Innsbruck, Austria’s picturesque Tyrolean capital, attracts visitors year-round to its alpine panoramas and active outdoors scene. It’s especially charming in the early winter, when the city turns on the festive cheer and Christmas markets illuminate the town squares.
As our Aussie Christmases are usually scorchers passed in the shade sipping ice-cold drinks, we’ve always wanted to experience a snowy European Yuletide. Innsbruck, with its merry markets backed by the snow-capped Nordkette mountain range, made for the perfect winter weekend getaway. Here’s our guide for getting the best out of 48 hours in Innsbruck.
With a long history and plenty to see, our Innsbruck itinerary takes in all the highlights of this charming city’s fascinating past, lively social scene and stunning views. You can follow most of the itinerary year-round, but if you visit from mid-November throughout December, you’ll have the added bonus of the Innsbruck Christmas markets.
Day One
Dose Up On History
Start your visit around midday at the Innsbruck Tourist Information Centre, located right next to Herzog Friedrich Street, the main thoroughfare of the Old Town. Pick up a 48 hour Innsbruck Card here. While it may seem like a significant upfront cost, if you do everything in this itinerary, it will save you money.
Head down historic Herzog Friedrich Street towards the famous Golden Roof. You’ll come to the first of Innsbruck’s six Christmas markets here. Pick up a hot chocolate from the market (or a glühwein if the hour is right) and take in the impressive architecture of this medieval, arcade-lined street. Don’t miss the ornate Baroque facade of Heblinghaus on the corner.
Next, pop into the Golden Roof Museum for an introduction to Innsbruck’s past, its famous emperor Maximilian I, and the unusual 15th-century building itself, with its gleaming, copper-tiled roof. Keep an eye out for the frescoes decorating the inside of the Golden Roof portico. Back on the street, look for the dancers in the reliefs below the balcony throwing themselves about in wild abandon.
Watch Over The City
Just a few steps from the Golden Roof is the 15th-century Stadtturm, which served as Innsbruck’s eagle eyrie watchtower for some 450 years. Climb the 133 winding steps up to the narrow viewing balcony for outstanding 360-degree panoramas over the Old Town and the Nordkette range.
Watch over the town from its centuries-old city tower.
Snack On Festive Fare
Back on solid ground, grab some lunch from one of the many food stalls in the Old Town Christmas Market at Herzog Friedrich Street. Local specialties like Kasspatzln (little cheesy dumplings) and deep fried Kialchn (a kind of donut), vie for attention alongside steaming bratwurst sausages and freshly-made crepes.
If you’re after something a little less ‘festival food’, head to one of the many restaurants lining the street. If you have the willpower to pass up the melty raclette cheese stall, that is.
Tantalise your tastebuds with some festival fare
Pound The Pavements
Retrace your steps to the Tourist Information Centre and join the Classic Walking Tour that runs daily at 2pm. This guided wander through the streets of the Old Town offers an engaging insight into Innsbruck’s intriguing backstory and its colourful characters, both past and present. You may also get to see behind a secret door or two.
The tour finishes about two hours later at the Cathedral of St James. Take a couple of moments after the tour ends to absorb the Baroque splendour of the 18th-century cathedral, and admire the skill and artistry in the false domes overhead. Then see if you can spot the fake windows outside.
Marvel At An Emperor’s Memorial
A five-minute walk from the cathedral is the Hofkirche, where you’ll find the cenotaph of Innsbruck’s most famous resident, Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor from the late 15th-century until his death in 1519.
While Maximilian himself lies in state south of Vienna, the memorial built for him here by his grandson Ferdinand I is a beguiling example of German Renaissance art and sculpture. Around the monument, 28 larger-than-life bronze statues of family members and heroes maintain a timeless watch.
Pop upstairs for a peek at the Silver Chapel with its impressive tomb of Archduke Ferdinand II. The red walls and ceiling here are entirely covered in slightly disconcerting cherub faces.
Depending on the time, you can also visit the adjoining Tyrolean Folk Art Museum. Keep an eye on the clock, both the church and the museum close at 5pm.
Take A Break
Stop for an early evening beverage at one of the bars in the Old Town. With students making up around a quarter of Innsbruck’s population, there are no shortage of drinking establishments. Or head back to your hotel to freshen up.
Enjoy A Christmas Dinner
Time to get your festive feasting head on again, this time at the Innsbruck Christmas Market at Marktplatz, by the Inn River. Huddle under the giant Swarovski crystal christmas tree with other festival-goers as you munch your way through currywurst and flammkuchen, a german-style pizza, washed down with belly-warming glühwein. There are also lots of sit-down eating options around the riverside area.
After dinner, wander over to the Inn Bridge and take in the night scene on both sides of the river. The bridge was once a vital crossing in an ancient trade route through the Alps that linked the continent’s south with the north.
As the transit lounge for travellers and traders for hundreds of years, the city flourished. Innsbruck subsequently took its name from the all-important bridge, which means – quite literally – bridge over the Inn River.
Day Two
Catch The Bus
Set the alarm for 7.30am and beat the sunrise. There are bakeries all over the city; grab a coffee and some sustenance and then head to your nearest Sightseer bus stop (if in doubt, head to Marktplatz for the first bus of the day; it departs at 9.15am).
The Hop-On Hop-Off bus is included with your Innsbruck Card and makes getting around the city’s major sights a breeze. While some people aren’t fans of this touristy experience, we usually find – if the cost is reasonable – that it’s a great way to orient ourselves and see parts of a city we might not otherwise see.
Check Out A King’s Collections
Your first stop today is one of Innsbruck’s highlights, Ambras Castle. Aim to be there for opening at 10am. Once you’ve bought your ticket in the Armouries building, head straight back out and over to the Spanish Hall. If you’re lucky, you’ll have this impressive Renaissance space all to yourself for a few moments.
The Hall was built in the mid-15th-century and hosts 27 wall-to-wall portraits of Tyrolean rulers. The beautifully ornamental wood-inlay ceiling and doors in the hall are worth the visit alone.
From there, explore the castle’s collections of armour, curiosities, coins and portraits. Ferdinand II, who ruled as Holy Roman Emperor from 1619–1637, was an avid collector and his famous displays, still on show at Ambras, constitute the first and oldest museum in the world.
Take In The Panoramas
Get back on the Sightseer bus and head to Bergisel, the hill to the south of Innsbruck. You’ll find impressive views over the city from the pergola near the bus drop-off point.
From there, head into the Tirol Panorama Museum to see its extraordinary centrepiece: the epic, 360-degree cycloramic painting of the Third Battle of the Bergisel, which took place on this very spot in 1809.
This absorbing canvas stretches 1,000 square metres and puts you squarely in the heart of the action. It captures in near-cinematic quality the climactic late-afternoon combat between the freedom-fighting Tyrolean militia and Napoleon’s troops. You’ll leave wishing there was a sequel.
Hit An Olympic High
Grab a coffee-to-go from Restaurant 1809 next door and head over to the Bergisel ski jump stadium, site of the annual Four Hills Tournament each January and home to the Olympic flame and rings from the 1964 and 1976 winter games. Take the lift to the top of the 50-metre tower for vistas right across the city to the Nordkette mountain range.
Grab A Working Lunch
From Bergisel, take the next Sightseer bus back to Marktplatz. Pick up some lunch from a bakery, or try a tasty Tyrolean ham sandwich from a speck shop in the Old Town. Make your way by foot to Congress Station and board the funicular.
Climb The Mountain
Innsbruck’s towering mountain is called the Nordkette, or Jewel of the Alps. In around half an hour, you can travel from city level to the summit at 2,256 metres above sea level, via a funicular and two cable cars.
Head all the way up to Hafelekar first, the highest station, for some face-numbing photos above the clouds. Hang out with the hardy alpine choughs flocking at the peak and enjoy the birds-eye views for as long as your exposed skin can take it.
When the bite becomes too much, take the cable car back down to Seegrube. At 1,905 metres it’s still cold but, shielded from the freezing winds at the peak, it’s a far more welcoming spot to chill out, especially when the sun shines.
The lowest station on the mountain is Hungerburg and in December, you’ll find a tiny Christmas market just outside the entrance to the funicular. Finish your mountaineering here with a mug of glühwein to defrost your fingers, or just enjoy the city views.
Search Out Some Eats
Back in town, head to the Christmas Market on Maria Theresien Street for a warm bowl of Austrian ghoulash and a mug of apple cider (ask for a splash of schnapps and make it an Austrian special). Or hold out till the next stop for pizza.
After a wander through the market, make your way to craft beer and pizza joint Tribaun, and wind down your day with a tasting paddle of local and international craft beers.
Day Three
Experience Palace Life
Last day! Fuel up at a cafe or bakery and head out for a wander by the river as you make your way to the Hofburg Palace for 9am opening. Take your time exploring the themed exhibitions and opulent rooms that once housed the Habsburg dynasty.
You’ll start and finish in the palace’s most impressive space: the Giant’s Hall. Named for the frescoes of Hercules that once adorned the room, the hall was redecorated in the late 1700s by the empress Maria Theresa, who created a unique and personal space full of portraits of her children and grandchildren.
One Last Bite
Now that you’re immersed in Habsburg tradition, consider making one last stop and finish your Innsbruck visit with a good old Austrian classic: Strudel, the dish made famous during the Habsburg period.
Exit the Hofburg and make the short walk to the Kröll Strudel Cafe for a slice of the delicious pastry, sweet or savoury.
That’s a wrap on our 48 hours in Innsbruck itinerary! Wipe off the crumbs, take a final few snaps and make your way back to the airport.
Good to know
Getting there and away: Innsbruck’s airport is just four kilometres from the Old Town and is serviced by flights from the UK and across Europe. Munich is just 2.5 hours away by train, and there are direct trains from other cities including Salzburg, Zurich and Venice.
From the airport, Bus Line F is the easiest way to get to the city centre. The bus runs every 15 minutes (every 30 minutes on Sundays) and costs €2.30 if you buy your ticket from a ticket machine (it costs more if you buy it on the bus; there’s a ticket machine just outside the terminal doors at the airport). It’s about 15-20 minutes into town.
Getting around: Innsbruck has an excellent network of public transport options, including bus, tram and funicular. For this itinerary, you’ll be using the bus to and from the airport, the Sightseer bus, the funicular and cable cars – all are included in the Innsbruck Card (except the bus from the airport, unless you buy your card online before you go).
Stay: We stayed at the Basic Hotel Innsbruck, located just minutes from Marktplazt and the Old Town. Read our review.
Innsbruck Card: The Innsbruck Card did save us a fair bit of money and took all the hassle out of ticketing – we used the 48-hour card over three days, starting at midday on day one. Just about everything on this itinerary, with the exception of food and drink, was included in the card, even the funicular and cable cars up the Nordkette mountain (without the card, the combined round-trip up to Hafelekar costs around €37 on its own). The card is available for 24 (€39), 48 (€48) and 72 (€55) hours and can be purchased online or at points around the city.
Christmas Markets: Innsbruck’s Christmas Markets are dotted around town; the larger markets run from mid-November to early January. Visit the Austrian tourism website to find out more.
Tip: If you start this itinerary at midday, you should find everything open according to plan. Things change though; check the Innsbruck tourism website before you go for the latest information.
Have you visited Innsbruck? What highlights would you add to this itinerary?