Shigenori Usagi, Alice in Borderland“I have never lied to the mountains.“
The third stop on my trip was a day in Innsbruck, a beautiful town right next to the craziest, mind-blowing panorama of the Alps. Most probably you have seen at least that one signature picture of Innsbruck already.
This city is not really big, but it’s extremely nice to look at. The air feels more clear, the sky (seemingly) has brighter colours and everything was easily accessible by feet.
Even though I only spent one day (aka a couple of hours) here, I was still able to see a lot (highlight being the alp panorama), get some good food and snacks, sit by the river and walk up the hill to a beautiful sunset spot
As I won’t be able to go into as much detail as the places I spent more than one day at, I can give you the best advice on what to do, or where to go for a day–trip. Which you can easily do, if you live in any place close to Innsbruck. It seems pretty popular to go there from Munich, for example.
What This Guide is About
- One Day in Innsbruck
- Culture and Sightseeing
- Nature Walks and Outdoor Activities
- My Recommendations
- Short TikTok Video Summary about Innsbruck
One Day in Innsbruck
Innsbruck lies on the border (formed by the Alps) between Austria and Germany. This Austrian town is the capital of the Tyrol region and has around 130.000 inhabitants.
The language they speak is German. My recommendations on the important words/ phrases you can find in my Guide about Vienna.
Highlight of Innsbruck is definitely their beautiful architecture in- and outside of the city center, the palaces, public parks and all the nature you can see and visit.
Culture and Sightseeing
For this part I honestly did not know one single thing while I was in Innsbruck, I just walked around, followed my gut and checked what looked nice to me. As usual.
What I learned afterwards is, that they have a pretty famous golden roof in the city center, called ‘Goldenes Dacherl‘. It was built on a building in the 16th century to show off the wealth and power of Innsbruck by that time. They also have a small Hard Rock Café with a copycat version of said golden roof. If you are nearby, definitely check it out – but don’t expect too much.
Apart from that, there are some museums like the Museum of Tyrolean Folk Art or the Swarovski Crystal Worlds. The first one showing traditional craftsmanship while the latter displays innovative artworks made out of crystals from more than 100 different designers from the whole world. Additionally, you can also learn about the history and casting process of bells at ‘Grassmayr‘, which is a private bell museum.
Nature Walks and Outdoor Activities
The list of things to do, that are nature related in and around Innsbruck is probably endless. That’s why I limit it to the things that I did while I was there and what I think could be nice on a day trip. Things like going for a walk next to the river Inn, taking the cable car (Innsbrucker Nordkettenbahnen) to get up the mountains, go for even more walks and hikes, visit the parks and – of course, as you can guess by now – go for a good ol’ sunset hunt.
Walk along the River Inn
Although I think that this activity does not need any further explanation, I still want to make clear how refreshing and beautiful it will be. The view that you get here for a pretty decent walk from the city center to Hofgarten, or even further, is beyond anything that I ever saw on a city day trip stroll. It will for sure leave a positive imprint in your brain if you like nature, just like it did on mine.
What will highlight this even more than all the words I could write about its beauty, are some pictures that I took. The rest you will need to see for yourself (or check on your favourite Social Media source if they can provide you a better fix of insights).
Take a Cable Car and go for further Walks or Hikes
No matter the season, Innsbruck is a great place to start any kind of outdoor activity. During warmer months it has amazing hikes all around to climb mountains, wander through forests or go for hunting waterfalls.
In winter, there is also lots of possibilities to go skiing or snowboarding with 10 skiing areas close by, while in the other seasons you can find good mountain biking spots as well along the Nordkette mountain range.
By cable car the Nordkette is easily accessible from the city of Innsbruck. It can take you up to 2.256 meters, providing great bird-views over the surrounding nature and it simultaneously serves as a great starting point for other activities.
Visit Parks (Hofgarten)
For anyone craving some rest and relaxation, the best place to find that (if the weather supports this claim), is a park.
Luckily Innsbruck has some of those as well. The one that I found and really loved was right next to the riverside. That means you can combine it with the panoramic walk and then take a break in the Hofgarten.
To me, this one was really special, as you could see the mountains through the huge trees and the light, clouds and shadow of the plants created a mesmerising view.
Sunset Hunting
Ain’t no good guide from me without some sunset action. Even though I did not stay until sunset, I can imagine that you have an even prettier view from the ‘Tirol Panorama‘. Originally this place is a museum (Kaiserjäger Museum, whatever that means) and restaurant kinda thing, but I just came for the view (as I’m cheap and did not have much time).
If you skip both buildings, go past the older looking central part, you will find a tiny pavilion on the right, from which you have the beautiful view you can see on the upcoming picture. I will just let this speak for itself.
And now only imagine that but with a red-orange-pink sky colouring, hehe.
My Recommendations
Especially if you only spend a couple of hours there, I can highly recommend you to (of course) get your hands on some tasty food. What I tried there was always good:
- Supermarket To Go-Food: in the local Spar I found a huge selection of extremely tasty pre done breads, wraps and snacks. Also they offer a huge selection of different drinks. The most famous one for Austria probably being ‘Almdudler’, which is a lemonade that tastes like herbs. Definitely try it if you haven’t!
- Check some local stores: I got amazing cupcakes at a shop called ‘Das Törtchen‘. The owner also was super lovely and it had a really familiar atmosphere. Will for sure get back there and try more next time.
- Get some ice cream: The one that I tried was in the middle of the main street directly in the city center. It was called ‘Gelateria Tomaselli’ and they had a lot of options. I chose Passion Fruit and Pistacchio – might sound like a weird combination (I did not have time to think it through until I needed to decide) BUT it tasted great in my opinion.
After feeding your grumbling stomach and getting back your energy, I advise you to further follow your gut and go see what interests you most. Innsbruck has something for any kind of preference I would say, even if I maybe did not list it here.
The major thing for me was for sure its Alp Panorama. Even after seeing it so many times on Google Images, Social Media or from others peoples pictures – it was still a different kind of amazing to see it in reality with the clouds passing by, the sun at times shining into my face and a warm wind blowing. So don’t skip that (although I think that it is literally impossible to miss).
Also don’t forget: if you live in or close to Munich especially, there is a public transport train going directly to Innsbruck (only takes around 2 hours), which makes it easy to go as a day trip from there.
What you need to do in my opinion:
- Alp Panorama (impossible to not see once you get to the city center)
- Get yourself some sweet and/ or savoury treats (feed and treat yourself!)
- Relax a little bit in Hofgarten, soak in the nature around you.
- Walk up a hill or take the cable car up the mountain to have the whole view.
- Walk and sit next to the river Inn and notice how fast it passes by
Overall Innsbruck is a charming city that has something for everyone. Whether you’re looking to explore the city’s rich cultural heritage, get your adrenaline pumping by partaking in outdoor adventure activities, or simply relax and soak in the natural beauty of the Alpine surroundings, I’m pretty sure you will love it. I did.
