Dinosaurs didn’t drink beer, and now they are extinct – Coincident? This was a sign advertising beer in a bar next to my hotel in Innsbruck, Austria.
I booked the Das Hotel Innsbruck and reserved a garage spot for my rental car in advance. I drove from Munich on excellent maintained and scenic highways.
Parking my car was a little tied adventure in and out of my garage elevator. I decided to leave my rental car parked for the three short days of my stay – this was a good decision.
Das Hotel Innsbruck is in the center of everything in Innsbruck, and I could not think of a better, more central location.
The hotel had comfortable rooms, good internet, and a window overlooking the busy pedestrian area in the city center. It also had a large indoor pool. The room rate during the busy and sold-out Summer High season was EURO 220.00 per night, including an excellent breakfast.
Be careful!
I slipped and had a hard landing – but it was ok.
From the minute I walked up to the front desk to be greeted with “Gruess Gott,” the traditional Austrian version of Greetings to God- I felt like home.
When we checked into the hotel, the front desk manager handed us the “Welcome Innsbruck Card.” The card gets you many discounts for attractions, free public transportation, and more.
“Between culture and nature, high peaks and low valleys, traditions, and trends – no other region in Austria combines extreme contrasts with as much charm as Innsbruck,” promised the Innsbruck Tourism board. They were not overstating.
Luck was on my side for three days with heavenly warm and sunny summer weather.
So many restaurants, cafes, and bars. It’s simply such a pleasant atmosphere to enjoy a good Austrian pastry and coffee outside in a cafe and watch life unfold.
Spätzle are Austrian Cheese Noodles. Don’t leave home without tasting them in Innsbruck, followed by a typical Austrian Sacher Cake.
My hotel was steps from The Goldenes Dachl, meaning the Golden Roof. It is a landmark structure located in the Old Town section of Innsbruck, Austria. It is considered the city’s most famous symbol. Completed in 1500, the roof was decorated with 2,657 fire-gilded copper tiles for Emperor Maximilian I to mark his wedding to Bianca Maria Sforza.
The city’s special old-town flair and famous sights are only a breath away from your next hike or bike tour.
The Museum of Tyrolean Folk Art in Innsbruck is one of the most beautiful of its kind in Europe. In 1888, the Tyrolean trade association decided to build a ‘Tyrolean trade museum’ in Innsbruck. Initially, exemplary crafted contemporary products were collected. They were meant to give Tyrolean craftsmen new ideas.
Shop until you drop – so many unique family-owned stores.
From smoked Tirolean ham to delicious, homemade sweet treats – here are some of the best and most unusual treats to pick up on your trip to Innsbruck.
House shoes are considered an imperative in many Austrian households, especially when the snow starts.
Doggln are traditional slippers made from felt that are among the most frequently sported in Innsbruck and around the rest of Tyrol. You can find them at markets or shoe stores around the city.
The tourism Board informed on its website you can travel from the heart of Innsbruck to the highest mountain known as “Nordkette” in just 20 minutes.
The Nordkette, also called the North Chain, Northern Range, rarely the Inn Valley Range or Inn Valley Chain, is a range of mountains just north of the city of Innsbruck in Austria. It is the southernmost of the four great mountain chains in the Karwendel.
We took the train from the futuristic-looking train station 5 minute walk from Hotel Innsbruck.
The city train took us to the cable car station, and we reached the top of the mountain in less than half an hour. Watch out, it’s much cooler on the mountain top, and the air is thinner at 2000+ meters. altitude.
Three local guys had a beer sitting outside in the mountain cafe.
So much was happening in Innsbruck. The city is alive 24/7, with plenty of opportunities to have your privacy in quiet natural surroundings, or party, dance, shop, or jog.
Innsbruck has excellent connectivity with a central train station, an airport major airlines like Austrian or Air France are serving, and a bus hub. In 2019 the city was served by Qatar Executive .
Innsbruck is also a magnet for Indian visitors since it was the scene for a Bollywood movie.
My three-day Innsbruck Summer experience was not perfect but incomplete. So much more to see and to do – it was too short. Visiting Innsbruck will be on my bucket list again.