Few cities sit as close to big mountains as Innsbruck. The capital of Tyrol lies on the River Inn at 574 m, and the mountain wall of the Nordkette rises straight above the old town, close enough that a funicular and two cable cars carry you from the city centre to more than 2,250 m in under half an hour.
Innsbruck in the Inn Valley: geography and history
Innsbruck is Austria’s fifth-largest city, with about 132,000 people. It grew up in the Middle Ages at a crossing of the Inn, and its name means “bridge over the Inn”. The city lies in a broad stretch of the valley where the Wipp Valley comes in from the south, about 30 km from the Brenner Pass into Italy. To the north rises the Nordkette, the north chain of the Karwendel, topped by the Hafelekarspitze at 2,334 m; to the south stand the Patscherkofel (2,246 m) and the Serles (2,718 m).
The Habsburgs took control in 1363, and Innsbruck became the capital of all Tyrol in 1429. Emperor Maximilian I made it one of his favourite residences and left the city its most famous landmarks. The university was founded in 1669.
Old town sights: the Golden Roof and the Triumphal Arch
The Golden Roof (Goldenes Dachl) on Herzog-Friedrich-Straße is the symbol of the city. It was built between 1497 and 1500 for Maximilian I by master builder Nikolaus Türing the Elder: an ornate oriel balcony roofed with 2,657 gilded copper shingles. Six of its eighteen original sandstone reliefs are kept in the small museum inside, and copies have decorated the balcony since 1952.
Nearby are the Hofburg imperial palace and the Hofkirche, which holds Maximilian’s monumental tomb. South of the old town, the elegant Maria-Theresien-Straße runs to the Triumphal Arch (Triumphpforte), built in 1765 for the wedding of Archduke Leopold, son of Empress Maria Theresa, to the Spanish princess Maria Luisa.
Nordkette cable cars: from the old town to 2,256 m
The Nordkette lift system starts at Congress station, about five minutes’ walk from the Golden Roof, in a station designed by Zaha Hadid. The ride runs in three stages:
- Hungerburgbahn funicular to the Hungerburg (860 m) in about eight minutes, with a stop for the Alpenzoo (750 m).
- Seegrubenbahn cable car to the Seegrube (1,905 m), high above the city.
- Hafelekarbahn to the Top of Innsbruck (2,256 m), from where a walk of about 15 minutes leads to the Hafelekarspitze summit (2,334 m).
The whole trip from the city centre takes under 30 minutes. Bring a warm layer even in summer: the top station is almost 1,700 m higher than the old town and noticeably colder.
Winter Olympics and skiing around Innsbruck
Innsbruck hosted the Winter Olympics in 1964 and 1976, the Winter Paralympics in 1984 and 1988, and the first Winter Youth Olympics in 2012. Its most visible sporting monument is the Bergisel ski jump, rebuilt to a design by Zaha Hadid and finished in 2003. It hosted the Olympic large-hill events in 1964 and 1976 and is still the venue for the third competition of the Four Hills Tournament every winter.
Skiers can choose from a ring of nearby areas, including Axamer Lizum, the Muttereralm, the Patscherkofel above Igls, Seefeld and the Stubai Valley.
Getting to Innsbruck and getting around
Innsbruck Hauptbahnhof is one of Austria’s busiest railway stations, with trains to Germany, Vienna and the rest of Austria, and over the Brenner Pass to Italy. Innsbruck Airport at Kranebitten is only about 4 km from the centre. In town, trams and buses run by IVB reach most sights, and the old town is compact enough to explore on foot.
For more Alpine journeys, see Lukas Furlan’s French Alps: A Walking Photo Essay, Gran Paradiso National Park: Wildlife and Alpine Landscapes and the film A Taste of Austria: Two Years of Landscapes in a Hyperlapse Film.
Related reading
- Hallstatt: Lake Views, Salt History and a Living Village
- Schlegeis Reservoir: Mountain Views and Alpine Engineering
- Arlberg, Austria: Skiing Heritage and Alpine Village Landscapes
- The Barn in Going am Wilden Kaiser: Timber, Concrete and Alpine Views
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