Where to Stay in Innsbruck: The Best Areas and Hotels

The Seven Areas at a Glance

The table below matches each area with the traveller it suits and the closest sight, stop or market, using the official timetables of the venues named. Read the right-hand column as the reason to pick it.

How the Areas Connect

Every area sits on the IVB network. A single ticket costs €3.30 and covers one journey with transfers for 45 minutes. A 24-hour ticket costs €7.30. The Hungerburg funicular links the Old Town and Hungerburg in 8 minutes, with an optional stop at the Alpenzoo.

The Innsbruck Card bundles that transport with sights. The 48-hour card costs €79 for adults and covers public transport within Innsbruck and as far as Hall in Tirol, plus the Sightseer bus. So a base outside the Old Town costs little in fares if you hold the card.

Why the Altstadt Wins

The Golden Roof Museum opens Tuesday to Sunday 10:00 to 17:00. The Hofburg is a 3-minute walk away and opens daily 9:00 to 17:00. The City Tower at Herzog-Friedrich-Strasse 21 has 133 steps to a platform 31 m high. Congress station, where the Hungerburg funicular starts, sits at Rennweg 3.

Dinner is a short walk too. die Wilderin on Seilergasse 5 holds 2 toques in the Gault&Millau Austria guide. The Goldener Adler on Herzog-Friedrich-Strasse 6 is an inn that, by its own account, goes back to 1390. Café Munding on Kiebachgasse 16 calls itself Tirol's oldest Konditorei-Café, family-run since 1803.

When Another Area Fits Better

Pick the Hauptbahnhof area if you arrive late by train or leave early. Pick Wilten if you want residential streets and Bergisel close by. Pick Hungerburg or Igls if the mountain matters more than the museums.

Maria-Theresien-Strasse is the middle ground: it sits just south of the Old Town and holds three restaurants from the MICHELIN Guide Austria listing, Restaurant Café Arkadenhof, lichtblick and Das Schindler.

A First Day From the Old Town

Start with a guided walk. The Per Pedes Welcome Tour of Innsbruck Old Town costs $21 and lasts 1 hour with a licensed Austria Guide, including a cathedral visit when it is open. Then go inside the Hofburg, where the combo for the Imperial Apartments plus Maximilian1 costs €16.00 and children up to 19 enter free.

In the afternoon, walk to Congress station and ride the funicular up. The Top of Innsbruck Nordkette Cable Car Ticket costs $66 and covers the funicular and both cable cars to Hafelekar. The cars run every 15 minutes.

Should a First Timer Buy the Innsbruck Card?

The Innsbruck Card lets you enter 22 museums and attractions free, including the Bergisel ski jump, the Hofburg, the Alpine Zoo and Swarovski Crystal Worlds. It includes one round trip each on the Nordkette lifts and the Patscherkofel cable car. The Innsbruck Card with Public Transport costs $77.

From 2 to 19 November the card is sold only in person at the tourist information office, because some included sights are closed for renovation.

Trains, Airport and Shuttles

There are 8 direct train connections from Munich to Innsbruck daily. The fastest Railjet from Vienna takes 4 hours 17 minutes, and Zurich has several direct trains a day taking about 3 hours 30 minutes. Munich Airport is about 200 km from Innsbruck, around two and a half hours by train, bus or shuttle.

Bus line F links the main station and the city centre with the airport in around 20 minutes. The Swarovski Crystal Worlds shuttle also leaves from the main station. The Swarovski Crystal Worlds Ticket and Shuttle from Innsbruck costs $38 and covers entry plus the round-trip shuttle bus. From the station, the Hofburg is 15 minutes on foot.

Nordkette, Patscherkofel and the Glacier

The Nordkette cable cars are closed for maintenance from 2 to 19 November. The winter season then runs from 20 November to 25 April. A full return from Innsbruck to Hafelekar costs €59.00 for adults. From Hungerburg, the return to Hafelekar costs €50.20. Seegrube sits at 1,905 m and its restaurant is open all year.

Igls sits at the Patscherkofel valley station, whose winter season runs from 12 December. For the longest season, the Stubai Glacier is open about 10 months a year, with skiing from mid-October to May on slopes over 3,000 m. An Old Town base keeps you at Congress station for the Nordkette and near the bus hub for everything else.

Markets by Area

The table below lists each market with its dates and the area it sits in, taken from the Christkindlmarkt organiser's pages. Note the end dates: four markets close on 23 December.

Before and After Christmas

Before 23 December, an Old Town base puts the Old Town and Marktplatz markets at the door. Both open daily 11:00 to 21:00. After Christmas, only Maria-Theresien-Strasse and Hungerburg stay open, so book on Maria-Theresien-Strasse or near Congress station for a trip between Christmas and 6 January.

The Innsbruck Christmas Markets Guided Tour costs $125.04, lasts 2 hours, and includes mulled wine or a hot drink and a Kiachl.

Family Fares That Shape the Choice

The Alpenzoo charges €16.00 for adults, €9.00 for children aged 6 to 17 and €4.00 for infants aged 4 to 5. It shows about 2,000 animals from about 150 species. The funicular plus Alpenzoo combined ticket costs €26.00 for adults and €16.00 for children on the Nordkette tariff.

In town, the IVB 24-hour 2Plus ticket covers 2 adults and 3 children for €10.80. Children up to 19 enter the Hofburg free, and on Sundays two adults go free with them. Children and young adults enter Schloss Ambras free. Under 6s go free with the Innsbruck Card, and the 48-hour child card costs €39.50.

A Three-Day Shape

Day one is the Old Town on foot: the Golden Roof Museum, open Tuesday to Sunday 10:00 to 17:00, the Hofburg and the Court Church. Day two goes up the Nordkette to Hafelekar, the summit at 2,334 m, with a stop at Seegrube. Day three fits Swarovski Crystal Worlds in Wattens, open daily 9:00 to 19:00, or Schloss Ambras, open daily 10:00 to 17:00 and closed in November.

A 48-hour Innsbruck Card covers the first two days. For a full plan, read how many days in Innsbruck.

The Innsbruck Case

From an Old Town base, the funicular takes 8 minutes to Hungerburg and the cable cars continue to Seegrube and Hafelekar. Bergisel, where Olympic ski jumping was held in 1964, 1976 and 2012, is a tram ride away. In winter, seven Christmas markets with about 200 stalls run from 13 November to 6 January.

If a mountain at the door is the point, Innsbruck is the better base. For the full side-by-side, read Innsbruck vs Salzburg.