First time I visited Innsbruck was back in 2015 in September. It was a road trip from Eindhoven to Austria. Took approximately 7 hours and the ride was smooth and simple. The advantage of traveling in Europe are these; you can cross borders easily. They are simple as a sign on the road indicating it is a new country. Unfortunately now, due to Covi-19 those borders are harder, but time will come again.
We went directly to Mutters, where our accommodation was and arrived late in the night. Mutters is close to Innsbruck, around 5km and it has a train/tram that makes the connection between the two places. It has an elevation of 830 meters and even though it isn’t that high in altitude, you can already feel some effects.
Going there by car was not that easy because it was already night. After, in the morning, it was easy to see that by car, it is just going up. As easy as that.
Mutters is very green, with beautiful view towards the mountains and September there was no snow. The roads are peaceful, in good condition and you can find some local and good restaurants as you explore the area. The city is located right in the beginning of the Stubaital Valley and it is replete with ski stations, farms, silence. It is the perfect destination for winter holidays if you like skiing. However, in case you are a summer enthusiastic, you will find trails adequate for hiking. Trails that will take you higher and higher.
In Mutters the accommodation chosen was Ferienhaus Panorama. It is still not in Mutters, but Ausserkreith. There, the altitude is bigger and it goes up to 991 meters. Similar to Mutters, also green but higher views. You can find it via the website here given or via Booking.com. The direct link on booking is this one: Ferienhaus. My suggestion is to send them an email and ask for more information. It was the best choice for us, as the this holiday house has everything you need, inclusive breakfast service which is incredible. The apartment I stayed was similar with a small studio and had a room, living room with sofa-bed, bathroom and kitchen. The owners would provide towels, the beds were perfectly made and basic utensils for the kitchen. The apartment has a balcony that gives you the most beautiful views for the mountains.
From Mutters and Ausserkreith you can get the train/tram to Innsbruck and takes around 45 min to reach the city.The views transport you to a perfect world where all is quiet, green and the skies are blue.
Arriving in Innsbruck, or any other city, I like to walk around. Everytime I go to a city I like to search for the main square, in the case of Innsbruck, you need to start at Maria-Theresien Strasse. There you have restaurants, views to the mountain, shops. It is the perfect place to start your visit if you only like eating or shopping or even just go several times in the street. It is so charming that teletransports you to a fairy tale environment.
If you walk near the river, you will find the colourfull houses which are perfect for a picture. The river is called Inn and it is tributary from the Danube; it has more than 500km and it crosses 3 countries.
Walking in the Maria-Theresien street will lead you to the old town. The old town is full of life, options and it looks like you still live in the medieval age. It is a great opportunity to take a break from walking and have a drink around.
One of the things that was important for me, was to make sure I would not lose money. While traveling, we see ourselves with the impulse of just buying or going to each attraction without any investigation. Traveling should mean to relax, but also to not stress yourself where to, or whether you need to go the ATM all the time for money. The Innsbruck Card is the best option for you. Even if you stay a day or more. You can have it for max 72 hours. In my case, I stayed longer than 72 hours but bought the 48 hours card. 2 days to enjoy the city and it costs 55 eur.
Places I have been in Innsbruck that were worth the city card:
- Swarovski Crystal Worlds. It is an experience attraction full made mainly with swarovski cristals. There you will find a park, experiences, restaurant and store. The price to get in is 19 eur. With the city card, the bus to the location is also included. If we ought to pay, we would pay 9.5 eur .The whole visitation takes a full morning or afternoon.
- Bergisel Ski Jump. It is a ski jumping hill part of the Ski Jumping World Cup. It also hosted the Winter Olympics. It was opened in 1930 and the highest jumping record was 138.0 m. There you will also find a glass path, where you can have privileged views. The duration on the visit can go up to 2 hours and there is plenty of places where you can walk and explore by yourself. This will cost you 10 eur.
- Ambras Castle Innsbruck. This castle was also reachable by public transport and there you will find a park, art exposition, gothic sculpture and museum. When you buy the ticket to the castle, you have access to those areas. It is a castle built in the hills in the XVI (16) century. The castle was built above another castle from the X century. Everything on the surroundings is green, well taken care of and good for a full day. The price is 12 eur.
- Innsbrucker Nordkettenbahnen. Is a train/cable car that will take you to the known Jewel of the Alps. The Nordkette offers you a range of mountains that are integrated in the largest nature park from Austria. There you will find all sorts of trails, restaurants, cable car, stunning views and an altitude of 2300 m. It worth for a full day, and it will cost you 38 eur if you do not have the city card.
- Sightseer Innsbruck Bus. The sight seeing bus can be an excellent alternative if you just want to see around in the comfort of you seat. It works great if the weather is not as you expected and you can choose exactly where to stop and get in. The advantage of going on this bus if the help you get by not walking in case you are short on time. Or just if you walked so much one day and you look for a rest the next day. It wil cost you 18 eur and will take the time that you want. Just pay attention to the departures and from where and it can take as much as you want.
- Public transport in Innsbruck is free if you travel with IVB (IVB and Stubaitalbahn GmbH – Public Transportation Services) using your city card. From the city to Mutters where we stayed it costs 3.80 each trip. We bought only for 2 days the city card, but stayed longer. In total we were in the tram/train 8 times. 8 times would make 30.4 eur.
Those attractions were divided between the 2 days of the city card, not all in the same day. Also, the see sight bus will allow you to go on the next day depending on the duration of your city card. If you would go to all those attractions without the city card, you would pay: 106.5 excluding the transportation. As you can see, the card is well valid for at least 2 days. My suggestion would be to see which attractions you want to go and select them according to the possibility having the card. We paid 55 eur and if I would not choose to buy the city card, it would be double the price. Price that can be used for a good meal, or even to do a quick visit to another city.
For how long you should visit Innsbruck? Right next to each attraction I wrote the time I spent. This is important to investigate as you can also calculate the time for each city based on what you would like more to visit. Based on my own experience, I would recommend 3 days in the city. In my case I stayed a bit far from the city, having another place to explore as well. But if you decide to choose the city to stay, 3 days should be enough for top attractions.
Innsbruck due to its location, has great opportunities to visit the surroundings. With about 2,5 hours you can reach Liechtenstein and a bit more you can reach St Gallen in Switzerland. You will be also close to Bolzano in Italy and Munich in Germany. Staying longer there will increase the city trips that you can do.
