Gold Medal: Innsbruck

This was undoubtedly the favorite part of my trip, which included London, Munich, Florence and Paris. I cannot recommend enough the free hikes available through the Innsbruck Tourism Office. I had done some hiking in California and Indiana prior to Innsbruck, but the hike through the Alps made me fall absolutely in love with hiking. The scenery is breathtaking and, best of all (especially for a backpacker), free! Our guide, Hans (what else would an Alpen guide be called?), was fluent in several languages and knew all about the mountains, plants, and city. Truly a treasure!

Quick Tips:

Get to Innsbruck early or late -- many hostels lock out patrons from 9am-5pm. Bring comfortable walking shoes and a camera for the beautiful vistas. I'm no photographer (in fact, my camera broke on top of the mountain because I dropped it too many times), but the pictures I have look fantastic.

Best Way To Get Around:

We walked everywhere, but public transportation is available. Innsbruck isn't that large, but the bus system would have cut down our travel time immensely. However, we were able to take a scenic and beautiful walk along the river to our hostel.

I loved this hostel. It was a 10-minute walk outside the city but well worth it. The Fritz is located directly on the river with views of the mountains. A serene walking path along the river links you to the city. We saw several bikers, walkers and even some nuns out for a stroll!

We had a private room with a HUGE private bathroom overlooking the Alps and the Inn River. I wish I had taken a picture of the bathroom because it was bigger than some rooms at other hostels. Overall, the hostel was very quiet, even though we slept with the windows open to let in the cool mountain air. Our bunk beds were covered in adorable red gingham coverlets. It seemed very much like summer camp! We also received breakfast in the morning. Nothing fantastic, but pretty good. There is also a TV room, internet access and laundry rooms. We were only in Innsbruck two days and didn’t really make use of these, but they are available. I would highly recommend this hostel for a one night stay, or an extended stay. This hostel does lock out guests during the day- make the best of this and go for a free hike through the Innsbruck tourism office. There is also a curfew, but keys are provided for entry after 10:30pm. Despite these few restrictions, I loved this hotel and thought it was the cleanest we had stayed in on our trip.

Website: Fritz Prior Schwedenhaus The website has a lot of info on the rooms, rates, hours, location. Check it out!

Location:
Rennweg 17b, A 6020, Innsbruck Austria
Take bus 4, D or E from the Central Station. Bus 4: Handelsakademie or D/E: Hungerburg-Talstation. The hostel is just up the road directly on the Inn River.

Hours:
Closed 9am-5pm daily for lockout. Check in from 5pm-10:30pm. Checkout is from 7am-9am. This hostel is only open a few months of the year. December/January for skiers and July/August for backpackers.

Rooms:
All rooms have a huge private bathroom with shower (hot, hot water), a writing desk, and windows overlooking the river or the mountains. Expect twin bunk beds in rooms. We paid about $11USD about two years ago for three of us in a four-bed room, and we had tons of room. The rooms were spotless, as were the bathrooms, and we felt very safe. The guy at the front desk wasn’t too polite, but he did speak English. Prices are per night.
10 € / four-bed room
12.70 €/ three-bed room
14 €/ double
2.70 €/ sheets (but you can bring your own sleep sheet if you have one)

The hostel also offers breakfast and packed lunches, dinners for additional charge. The breakfast was OK, but we didn’t try the lunches.

AMAZING is all I can say. Innsbruck Tourismus offers a Club Innsbruck Card for free at hotels, hostels and the tourist office. One benefit of the card is the Mountain Hiking Programme (
Club Innsbruck Card entry). Mountain guides from the Innsbruck Alpine School lead you up a hike through the Alps. These mountains serve skiers through the winter but are fantastic for summer hikes. Hikes are held every day in Innsbruck at 9am from June-September. Meet at the Congress Innsbruck building.

The Hike

We met our guide Hans, who fitted us with a free hiking boot rental. Wear wool socks and know your European size -- allow for some swelling. Also bring plenty of water. A shuttle bus will take you to the starting point.

The Activities booklet says the hikes range from three to five hours and are appropriate for ages eight and up. I disagree! Our hike lasted eight hours (including time for breaks) and included some difficult terrain- steep incline and scrambles up a slippery shale surface. Several people in our group, including some elderly folks, were not in good physical condition and had a tough time. I would recommend this for people that are fairly fit with some hiking experience. This would be perfect for backpackers- you are used to walking all day anyway.

Be prepared for the change in altitude. We went up to at least 1243 meters. It was a warm day in town but since you are climbing a mountain, it does get chilly near the top - bring a jacket.

Our hike included breaks at Alms, small cafes located on the side of the mountain to serve the skiers. We were able to use the restroom, get a soda or water, and take a short break from walking. These charming outposts also serve dinner. At our second stop, the Rumer Alm, we were able to get a beer (not recommended if you want to continue hiking up the mountain!) and some traditional Tirolian fare. We got knurdles, which is some sort of meatbally-soup thing. Our dinner cost about $5 and the portions were huge. As an added bonus, the Alms had some mountain goats and cows grazing nearby.

Once we reached the end of the hike, a bus took us back down the mountain and into town. We also received a "medal" for completing the hike. You get a bronze pin for one hike, a silver pin for three hikes, and a gold for 10. I put it on my pack but lost it in Paris. Boo.

All in all, this was a fantastic experience. I was amazed that Innsbruck offered this fantastic experience for free! All we had to bring was some money for refreshments. Again, while the program book says this is a three- to five-hour experience for all ages, I would recommend it for 12 and up, as long as you are reasonably fit. This is also an all day excursion.

more info: http://www.innsbruck.info/index.html?_lang=en&_b=129029&_m=129353

The Innsbruck Tourismus Office offers a FREE Club Innsbruck Card to visitors. It is available at hotels, hostels and the tourism office. We forgot to get it when we stopped in at the tourism office, so we walked into a nice hotel where they gave it to us for free, even though we weren’t staying there. Be sure to pick up the Innsbruck Activities guide with your card- it is a small booklet in English and German outlaying a lot of the free activities with the card. Most activities are only available in the summer months, June-September. Check out Innsbruck.info for further information on the Club Innsbruck Card and activities.

There is also an Innsbruck Card available for purchase at the tourism office that gives you reduced fares on public transportation and museums. A day pass is approximately 20 euros. We didn’t buy one when we were there. I think this would be more beneficial for those traveling to multiple skiing destinations in the winter. We traveled to Innsbruck in the summer and walked almost everywhere.

Some of the activities available to travelers with the (free) Club Innsbruck Card:
*Mountain Hiking Programme in Innsbruck: free hikes up through the Alps with a certified guide. Includes free rental of hiking boots. See the accompanying journal entry!
Innsbruck/Rum: Monday-Sunday, 9am, Congress Innsbruck building. Check website for more cities.

*Lantern Hikes: romantic lantern-lit hike with drinks at a mountain hut (one hour).
Tuesdays, 7:45pm at Congress Innsbruck.

*Climbing Tour of Innsbruck Panorama Climbing Path: must have completed three Mountain Hiking Programme tours.
Fridays. Check with your guide for details.

*Natural History tours. 9:45am at Liftstuberl Birgitz in Axams.

*Guided Mountain Biking Tours: Mountain biking tour with guide. Rent a bike for about 9 euros a day. Bring plenty of water and wear appropriate clothing for this three-hour ride.
Meet at 9am, Tourist Office Gotzens.

The Innsbruck Club Innsbruck Card also gives a discount on golfing, horseback rides, fishing trips, paragliding, summer bobsledding, and the climbing hall.

I hadn't really heard of Innsbruck before embarking on our trip. In fact, it wasn't really on our itinerary. My friends and I flew from London to Munich, only to walk around for hours in search of a hostel. To make matters worse, I caught a cold and was having a miserable time. We decided to cut our losses and catch a train somewhere and decide from there whether or not to go on. If our next port was as bad as our day in Munich, we would catch a flight to Heathrow and somehow make it back to the States a week early.

We picked Innsbruck. Friends of friends had been there and recommended it. We wanted to include Austria, but Salzburg (home of the singing Von Trapps!) was too far and too touristy. Innsbruck was a short and cheap train ride - best of all, there was one immediately.

Innsbruck had a lot to live up to, but I was enamored immediately. As soon as we left the train station, we were surrounded by the Alps, brightly colored buildings, and a beautiful river right by our hostel. The river is a sage color in August, but changes season-to-season as it runs down the mountain. It is also ICE cold and not recommended for swimming!

The city hosted the winter Olympics some years ago, and is internationally known for winter skiing. It is still pretty buy in the summer with many tourists. The center of the city is rather kitschy - lederhosen, caps with feathers sticking out of them (think Heidi) and other tacky souvenirs. We did have fantastic food at reasonable prices, and our hostel was dirt cheap but clean and safe. The waiters were more than happy to help us understand the German menu, and most spoke English or listened patiently to our fractured German.

Overall I was more than pleased with our two-day stop in Innsbruck. I can't wait until I can go back for a full week in the summer, stay at the Fritz Hostel and take advantage of the Mountain Hiking Programme every day. I'm aiming for a "Gold Medal" to replace the bronze one I lost in Paris. Many of my friends stopped in Innsbruck on their backpacking tours and agreed that it was the most beautiful place they had seen. Take a break from the Parises, Londons, and yes, even Pragues, and check out this amazing town in Austria.