An Afternoon in Innsbruck

Even with limited time, you can see a lot in this little mountain city

all photos by Nick Howard

After my student group spent two days in Munich, we were ready for the next leg of our tour. We were heading to Venice, Italy. This was a long bus ride, including two stops along the way. The first stop was Innsbruck, Austria.

Innsbruck is a charming mountain city nestled in the Austrian Alps. The drive from Germany to Innsbruck is very scenic, with several mountains within sight. And if you are quick enough, you can snap some cool pictures of castles in the mountains.

The city dates back to Roman times when the empire built two outposts to protect the trade routes along the Verona-Brenner-Augsburg road. It then became part of the lands of the Counts of Tyrol during the Middle Ages. It became the capital of Tyrol in 1429 and the residence of Holy Roman Emperor Maximillian I in the 1490s. During the Napoleonic Wars, Tyrol was ceded to Bavaria for their support of France. It was returned to Austria after Napoleon’s ultimate defeat in 1815.

It is best known today for skiing in the winter months. The city hosted the 1964 and 1976 Winter Olympics, the 1984 and 1988 Winter Paralympics, and the 2012 Winter Youth Olympics. The giant ski jump is now a local landmark.

Traffic was on our side, as we arrived at Innsbruck in under two hours. This was good news, as we only had a limited time in the city before moving on to our next stop. We got an excellent walking tour through the older part of the city, which has several churches, museums, and historic buildings.

If you visit Innsbruck and many other older cities that have seen suburban growth in the 20th century, you will know when you are in the older part of the city. When driving, the newer parts of the towns are not much to look at. They are cubical concrete housing, a relic of the 1960s when people began building with concrete to make apartments. They are not aesthetically pleasing; our guide called them “concrete sadness.”

The older part of the city is full of color and life. There are squares with rows of shops where you can buy souvenirs or snacks. Again, with only a couple of hours to explore, my group and I were on a mission to make the most of our limited time in the city.

Our group first got a tour of the Swarovski Glass Company headquarters. The company is famous for its glass and crystal work. True to their word, there were items for just about any budget. I found a pair of earrings for my wife and a free necklace with my purchase. The headquarters also has some fantastic art pieces I would have loved to buy if I had more commas in my bank account.

We then wanted to make a couple more stops and enjoy the sights as we walked. One of my students had lost her toothbrush, but luckily, a pharmacy was nearby. As fate would have it, it was near the Hard Rock Cafe so I could get another shot glass.

We still had about a half hour before we needed to meet with our group again. Innsbruck is also famous for apple strudel, and we were to meet outside one of the cafes famous for their desserts. I ordered a strudel with ginger ale, and I was not upset with my choice. It was hot and delicious, and the ginger ale added to the flavors. I could have eaten another one, but we did not have time to overindulge.

We finished our snack just in time to meet the rest of our group; there were a few stragglers, so it was not bad that we weren’t right on time. I hate people waiting on me, so I always try to make it a point to be on time.

We had one other group member we planned to meet when our bus picked us up. She had recently had surgery but decided to still go on the tour as she could not get a refund. While I admired her tenacity, it did slow the group down at some points; therefore, our guide let her do her own thing and meet back up with the group. Unfortunately, her GPS was not working, so some people had to double back to find her. Luckily, she was found and returned to our meeting spot when our bus arrived.

While I didn’t spend as much time in Innsbruck as I would have liked, it was a nice glimpse into this city full of history. I often see my student tours as recon for future trips I would like to take with my wife, and Innsbruck is definitely somewhere I would like to spend more time.

After loading back on our bus, we went to Verona. We planned to spend about four hours in this famous Italian city before heading to Padua for the night. However, luck would not be on our side regarding traffic.

But that’s a story for later.