Is Innsbruck Worth Visiting?

The Old Town

Emperor Maximilian I had the Golden Roof built between 1497 and 1500, and it carries 2,657 gilded copper shingles. The Hofburg is a 3-minute walk away. Inside the Court Church, Maximilian I's tomb is surrounded by 28 larger-than-life bronze statues, eight of them women. The City Tower, finished in 1450, has 133 steps to a platform 31 m high.

That cluster takes a morning on foot. A guided start helps: the Per Pedes Welcome Tour of Innsbruck Old Town costs $21 and lasts 1 hour.

The Mountain Above It

The Hungerburg funicular, designed by Zaha Hadid, leaves from Congress station at Rennweg 3. It reaches Hungerburg in 8 minutes. Two cable cars continue to Seegrube at 1,905 m and Hafelekar, the Top of Innsbruck. Next to the Hafelekar station, the Karwendelblick viewpoint looks over Austria's largest nature park.

A full adult return costs €59.00 on the Nordkette tariff. The Top of Innsbruck Nordkette Cable Car Ticket costs $66 and covers the funicular and both cable cars to Hafelekar.

Four Travellers Who Fit

History fans get the Hofburg, open daily 9:00 to 17:00, and the special exhibition Sisi as a Media Star, which runs from 24 September to 10 January. Mountain lovers get the Nordkette, whose cars run every 15 minutes, and the Stubai Glacier with slopes over 3,000 m.

Christmas visitors get seven markets with about 200 stalls from 13 November to 6 January. Families get the Alpenzoo, with about 2,000 animals from about 150 species, and free entry for children up to 19 at the Hofburg. Bergisel, where Olympic ski jumping was held in 1964, 1976 and 2012, suits all four.

When It Will Disappoint

If you want big museums and long city days, Innsbruck is compact and the core sights fill one day. If you only care about the summit, timing decides everything. The Nordkette lifts close from 2 to 19 November and again from 26 to 30 April. Schloss Ambras is closed all of November.

If the weather hides the mountains, switch to the indoor sights. TIROL PANORAMA shows a painting of the 1809 Battle of Bergisel on 1,000 square metres. It opens Wednesday to Monday 9:00 to 17:00. The History and Strudel Walk in Innsbruck at $152.32 runs 2 hours and includes strudel or gelato with coffee or tea.

What Tips It to Innsbruck

Innsbruck gives you a cable car line that starts at the edge of the Old Town, an Olympic ski jump one tram line away, and Swarovski Crystal Worlds a shuttle ride east. In winter, the Nordkette season runs from 20 November to 25 April and Patscherkofel opens on 12 December.

If you want a city break with no mountain in it, the case for Innsbruck is weaker. The full side-by-side is in Innsbruck vs Salzburg.

One, Two or Three Days

With one day, walk the Old Town in the morning and ride the Nordkette in the afternoon. The Golden Roof Museum opens Tuesday to Sunday 10:00 to 17:00 and closes on Mondays. The Hofburg takes last entry at 16:30.

With two days, add Bergisel or the Alpenzoo. The 48-hour Innsbruck Card costs €79 for adults and lets you enter 22 museums and attractions free. With three days, add Swarovski Crystal Worlds, open daily 9:00 to 19:00, or a Neuschwanstein day trip. The small-group trip costs $238.71 and lasts 6-8 hours.

What Winter Adds

The Old Town market stands in front of the Golden Roof from 13 November to 23 December, daily 11:00 to 21:00, with 65 stalls and a 20 m real Christmas tree. On Marktplatz, the Swarovski Christaltree is 17.5 m high. The Hungerburg market, 20 November to 6 January, is reached by the funicular straight from the city centre.

For snow, Patscherkofel opens on 12 December and the Stubai Glacier skis from mid-October to May. The Innsbruck Christmas Markets Guided Tour costs $125.04 for 2 hours. Read the Innsbruck in winter guide for the full season.

Closures to Plan Around

The table below lists the closures each venue announces on its own site. Plan the summit and the castle around them, and use the open museums on those days.

The Upside of Late November

From 13 November the Christmas markets open, and from 20 November the Nordkette winter season starts. So the second half of November combines both. From 2 to 19 November the Innsbruck Card is sold only in person at the tourist information office, because some included sights are closed for renovation.

What the Main Sights Cost

The table below shows the adult prices each venue publishes on its own site. Children pay less or enter free at most of them.

Where a Card Pays

The 48-hour Innsbruck Card costs €79 for adults and €39.50 for children aged 6 to under 15. It includes 22 museums and attractions, one round trip each on the Nordkette and Patscherkofel lifts, public transport and the Swarovski shuttle. Getting around without it is cheap too: an IVB 24-hour ticket costs €7.30.

Arriving

The table below lists the fastest rail times the Tyrol tourist board publishes for the main starting cities.

Getting Around

From Innsbruck main station, the Hofburg is 15 minutes on foot. Bus line F links the station and the centre with the airport in around 20 minutes. An IVB single ticket costs €3.30 and is valid 45 minutes with transfers.

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

What Makes It Easy

The Innsbruck Card is sold at the Altstadt ticket office of the Nordkettenbahnen and at the tourist information office on Burggraben 3. Dogs may ride the Nordkette cable cars with a muzzle and lead, but they are not allowed in the Alpenzoo.

For emergencies, 112 works from locked phones with no PIN, and mountain rescue is 140. The Gundolf Family Tyrolean Evening Show costs $43 and lasts 1.5-3 hours if you want a folk evening after the sights.