Servus From Innsbruck, Austria: Walk On

Want to know what I was up to on the rest of my stay in Innsbruck?

Next day a city bus was my chariot to reach Igls to hike around the Patscherkofel area. As one hiking trail wasn’t enough for the mighty Tea, I went for two, with the idea being to hike up half-way and then take the lift to the top and walk down. I loved it as there was a varied landscape of beautiful forest paths with amazing views and trees as high as you can see, AND for my inner child there were ‘the hills are alive with the sound of music’ meadows I could dance around in. Then halfway up the mountain and 3 hours into the trek, it became clear that the summer season hadn’t started and that the chairlift was actually closed that day (it opens in June). Online 2 – Digiless 0.

Back in Innsbruck it was time to chow down on Käse Spätzle, the German version of Mac and Cheese but really nothing like Mac and Cheese. And to make up for not reaching the top of the mountain I had Tyrolean Bread Dumplings and the onion one was probably the best thing I ate all holiday. This was all at Stiftkeller, a place I normally would skip as it’s right in the city centre and really touristy. As I was going digiless I had to trust recommendations from others and ended up here after my Air BnB host recommended  Stiftkeller is one of the best places to explore those Austrian specialities and I was more than pleasantly surprised – plus it’s right by the old town so a good spot to start venturing from.

The baroque Old Town with its little alleys and cute houses is an attraction itself and no matter what you are there will always be a group of people around the Goldenes Dachl (Golden Roof), the roof itself was built for Emperor Maximilian where he and his wife had front row views for festivals, tournaments, and other exciting events. It is pretty much the most bling thing in Austria. The building is now a museum, where you can learn more about the life of the Emperor and see the city as he saw it. The other thing that caught my eye was a bizarre games shop which had Lenin playing cards on offer in its window.

On the last full day it was time to say Tschüß to the Air BnB and hallo to the Nala Hotel, a boutique spot to spend the last night. The room at Nala was amazing and probably one of my favourite boutique hotel rooms I’ve stayed at but it turned out to be the worst in matter of getting to sleep. I picked a ‘climb up room’ on the top floor with an elevated bed, and as it was boiling hot that day you can imagine the heat rose up, the mini-fan that was provided didn’t help and I had to open the balcony and room doors to breathe some air. So that was a bummer … and the breakfast buffet was a bit expensive compared to similar places. But if you strip it down to the essentials: shower (great pressure, though not everyone might like the idea the shower in this room is divided from the sleeping area by only a glass wall) and wi-fi (worked perfect for me) it gets two thumbs up from me.

After dropping my luggage again I took the mighty city bus to the high up village of Aldrans with a plan on taking a long scenic walk back down to Innsbruck. This route went through a little village and you can see farm animals and crops growing and reminded me of home in Bosnia. But my favourite thing was running into this former station house near an old railway that looked like it wasn’t used anymore. As I walked towards the place I imaged someone creative was living there, which was confirmed by some arty looking stone statues in the garden. I was hoping a little steam train would arrive and take me on an adventure (a la Polar Express), but sadly none arrived. Oh and a shout out to the random exercise and climbing frames that I randomly came across on the trail.

I could not leave the city without seeing the taking an IG worthy photo at the famous coloured houses along the river Inn, so on the way back to the hotel I fufilled that urge!

All in all a great destination for a long weekend when you want to combine city trip with a bit of nature.

Have you been or would you be interested in going to Innsbruck? Or do you have any other good hiking destinations?

Similar Posts

Comment & Leave A Reply

2 Comments

  1. Ah wat leuk, die eerste plek herken ik meteen 😀 Vond ik een fijne plek om te wandelen!
    En dat huisje… wat schattig! Nou heb ik zin om weer terug te gaan 🙂