Innsbruck Map: Sights, Cable Cars and Transport

The Golden Roof Cluster

Start at the Golden Roof. Emperor Maximilian I had it built between 1497 and 1500, and it carries 2,657 gilded copper shingles. The City Tower stands at Herzog-Friedrich-Strasse 21, a few steps away. It has 133 steps up to a viewing platform 31 m high, and the tower itself is 51 m tall.

The Hofburg is a 3-minute walk from the Golden Roof and 15 minutes on foot from the train station. The Court Church and the Tyrolean Folk Art Museum sit next to the Hofburg. Inside the Court Church, Maximilian I's tomb is surrounded by 28 larger-than-life bronze statues, eight of them women. St James Cathedral closes the cluster on its north side.

Reading the Table Above

The table lists the Old Town pins with the hours and adult prices each venue publishes. The Hofburg figure is the combo for the Imperial Apartments plus Maximilian1. Children up to 19 enter the Hofburg free. Under 19s also enter the Tyrolean State Museums houses free, and the combined State Museums ticket costs €14. The City Tower stays open until 20:00 from June to September and from 15 November to 23 December. A combined Golden Roof, City Museum and City Tower ticket costs €10.50.

All five pins sit inside one short walk. A guided walk such as the Per Pedes Welcome Tour of Innsbruck Old Town at $21 covers the same lanes in 1 hour with a licensed Austria Guide.

South Along Maria-Theresien-Strasse

Walk south out of the Old Town and the map opens onto Maria-Theresien-Strasse. Two pins mark it: St Anne's Column in the middle and the Triumphal Arch at the south end. From 25 November to 6 January the street holds a Christmas market with 30 stalls, open daily 11:00 to 21:00.

Across the Inn river, the map shows the painted houses of Mariahilf. The Markthalle sits on the Old Town side of the river at Herzog-Siegmund-Ufer 1-3, with more than 40 vendors.

From Congress Station to Hungerburg

The Hungerburg funicular, designed by Zaha Hadid and opened in December 2007, has four stations: Congress, Löwenhaus, Alpenzoo and Hungerburg. It takes 8 minutes from the Old Town to Hungerburg. The Alpenzoo stop is optional, and the zoo sits at 750 m.

The Alpenzoo is also a 20-minute walk from the historic city centre, so it is the one mountain pin you can reach on foot. Dogs are not allowed inside the zoo. Adult entry costs €16.00, and a funicular plus Alpenzoo combi ticket costs €23.00 on the zoo's own price list.

Reading the Station Table

The table above lists each station with its height and the adult return fare from the Nordkette tariff page, valid from 20 November to 25 April. Cars run every 15 minutes, and continuously when guest numbers are high. All three lifts are closed for maintenance from 2 to 19 November, and the winter season runs from 20 November to 25 April.

Next to the Hafelekar station, the Karwendelblick viewpoint looks over Austria's largest nature park. The Top of Innsbruck Nordkette Cable Car Ticket at $66 covers the funicular and both cable cars to Hafelekar. The Hungerburg Funicular Round-Trip Ticket at $17 covers the funicular only.

Bergisel to the South

Tram line 1 runs to Stift Wilten, a few minutes' walk from the Bergisel entrance. The Sightseer stops at Tirol Panorama, about 5 minutes on foot. The ski jump tower was designed by Zaha Hadid, and the hill hosted Olympic ski jumping in 1964, 1976 and 2012.

Adult admission is €12.00 and includes the inclined lift and the tower lift to Bergisel SKY. From November to May the stadium opens Wednesday to Monday 9:00 to 17:00 and closes on Tuesday. It is closed from 9 to 13 November for revision work. Next door, TIROL PANORAMA shows the Giant Panorama Painting of the third Battle of Bergisel of 1809 on 1,000 square metres. A Bergisel combination ticket with that museum costs €16.00.

Schloss Ambras to the East

Schloss Ambras sits at Schlossstrasse 20. Reach it by bus line M to the stop Schloss Ambras, by post bus 540 from the main station, or by tram 3 or 6 plus a 6 to 15 minute walk. The castle is open daily 10:00 to 17:00 and closed in November.

Admission is €16 online and €18 on site for adults. Children and young adults enter free. Ambras is billed as the first museum in the world still standing where it was founded. The Schloss Ambras Entrance Ticket costs $18 and covers entry without the audio guide.

Patscherkofel and Igls

The last mountain pin is the Patscherkofel valley station in Igls, on the hill south of town. Its winter season starts on 12 December. The Innsbruck Card includes one round trip each on the Nordkette lifts and the Patscherkofel cable car, so both mountain pins can sit on the same pass.

IVB Tickets for the Map

An IVB single ticket covers one journey with transfers and stays valid for 45 minutes. Buy it online, in the IVB Tickets app, at stop machines or at ticket sales points. Digital tickets must be bought before the ride.

The Sightseer hop-on hop-off bus runs on a 24h ticket that also works on all IVB lines in the Innsbruck core zone.

Station, Airport and Tourist Office

The table above shows the IVB fares printed on the operator's ticket page. Bus line F links Innsbruck main station and the city centre with the airport in around 20 minutes. Its stop for the Hofburg is Congress. The tourist information office is at Burggraben 3, where the Innsbruck Card is sold. The 48-hour card costs €79 for adults and covers public transport within Innsbruck and as far as Hall in Tirol.

On foot, the Hofburg is 15 minutes from the train station. That makes the main station the natural first pin for anyone arriving by rail. There are 8 direct train connections from Munich to Innsbruck daily.

Swarovski Crystal Worlds in Wattens

Swarovski Crystal Worlds is open daily 9:00 to 19:00, last entry 18:00. It is closed all day on 9 and 10 November. An adult ticket costs €25 online against €27 on site. The shuttle from Innsbruck main station also stops at Congress and Hofburg. A shuttle-only return costs €13.00 for adults, bought on the bus in cash.

The shuttle day ticket with entry costs €38.00 on the Crystal Worlds page. The Swarovski Crystal Worlds Ticket and Shuttle from Innsbruck costs $38 and covers entry plus the round-trip shuttle bus. The entry-only ticket costs $26 and leaves transport to you.

Three Pins That Explain It

The Golden Roof is the emblem of the Old Town, with 2,657 gilded copper shingles on the south facade of the Neuhof. Bergisel hosted Olympic ski jumping in 1964, 1976 and 2012, and its tower was designed by Zaha Hadid. The Hungerburg funicular, also by Zaha Hadid, runs from Congress station to Hungerburg in 8 minutes, and the cable cars continue to Hafelekar at 2,334 m.

Few cities let you stand under a late Gothic balcony and on an Alpine summit on the same morning. On the map, the distance between those two pins is one line of green dots. That is the reason most visitors come.

The Ranges Around the City

North of the city, the Nordkette lifts climb to Hafelekar, with the summit at 2,334 m. Next to the station, the Karwendelblick viewpoint looks over Austria's largest nature park, the Karwendel. South of the city, Patscherkofel rises above Igls. Further south, the Stubai Glacier has slopes over 3,000 m.

The Dolomites are a separate range in Italy, beyond the frame of any Innsbruck map. A day trip such as tandem paragliding in the Stubai Valley at $142.09 keeps you in Tyrol.

Hall in Tirol

Hall in Tirol is about 8 km from Innsbruck. The Innsbruck Card covers public transport within Innsbruck and as far as Hall, so the town fits on the same pass as the city sights. Wattens, with Swarovski Crystal Worlds, lies further east along the same valley.

The Innsbruck Card with Public Transport costs $77 and covers museums and sights once each, IVB buses and trams, the Sightseer bus, the Swarovski shuttle, and one Nordkette and one Patscherkofel round trip.

What the Innsbruck Map Gives You

The Innsbruck map puts the Golden Roof, the Hofburg and the Court Church within a few minutes of each other. From Congress station, the funicular reaches Hungerburg in 8 minutes and the cable cars continue to Hafelekar. Bergisel, with its Olympic ski jump, is one tram line away.

If mountains on the doorstep matter most, Innsbruck wins. If you want a city without a cable car in it, read the full Innsbruck vs Salzburg comparison before you choose.