Austria · City break

Innsbruck City Guide

Few old towns have a backdrop like this. A 2,000-metre rock face rises straight behind the rooftops. Below it the Golden Roof gleams, the Black Men stand nearby, and funicular and cable car carry you from the centre up to the Nordkette. One ready-made day route from Maria-Theresien-Straße ends at the Bergisel ski jump.

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Our walking tours of Innsbruck

Ready-made routes from the station guide you through Innsbruck, to the right spots from the very first step, with no planning needed.

Altstadt, Nordkette & Bergisel

From Maria-Theresien-Straße with the Anna Column and its mountain backdrop into the old town to the Golden Roof and the Court Church with the Black Men. On to the colourful houses by the Inn, up to 2,256 metres with the Nordkette cable cars in a good 20 minutes, and in the afternoon by tram to the Bergisel ski jump.

Maria-Theresien-Straße. The walk starts on the broad boulevard that gives Innsbruck its postcard shot. The Anna Column of 1706 stands in the middle, and at the far end the Nordkette rises above the rooftops like a 2,000-metre wall. Baroque façades and cafés line the street, with the Triumphal Arch at its southern end.
Golden Roof (Goldenes Dachl). 2,657 gilded copper shingles gleam above the ornate oriel that Maximilian I had added to his town house around 1500. From here the emperor watched the tournaments on the square below. The oriel can be seen from outside at any time; behind it a small museum tells the story of Maximilian and his age.
Stadtturm. The city tower stands right beside the Golden Roof and was the town's watchtower in the 15th century. From up here, watchmen looked out for fires and enemies. 148 steps lead to the gallery a good thirty metres up, and the climb pays off because you get the all-round view you never have down in the lanes. On one side the jumbled old-town roofs and the Golden Roof seen from above, on the other the Nordkette shooting up right behind the city. The green onion dome was only added in the 16th century; before that it had a pointed Gothic roof.
Court Church (Hofkirche) & the Black Men. Inside the Court Church, 28 larger-than-life bronze figures stand guard around the tomb of Maximilian I. Ancestors, relatives and heroes, known to locals simply as the "Schwarze Mander", the black men. The emperor isn't actually buried there; even so, the empty state tomb is one of the most impressive Renaissance monuments north of the Alps.
Colourful houses of Mariahilf. The city's most photographed view lies on the far bank of the Inn, a row of narrow houses in pastel yellow, pink and turquoise, with the grey rock walls of the Nordkette behind. Shoot it from the bank by the Marktplatz, ideally in the late morning when the façades catch the light.
Nordkettenbahnen. From the Congress valley station in the middle of town, the Hungerburgbahn pulls you up the slope through Zaha Hadid's flowing stations, then two cable cars carry on to the Hafelekar at 2,256 metres. In a good 20 minutes you go from the old town to high alpine terrain and look almost straight down on Innsbruck. Allow a good three hours. And bring a jacket, it's markedly colder up there. Afternoon tickets cost less.
Bergisel Ski Jump. To finish, Zaha Hadid's ski jump high above the city. A lift takes you up the tower, where a panorama terrace and restaurant sit above the in-run with the Inn valley and the mountains all around. Honest heads-up. You can't see the take-off table from the viewing deck. For that you need the restaurant one level down.

Planning your visit

One day is enough. The route from Maria-Theresien-Straße runs just two kilometres and links the Golden Roof, the city tower and the court church with its Black Men. Then come the colourful row of houses in Mariahilf, the Nordkette cable car and the Bergisel ski jump. The cable car takes you from the old town to two thousand metres in barely twenty minutes, which exists nowhere else in Europe. Five evening tips are ready, plus Ambras Castle and the Crystal Worlds for a second day.

Going out & nightlife

Rooftop bars

360 Grad Bar (adlers Hotel). A bar on the 12th floor right by the main station, glazed all round. Mountain panorama in every direction, loveliest when the Nordkette turns pink at sunset.

Nightlife quarters

Altstadt & Innufer. Around Herzog-Friedrich-Straße and along the Inn the bars sit close together. Innsbruck is small enough that you walk from one to the next without ever needing transport.

Food & restaurants

Die Wilderin. Regional cooking built on game, herbs and produce from the surrounding valleys, with a menu that changes with the seasons. The place is small and popular. Book ahead.

Bars & clubs

Elferhaus. A beer pub in an old-town lane with a big Belgian selection and Tyrolean food, busy until late. Honest heads-up. Smoking is allowed inside, the non-smoking area is at the back.

Stage & concerts

Tiroler Landestheater. A neoclassical house from 1846 right beside the Hofburg, staging opera, drama and musicals across several stages. Innsbruck's grand theatre in the middle of town.

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Practical information for Innsbruck

Public transport

Operator. The Innsbruck public transport company (IVB) operates 23 bus and tram lines within the city as well as the Hungerburgbahn funicular railway. For trips beyond the city limits, for example to Igls, Hall in Tirol or the wider surrounding area, the VVT (Verkehrsverbund Tirol) fare association applies, which bundles tickets for IVB and the regional buses.

Network. Trams and buses, plus Zaha Hadid's Hungerburgbahn up to the Nordkette.

Modes of transport. Bus · Tram · Funicular railway (Hungerburgbahn)

Operating hours. Innsbruck starts early. On a normal weekday, the first tram leaves the main station around 4.40 am, followed shortly by lines 2 and 3, with the city buses starting roughly between 4.30 am and 5.30 am. During the day, the network runs at a dense frequency, with a vehicle arriving every few minutes on tram lines 2, 3 and 5 in the city center. In the evening it tapers off in stages. City buses usually stop between 10.30 pm and 10.45 pm, while the trams keep running longer, with the last services from the main station departing shortly before midnight. Anyone traveling later switches to the Nightliner or calls the shared-ride night taxi, which operates across the entire city area between 11 pm and 6 am. The exact first and last trips vary by line and direction, so it's worth checking the IVB timetable information before heading back.

Night service. The Nightliner is the nighttime backbone of the IVB network, and all regular IVB tickets (single ticket, 24-hour pass, weekly and monthly pass) are valid on it too. The IVB website doesn't state the exact route, departure times and operating days directly, referring instead to VVT's timetable information. In addition, a shared-ride night taxi runs in Hötting and St. Nikolaus from 8 pm to 6 am, and in the rest of the city area from 11 pm to 6 am. A women's night taxi runs from 10 pm to 4 am.

Buying tickets. Single tickets and passes are available at the ticket machine at many stops, at parking ticket machines bearing the IVB logo, in the online ticket shop at tickets.ivb.at, in the IVB Tickets and wegfinder apps, at pre-sale outlets, and at the IVB customer center (Mon-Fri 7:30 am-6:00 pm, tel. +43 512 53 07-500). Whether a purchase is possible directly from the driver isn't listed in IVB's official channel overview.

App and payment. Two apps cover ticket purchase, IVB Tickets for the city network and wegfinder as a regional route planner with a ticketing function for VVT-wide trips. Both sell tickets for immediate activation on your smartphone. Card payment is possible at the ticket machines and in the online ticket shop, though whether the machines support contactless payment by card or smartphone wasn't individually confirmed on the official website.

Which ticket. The single ticket costs 3.30 Euro, reduced 2.20 Euro (children from age 6, teenagers up to 20, students, apprentices, people with disabilities, people 65 and over), valid for 45 minutes as a paper ticket or 90 minutes in the app. The 24-hour pass costs 7.30 Euro, reduced 5.10 Euro, and a family day pass for 2 adults and 3 children costs 10.80 Euro. The 24-hour pass therefore costs about the same as 2.2 single tickets. The 8-ticket bundle costs 19.10 Euro, reduced 15.40 Euro, is transferable and can be split among several people, bringing a single trip down to as little as 2.39 Euro. For longer stays there's the Innsbruck weekly ticket for 28.40 Euro. All prices listed apply to the Innsbruck city fare zone.

Fare zones. For the city center and the usual routes within Innsbruck, the Innsbruck-Stadt zone is sufficient. Only for trips into the surrounding area, for example to Igls or Hall in Tirol, do you need a Tirol-wide VVT ticket such as the Tirol weekly ticket.

Tip. The Hungerburgbahn starts in the middle of town and is at two thousand metres in twenty minutes.

Getting there

Main station

Location. East of the centre, ten minutes' walk to Maria-Theresien-Straße.

Long-distance trains. The main station is the long-distance rail hub of western Austria. Railjet and Railjet Xpress services run hourly eastbound to Salzburg, Linz, Vienna main station and Vienna Airport, with individual services continuing to Budapest or Bratislava. In the opposite direction they run via the Arlberg to Feldkirch, Bregenz and on to Zurich. To Germany there are several daily Railjet connections to Munich as well as an ICE to Berlin, and the private Westbahn also serves the route to Vienna Westbahnhof. Southbound, the Brenner railway starts at the main station with trains to Bolzano, Verona, Venice, Bologna and Ancona. At night, Nightjet and EuroNight services stop here, among others to Hamburg, Amsterdam, Vienna, Graz, Budapest, Zagreb and Zurich. The whole is rounded out by REX and Cityjet Xpress trains into the Inn and Wipp valleys.

Opening hours. The waiting area at Innsbruck main station is open around the clock, with Nightjets passing through at night anyway. The ticket counters operate daily from 6.30 am to 8.30 pm, the info point from 7 am Monday to Saturday and from 8 am on Sundays. The first long-distance trains leave around 4.35 am, the last Railjet shortly after 10 pm.

Airports

INN

Into the city. Bus F takes around 20 minutes from the main station to the airport terminal.

Local quirks

The mountains are public transport. From the old town to the summit of the Nordkette takes less than half an hour. Bring a jacket.
The Hungerburgbahn costs extra. A ride on the Hungerburgbahn is not automatically included in regular IVB city tickets. According to operator Nordkettenbahnen, a one-way ride costs 8.40 Euro, a return trip 14 Euro, and continuing on with the Seegrubenbahn costs extra on top.
Rental bikes reach all the way to the airport. The Stadtrad bike rental system, with over 500 bikes at around 50 stations, extends all the way to the airport, with one station right at car park P1. Unlocked via the nextbike app.

Good to know

Currency: EUR €
Emergency number: 112
Plug type: C · F
Time zone: Europe/Vienna
Driving: right

Speed limits. built-up areas 50 km/h, outside towns 100 km/h, motorway 130 km/h

Unlike in Germany, motorways have a fixed 130 km/h limit throughout, there are no unrestricted stretches. The 100 km/h rural limit is among the highest in the EU, only Germany and a few Irish roads allow the same.

Tipping. Five to ten percent, rounded up when paying.

Tolls. Motorways and expressways require a vignette, digital or as a sticker. Individual tunnels and passes carry an extra toll.

Access restrictions. Individual sections and cities have bans by emission class, signposted as IG-L routes.