checked 14 Nov, 22:07

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