Innsbruck: what to see, where to stay and how to get around
Innsbruck means bridge over the Inn, and it grew where the road from Germany to Italy crossed the river, under a wall of mountains. Around 1500 it was the favourite city of Emperor Maximilian I, who made it a capital of the Habsburgs. The old town is small enough to cross in ten minutes. Ninety minutes, flat.
A short history of Innsbruck
The Romans kept a military station here called Veldidena, on the road across the Alps. The name Innsbruck, "bridge over the Inn", appears at the end of the 12th century, and in 1239 the settlement received town rights. From 1420 Innsbruck was the capital of Tyrol, and Emperor Maximilian I, who was fond of the city, built the balcony with the "Golden Roof" around 1500. The university was founded in 1669. In the 20th century the city became a winter sports centre and hosted the Winter Olympics twice, in 1964 and 1976.
The ten best sights in Innsbruck
1Golden RoofThe emperor’s balcony of gilded tiles, 1500
2HelblinghausA house iced in rococo stucco
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3Stadtturm
Climb the town tower for the old town and the peaks
4St James’s CathedralA baroque cathedral around a Cranach Madonna
5HofburgThe imperial palace of Maria Theresa
6HofkircheTwenty-eight bronze giants around an empty tomb
7Folk Art MuseumTyrolean rooms, costumes and cribs
8MariahilfThe painted houses across the Inn
9AnnasäuleThe column on the grand street, facing the mountains
10Triumphal ArchOne side for a wedding, the other for a death
Scan with your phone camera to open the map there
What is an audio walk?
Tours in Innsbruck →A guide in your headphones: open the walk on our site, walk from stop to stop, and at each one your phone tells its story. No guide, no group, and free. This is the first walk in Innsbruck:
Free walking tours in Innsbruck
The emperor’s town
Innsbruck means bridge over the Inn, and it grew where the road from Germany to Italy crossed the river, under a wall of mountains. Around 1500 it was the favourite city of Emperor Maximilian I, who made it a capital of the Habsburgs. The old town is small enough to cross in ten minutes. Ninety minutes, flat.
- Golden Roof · Maximilian had this balcony built around 1500 so he could watch tournaments and festivals in the square below, and roofed it with 2,657 copper tiles gilded with fire. The reliefs show him with both his wives and with Moorish dancers.
- Helblinghaus · A Gothic town house that was covered around 1730 with rococo stucco from top to bottom — shells, scrolls, cherubs and garlands — like a wedding cake beside the Golden Roof.
- Stadtturm · The town tower of the 1450s, about fifty metres high, served as a watchtower and a prison. A climb of about a hundred and fifty steps gives the roofs of the old town with the Nordkette range standing straight above them.
- St James’s Cathedral · A baroque cathedral built around one small painting: Lucas Cranach’s Madonna of Help, given to the city in the seventeenth century, which hangs over the high altar in a frame of gold and silver. Copies of it hang in homes all over Tyrol.
- Hofburg · The imperial palace was rebuilt by Maria Theresa. In 1765 her husband, Emperor Francis Stephen, died suddenly here during the celebrations of their son’s wedding, and she wore black for the rest of her life.
- Hofkirche · Maximilian planned a tomb for himself guarded by forty larger-than-life bronze statues of his ancestors and heroes, real and legendary, including King Arthur. Twenty-eight stand here, called the Black Men — but the emperor is buried in Wiener Neustadt, and the tomb is empty. The Tyrolean hero Andreas Hofer lies in the church.
From the river to the Alps
Innsbruck is one of the very few cities where you can go from the old town to a peak of over two thousand metres in about twenty minutes: a funicular and two cable cars climb the Nordkette straight from the centre. Half a day; take warm clothes, it is much colder at the top.
- Mariahilf · Across the Inn bridge, the row of tall houses painted in every colour on the north bank is the classic picture of Innsbruck, with the mountains rising behind. The bridge itself is the one that gave the city its name.
- Hungerburgbahn · The funicular of 2007, whose stations were designed by Zaha Hadid as flowing shells of white glass, like frozen water. It starts at the edge of the old town, crosses the river and climbs the slope.
- Alpenzoo · A zoo on the mountainside that keeps only animals of the Alps — ibex, chamois, lynx, brown bears, bearded vultures — and helped return the bearded vulture to the wild in the Alps after it had been wiped out.
- Seegrube · The middle station of the cable car, at about nineteen hundred metres, with a terrace looking down on the whole city and across to the glaciers of the Stubai. In winter you can ski down almost to the town.
- Hafelekar · The top of the line, about two thousand two hundred and sixty metres, a short walk from the summit ridge. To the north lies the Karwendel, the largest nature park in Austria, a wild sea of limestone peaks.
- Annasäule · Back in town, on the grand street of Maria-Theresien-Strasse, a column raised in 1703 for the retreat of a Bavarian army on Saint Anne’s day. Behind it the mountains you were just on close the end of the street.
Battles, ski jumps and curiosities
South and east of the centre are the hill where Tyrolean peasants fought Napoleon, an Olympic ski jump, a pilgrimage church, a castle full of curiosities, and the mint that gave the world the dollar. Half a day to a day.
- Triumphal Arch · Maria Theresa built the arch for her son’s wedding in 1765; when her husband died during the festivities, the north side was decorated with symbols of mourning, while the south side still celebrates the marriage.
- Wilten Basilica · A pilgrimage church of the 1750s, one of the finest rococo interiors in Austria, in pink, white and gold. Opposite it stands the abbey of Wilten, founded, says a legend, where a giant named Haymon killed a dragon.
- Tirol Panorama · In 1809 Tyrolean peasants led by an innkeeper, Andreas Hofer, rose against Napoleon’s Bavarian allies and beat them on this hill. The battle is shown in a circular painting about a thousand square metres in area. Hofer was later betrayed and shot by the French; he is Tyrol’s national hero.
- Bergisel Ski Jump · Innsbruck hosted the Winter Olympics twice, in 1964 and 1976, and this jump, rebuilt in 2002 by Zaha Hadid with a tower and a glass café at the top, is part of the Four Hills tournament every January. The café looks straight down the jump onto the city.
- Ambras Castle · Archduke Ferdinand II built this castle in the sixteenth century for his collections: armour, paintings and a cabinet of wonders, from coral and automatons to the portrait of a man covered in hair, Petrus Gonsalvus, whose story may have inspired Beauty and the Beast. Its Spanish Hall is one of the great Renaissance rooms.
- Hall in Tirol · A salt town east of Innsbruck whose mint, in this tower, struck in 1486 the first large silver coin of Europe, the guldiner. It became the model for the thaler, whose name, through the Dutch daalder, gave us the word dollar.
Getting to Innsbruck and getting around
- Innsbruck Airport · Ten minutes from the centre; landings between the mountains
- Hauptbahnhof · Trains to Munich, Vienna, Verona and Zürich
- Hungerburgbahn · Zaha Hadid’s funicular, the first step to the Nordkette
Cheap eats in Innsbruck
Tyrolean food is mountain food: Tiroler Gröstl, potatoes fried with meat and onion and topped with a fried egg; Speckknödel, bread dumplings with smoked ham in broth; Kaspressknödel, flat cheese dumplings; and the cured, smoked Tiroler Speck. Apple strudel is everywhere. A plate of Gröstl in a city inn costs a little over ten euro; a Speck roll at the market much less.
- Markthalle · Tiroler Speck and mountain cheese
- Golden Roof · Gröstl in the old town inns
- Hofburg · Apple strudel in the imperial café
- Seegrube · Kaspressknödel at nineteen hundred metres
- Hall in Tirol · Cafés in the old salt town
Museums in Innsbruck
Innsbruck’s museums hold the Habsburgs’ treasures and Tyrol’s pride: an imperial palace, an empty royal tomb, a cabinet of curiosities and a battle painting.
- Ambras Castle · The archduke’s cabinet of wonders
- Hofkirche · The bronze giants
- Folk Art Museum · Tyrolean rooms and costumes
- Tirol Panorama · The battle of 1809 in the round
- Hofburg · Maria Theresa’s rooms
Nature and day trips near Innsbruck
Innsbruck sits in the Inn valley between the Nordkette to the north and the Stubai and Tux Alps to the south; trails start from the edge of town and cable cars reach the high peaks in minutes.
- Hafelekar · Over the Karwendel
- Seegrube · Mountain trails and skiing
- Patscherkofel · The Zirbenweg trail among stone pines
- Alpenzoo · Ibex, lynx and vultures
Things to do in Innsbruck with kids
With children: the alpine zoo, cable cars up the mountain, a crystal giant and a ski jump to look down from.
- Alpenzoo · Animals of the Alps
- Swarovski Crystal Worlds · The giant with crystal eyes
- Hungerburgbahn · The funicular and cable cars
- Bergisel Ski Jump · Look down the jump
Holy places in Innsbruck
Innsbruck’s churches are baroque and imperial; its small Jewish community rebuilt its synagogue on the site of the one destroyed in 1938.
- Synagogue · The synagogue rebuilt in 1993
- St James’s Cathedral · The Cranach Madonna
- Wilten Basilica · Rococo pilgrimage church
- Hofkirche · Andreas Hofer’s grave
Nightlife in Innsbruck
Innsbruck is a university and ski town, so its nights are lively, in the bars of the old town, under the railway arches and in the après-ski of winter.
- Golden Roof · Bars in the old town lanes
- Seegrube · Evening cable cars for the city lights
- Hauptbahnhof · The bars under the railway arches
Frequently asked questions about Innsbruck
What is there to see in Innsbruck?
The top sights in Innsbruck are Golden Roof, Helblinghaus and Stadtturm. The full list on this page has 10 sights, each with a photo and a short note.
How many days do you need in Innsbruck?
Three to four days are enough to see the best of Innsbruck without rushing, including at least one walking tour.
Is there a free walking tour in Innsbruck?
Yes. sleepntrip has 3 free audio walks in Innsbruck, with no guide and no group: your phone tells the story at every stop. The first one: The emperor’s town.
How do you get to Innsbruck and get around?
The main ways are Innsbruck Airport, Hauptbahnhof and Hungerburgbahn. Full details are in the transport section on this page.
Where to stay in Innsbruck, and for how much?
sleepntrip shows only rooms in Innsbruck that meet nine conditions: a good location, high guest scores, cleanliness, and a price of up to $80 a night for two. Pick your dates and see what is free.
Looking for a hotel in Innsbruck for your dates?
Only rooms that meet nine conditions, up to $80 a night.