Innsbruck

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Innbruck and its possibilities

A July 1999 trip to Innsbruck by GreenMermaid

Skiing in July!More Photos

Less crowded and more reasonably-priced than other Austrian cities in the summertime, Innsbruck seems unspoiled and offers an exceptional variety of activities – all with the spectacular backdrop of the mountains that makes the city postcard perfect.

  • 7 reviews
  • 1 photo

Innbruck and its possibilitiesBest of IgoUgo

Overview

It just doesn't seem right that a little city can be so darn pretty! But in the right weather, Innsbruck is indeed a little gem with its row of colorful 17th and 18th century facades set against a snow-capped Alpine backdrop. The first time I was hiking in Innsbruck, my first spontaneous impulse was to sing at the top of my lungs, Julie Andrew-esque -- much to the chagrin of my travel companions.

Quick Tips:

Since I had been to Innsbruck before and was generally familiar with the easy layout of the city, it was easy to find our way around and explore different activities without the pressure of the usual sightseeing. We hiked, biked, shopped, and took a ski trip to nearby Stubai glacier. It seemed that everything we needed (bike rental, tourist office where we booked our ski trip and picked up city maps) was conveniently at the train station.

Best Way To Get Around:

Walking, bus, strassenbahn, or by bike (rental available at the train station). Make good use of the cable cars that go up the mountain and save your legs for hiking DOWN.

Gasthof InnsbrückeBest of IgoUgo

Hotel

Rooms are available with or without baths (we opted for without – toilets and showers were down the hall and very clean). Rooms without baths have a sink in the room. Though spartan, the rooms were exceptionally clean, with pristine white bedding and huge fluffy down comforters (which were quite welcome since the nights were cool even in the summer).

The price of the room included breakfast, which was so generous that we took half of it with us for lunch! Coffee, fresh rolls, butter, jam, and liverwurst. Yum.

  • Member Rating 4 out of 5 by GreenMermaid on December 29, 2000

Gasthof Innsbrücke
Innstrasse 1 Innsbruck, Austria
0512 -281934

Sweet BasilBest of IgoUgo

Restaurant

We were in the mood for something different, and lighter than the traditional German specialties that had been weighing us down over the past few days. This was a nice change: creative cuisine consisting of ususual salads and pasta dishes, borrowing elements from a variety of cultures. This was an elegant and trendy little restaurant, with slick lighting and furnishings, extensive yet intimate seating. Like many restaurants in Austria, this one doubled as a bar -- you could get a table without having to order a full meal. Definitely a local hangout, as most tourists were eating overpriced Wienerschnitzel in the cheesy cafe across the street.
  • Member Rating 4 out of 5 by GreenMermaid on January 7, 2001

Sweet Basil
Herzog-Friedrich-Straße 31 Innsbruck, Austria 6020
+43 512 584996

Rent-a-bikeBest of IgoUgo

Attraction

Rented bikes at train station for a reasonable fee. Both mountain bikes and road bikes are available and are ideal for getting around the small town; indeed, they are a very popular mode of transportation among the locals. We shopped around for good hiking boots (which were to come in handy the next couple of days and in our travels in Austria and Switzerland ahead), finding surprisingly reasonable prices. After biking uphill 4 kilometers to Hungerberg (in the hills just above Innsbruck), we stopped for a well-deserved Jause in a café overlooking the city below and the hills beyond. We stopped in a small tourist shop to pick up hiking maps and filled our water bottles with crisp, cool mountain spring water bubbling out of a fountain in the street. Our real reward was being able to make our return trip, downhill this time, and at exhilarating speeds.
  • Member Rating 4 out of 5 by GreenMermaid on December 29, 2000

Rent-a-bike
Train station Innsbruck, Austria

Stubai GlacierBest of IgoUgo

Attraction

Skiing in July!
Skiing in July? Always possible on Stubai glacier, a 3300 meter elevation. We booked the trip a day ahead and caught the bus at the train station early in the morning; the trip to Stubai was an hour and 15 minutes. Our ski package was great: for $50 it included transportation, the gondola lift to the Glacier, lift tickets, and equipment rental. Summer prices also include the rental of ski pants and gloves, so we were completely taken care of!

The scenery was gorgeous on the way – waterfalls cascading down mountains, cute alpine towns, flowers, cows and goats. Skiing was actually pretty good, considering the mid-summer weather! The snow was more ski-able in the morning – by afternoon, the snow was becoming sticky and a bit slushy. There was only 1 lift (a T-bar) and 2 slopes open (3 if you could make it to the off-track slope, as we did). We had a perfect lunch atop the ski complex: sun, beer and bratwurst – what else is there? Many people take the gondola up the mountain to hike; as we descended after our skiing day, we could see the hikers wending their way down along the zig-zagging trails, some paths crossing over waterfalls.

  • Member Rating 4 out of 5 by GreenMermaid on December 29, 2000

Stubai Glacier
book trip at Tourist Office, by train station Innsbruck, Austria

Hiking trails in InnsbruckBest of IgoUgo

Attraction

After an early breakfast, we headed out to the Hungerbergbahn – the cable car lift that would take us up to the same place we had biked two days before. Halfway up is the Alpenzoo (which we didn’t stop to see this time). From the top, we made use of our trail map to hike down. We chose trails that wended their way through the woods, avoiding any paved or large roads, stopping for a picnic lunch in an open meadow that had a panoramic mountain view. The trail map was a good investment: if we had just wandered aimlessly, who knows where we would have ended up!
  • Member Rating 3 out of 5 by GreenMermaid on December 29, 2000

Hiking trails in Innsbruck
Hungerberg Innsbruck, Austria

Classical Music ConcertBest of IgoUgo

Attraction

We discovered this performance quite by chance and last-minute. A fast Strassenbahn ride took us to the church where this free concert was performed (all that was asked of the audience was a donation to the church). The group played a Boccherini quintet (with an extra guest cellist to make up the fifth) and a Schubert quartet. A magnificent setting and incredible acoustics for a dynamic performance!
  • Member Rating 4 out of 5 by GreenMermaid on December 29, 2000

Classical Music Concert
Basilika Wilten Innsbruck, Austria

About the Writer

GreenMermaid
GreenMermaid
North Palm Beach, Florida

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