Innsbruck

Introducing Innsbruck

Tyrol’s capital is a chameleon-like city: a place where you can spend the morning roaming medieval lanes and Habsburg palaces, and the afternoon ogling Zaha Hadid’s spacey creations and sipping sundowners in riverside lounge bars. With its low-slung skyline, quietly confident air and the towering Alps as a backdrop, Innsbruck successfully blends past and present, urban and natural. Despite its prosperity and world-class museums, the city remains refreshingly unpretentious and friendly.

Suspended above the deep-green Inn River, the Alps are Innsbruck’s monumental attractions: creeping up on street corners, reflecting in glass façades and sneaking into every snapshot. And this old man of the mountain still knows how to rock; home to Austria’s third-largest student population, Innsbruck is a youthful city that pulsates in brewpubs, beer gardens and funky bars after dark. Providing you don’t overindulge on the Nachtleben (nightlife), you’ll have energy to whoosh down Nordpark’s slopes or pick up supersonic speeds on Igls’ bobsled run.

Last updated: Feb 17, 2009