After attending Oktoberfest (yes, the one in Munich) last year (2023), we trained to Innsbruck for two nights before flying back to the USA from Milan. This was our first time in Innsbruck (third time in Austria), and we LOVED the city! It was compact, gorgeous and has a lot to offer tourists. Unfortunately for us, it rained the entire time but, we’ll just have to come back!

INNSBRUCK, AUSTRIA

Innsbruck is a gorgeous small city located in Western Austria. Innsbruck is the capital of Tyrol and the fifth largest city in Austria. Its located on the Inn River, very close to the beautiful Brenner Pass. Well known for hosting the Winter Olympics in 1964 and 1976, skiing remains a big market in Innsbruck.

Innsbruck has been inhabited since the stone age, but became a part of Tyrol in 1429 and not long thereafter, became a major city and trading point in Europe, as the Tyrol area connects Northern and Southern Europe. Emperor Maximilian I was a prevalent resident, and some of the Hapsburgs later ruled Innsbruck, evening brining the first opera house to town! As a result, Innsbruck is old world and elegant, like many Austrian cities, and tourists could do nothing but simply walk around and have a great time.  For those interested in a more structured itinerary, here is what we did in Innsbruck!

DAY ONE: ARRIVAL FROM MUNICH, CHECKING IN AT EXACTLY 4:00 PM, GUINNESS AND A GREAT DINNER!

We arrived to Innsbruck via a short train ride (1 hour, 45 minutes) from Munch. We walked 5 minutes from the Innsbruck train station to our hotel, Adlers Innsburck, where we were very excited to stay (keep reading!). The Innsbruck train station is right in the city so its easy to walk to and from the train station if you don’t have too much luggage.

On arriving to our hotel, we were advised that we cold not check-in until 4:00 PM (it was 1:30 PM at the time)….and the hotel was extremely strict about this….and it was raining…. Due to the rain, we opted for a small lunch and cocktails at Adlers’ rooftop bar and restaurant, Weitsicht. We split flammkuchen, and the food and drinks were reasonably priced and quite good. We also had good views of Innsbruck from Weitsicht, despite the rain.

We left Weitsicht and checked into our hotel room promptly at 4:00 PM, LOL. We were exited to get into our room as we splurged and booked a corner room with floor to ceiling views of Innsbruck and the surrounding mountains. The views were spectacular, even in the rain!

After taking 1,000 pictures from our room, we changed into warmer clothing and braved the rain for a pre-dinner Guinness at Innsbruck’s most famous Irish pub, The Galway Bay. The Guinness was good, and The Galway Bay was packed (probably due to the rain).

Dinner on night one was at a traditional Tyrolean restaurant called Fischerhäusl, which is located right in Innsbruck with indoor and outdoor seating.  We enjoyed beef broth soup (which we previously discovered at Oktoberfest and was so good!), Weiner Schnitzel, and Schnitzel Cordon Bleu. We both really enjoyed this dinner and would return. We went home after dinner due to the rain, and actually drank a bottle of wine we picked up in Bolzano a few days prior while watching a movie on Dan’s computer.

DAY TWO: SIGHTSEEING IN THE RAIN AND A FOOD TOUR!

The rain continued our second day, so we spent some of our morning at Adlers’ on property spa, which had a few saunas and stunning views of the city, just liker our room. Oddly, the spa is technically only open from 4:00 PM….but no one stopped us from entering and using the facilities.

After the spa, we walked about five minutes into the historic center of Innsbruck in the rain. The rain picked up right after we left, so we had drinks and a small lunch at Culinarium wine bar – a salami sandwich for me and a würstel for Dan. We also had an adorable pink cup of mulled wine before the rain stopped! Highly recommend Culinarium for a glass of wine or a quick bite in Innsbruck. The restaurant was cute and reasonably priced.

The rain finally let up around midday, and we celebrated by walking around the historic center of Innsbruck. There are not many “bucket list” sites in Innsbruck – the town itself is the charm. We did see the Golden Roof, which is Innsbruck’s most “site” and takes about 2 minutes to see. We also learned that the Golden Roof is Innsburck’s civil office for marriages, which explains why it was decked out with “love” balloons when we visited. We also found the best little vintage poster shop in Innsbruck. We purchased a few prints to bring home.

We booked  a historic walking and food tour for tonight’s dinner, called the Innsbruck Food Walk, which started at 4:00 PM and lasted until around 7:30 PM. The tour was great – we saw more of Old Town Innsbruck,  including the stunning Hofkirche and the exterior of the Hofberg (Innsbruck’s old castle) and learned so much about the town. We also tried a number of local foods, including local cheese, wine and fruit from Culinarium (yes, the same owners from earlier but different shop), kaspressknödel, kaiserschmarrn and schnapps, as well as a few other things. All were good, and I don’t think I can pick a favorite! Highly recommend this tour to see and learn the highlights of Innsbruck.

We ended our evening, and kind of our time in Innsbruck, with more rooftop cocktails at Weitsicht, this time outside. It was a little chilly (especially compared to our nearly 70 degree weather at Oktoberfest) but the rain finally stopped!

DAY THREE: FINALLY SEEING THE MOUNTAINS AND DEPARTURE

Unfortunately, we left on our third day, juuuust as the sun was coming out! Boooo. We did see some gorgeous views on the way out of town, which just confirmed our decision to return to Innsbruck!

We also had breakfast at the Innsbruck train station’s McDonald’s, which had both mozzarella sticks AND a Pick-Up McFlurry. If you know me well, you know I LOVE Pick-Ups and the McFlurry was dreamy.

All in, we had a lovely time in Innsbruck and definitely want to return in good weather. I would suggest three days instead of two, but you can get by with two days in a pinch. No car needed, and we found Innsbruck prices reasonably. Happy traveling!

STEAL OUR TRIP

Adlers Hotel Innsbruck: Brunecker Str. 1, 6020 Innsbruck, Austria.  Adlers has a fantastic location within walking distance of the train station and the historic hold town. The rooftop also has amazing views of the surrounding area.  All of that said, however, it had some service issues. First, guests cannot check in until precisely 4:00 PM. While this was the listed checkin time, the hotel is big enough that there should be some wiggle room; there were a line of people waiting when we arrived back to the hotel at 4:00 PM.  Also, the hotel charged 5 euro for a lost key card (which were just standard key cards) and they took down lots of information when we borrowed an umbrella. None of this was too crazy, but it was just really annoying.

Restaurant Weitsicht: Located on the rooftop of Adlers Hotel. Non guests can make reservations online or just visit the bar.

The Galway Bay: Kaiserjägerstraße 4, 6020 Innsbruck, Austria. Open daily 5:00 PM – 12:00 AM.

Fischerhäusl: Herrengasse 8, 6020 Innsbruck, Austria. Open 10:30 AM – 11:30 PM. Closed Sunday & Monday.

Culinarium: Right next to the Golden Roof.

Innsbruck Food Walk: This is the food and history walking tour that we took. The cost was $160 per person and it included all food and drink and an English speaking tour guide.