Lady’s Innsbruck Travel Guide

Today I want to share my Innsbruck travel guide with you. This city in the Alps in Austria has a lot going for it, and it’s worth a special trip.

Innsbruck Travel

Most people travel to Innsbruck for the skiing. The city’s airport is famous for being located just 10 minutes from the slopes and close to some of the best skiing in Austria.

But there are things to do in Innsbruck in the wintertime that don’t involve skis, and I was excited to discover them when I visited on Sunday.

Innsbruck

After taking the train from Salzburg to Innsbruck, my group walked to the AC Hotel by Marriott Innsbruck to check into our rooms.

They weren’t ready just yet, so we had a welcome drink before walking to the Grand Hotel Europa. We had a reservation for lunch there, and I was excited to eat.

The hotel’s restaurant featured a series of small dining rooms, all of which were wood paneled and decorated for Christmas.

When we arrived at our table, we learned that the hotel was also home to a ballroom that had been designed by the same Italian architects that worked on the interiors of Neuschwanstein Castle in Germany.

The lunch buffet was excellent. I particularly enjoyed the Kasespatzle cheese noodles and Kaiserschmarrn, a famous Austrian dessert that consists of thick pieces of pancake with powdered sugar on top.

Innsbruck Sightseeing Tour

After lunch we needed to walk off some calories, so it was perfect that our Innsbruck travel itinerary included a tour of of the city with an energetic guide named Elisabeth.

Innsbruck Funicular

The first top on said tour was Zaha Hadid’s funicular railway station. The futuristic structure was fluid and looked like a sleek, curvilinear glacier atop the underground tracks.

We boarded the funicular and headed up the mountain, passing several other Hadid-designed stations along the way. When we got to the top, we stepped into a cable car to take us even farther up the slopes.

The combination of funicular and cable car reminded me of last week’s trip to Rio de Janeiro, where I took a funicular up Corcovado and a cable car to Sugar Loaf Mountain.

At the end of the ride we alighted to find ourselves at the top of a peak surrounded by blinding white snow and breathtakingly cold air. It was beautiful.

As we walked around the area, skiers buzzed past on their way down the slopes. Our eyes followed them and were met with stunning views of Innsbruck below. It was hard to believe the ski slopes were right on the edge of the old town.

Tomb of Emperor Maximilian

Back down on the ground, we continued our Innsbruck tour with a trip to some of the city’s most famous monuments. First we saw the tomb of Emperor Maximilian, which was the largest tomb in continental Europe.

The stunning structure was surrounded by large metal statues of his family members, each one painstakingly designed to resemble that person’s visage and dress.

Innsbruck Hofburg

The next stop on our Innsbruck travel itinerary was at the Hofburg, or Imperial Palace, which was inspired by Schonbrunn Palace in Vienna.

The sumptuous Rococo interiors were designed by Empress Maria Theresa of Hapsburg fame.

As we toured the grand Giants’ Hall with its massive portraits of her 16 children—including the ill-fated Marie Antoinette—our guide explained that Maria Theresa’s husband died from eating too much at a wedding feast.

My stomach, which was still full of delicious Kaiserschmarrn, gave a cautionary squeeze.

Innsbruck Cathedral

From the Hofburg we toured Innsbruck Cathedral, an 18th-century Baroque building that was restored after heavy bombing in World War II.

Swarovski Crystal Store

That was followed by a trip to the world’s largest Swarovski Crystal store. There I learned that Swarovski was headquartered close to Innsbruck.

The opulence of the shop suggested that the company took its closest retail outlet seriously.

Innsbruck Christmas Markets

After having a glass of sparkling wine at the shop’s bar, we walked out into the square in front of the famous Golden Roof and found ourselves in the heart of the Innsbruck Christmas markets.

Elisabeth took us through them, showing us special streets that were decorated with characters from fairy tales and buildings with windows done up like Advent calendars.

At the end of the tour of Innsbruck we watched the city’s annual Christmas parade.

Children dressed like shepherds herded a flock of live sheep through the streets before a horse-drawn carriage surrounded by angels arrived with the baby Jesus.

In Austrian Christmas tradition, it’s the babe himself that brings presents for children on Christmas Eve.

Dinner in Innsbruck

After the parade we met up with the rest of our group, which had scattered throughout the afternoon. We all enjoyed a mug of hot Gluhwein at one of the market stalls before heading to dinner at the nearby Goldener Adler hotel.

By then my stomach had forgotten the cautionary tale of Maria Theresa’s husband, and I enjoyed hot pumpkin soup and a plate of traditional Austrian dumplings before eating too many cookies for dessert.

Innsbruck Travel Itinerary

On our last morning in Austria we met in the lobby for the 10-minute drive to the airport. There we boarded our flight from Innsbruck to London for the final leg of our Austrian adventure.

As our plane began its steep climb, I looked out across the Alps and saw skiers flying down the slopes. While I didn’t follow in their tracks on my Innsbruck travel itinerary, I certainly found a lot of other things to do there.

Maybe if I return someday I’ll hit the chair lifts with the rest of the crowd. Or maybe I’ll stay on the ground and continue exploring the city’s abundance of other winter activities. Like eating. Kaiserschmarrn, please!

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