After a short break from weeks of whirlwind travel in the Dolomite Mountains of Northeast Italy, it was time for us to move on for another month or so of travel. Our route would take us up through Germany and Belgium before arriving back in London, but first, we stopped for a couple of hours in the beautiful mountain city of Innsbruck, Austria!
Most of my time exploring this beautiful city was spent wandering along the streets of Innsbruck’s Old Town and admiring the beautiful buildings. However, I missed a lot of iconic sights that could have easily been seen during our visit, and I ended up leaving with some travel regret. Despite this, I loved our short time here and am trying to look on the bright side and take the missed opportunities as a learning experience.
Here is a little recounting of what I saw, what I missed, and what I thought about Innsbruck, Austria!
Getting to Innsbruck, Austria
Our bus ride from The Dolomite mountains to Diessen, Germany would have been around 5 hours non-stop, so it was nice to stop in Innsbruck about 3 hours into the drive to break up the journey.
Geographically, it seems that a stop in Innsbruck, Austria is possible with nearly any journey from Italy to Germany. It is only about 2 hours from Munich, Germany, making it a great stopover too.
The Golden Roof (Goldenes Dachl)
The Golden Roof is arguably the most iconic sight in Innsbruck, and we were lucky enough to be dropped off right in front of it!
Maximilian’s magnificent balcony (with a Golden Roof)
I was a little surprised to see that the Golden Roof wasn’t just a roof that is gold. It’s actually a small but ornately decorated balcony (although the balcony does have a gold roof crafted from gilded copper tiles). The Golden Roof was crafted as a wedding gift for Emperor Maximilian I and his wife in the year 1500AD, and provided them with a perfect view for Innsbruck’s festivals.
Besides that iconic roof, the balcony consists of four pillars atop a railing of delicately carved battle scenes. Below are frescoes of knights and birds, and below these are several coats of arms (of what I assume to be powerful families of the time).
With all of these features combined, the Golden Roof (balcony) is a gorgeous work of art in Innsbruck’s Old Town, and since it stands out against the pale surface of the rest of the building, you really can’t miss it!
Old Town (Altstadt von Innsbruck)
Altstadt von Innsbruck is the name for Innsbruck’s Old Town. Besides the aforementioned golden roof, Alstadt’s streets are lined with some of the most beautiful buildings I’ve seen in Europe yet! Their soft pastel colors are lovely against the mountainous backdrop, and their roofs have a kind of curl to them that just make the architecture of Innsbruck so pleasant to look at. I spent most of my time just walking around this area and although that wasn’t entirely on purpose, it was probably my favorite part of Innsbruck.
The ~fabulous facades~ at Innsbruck’s Old Town
Another feature of Altstadt’s architecture is that many of the buildings have outdoor frescoes on the walls. While I’ve seen a lot of frescoes, I’ve never seen any outdoors, but I love them just as much as I am surprised they’re able to survive the elements.
An outdoor fresco at Innsbruck’s Old Town (is the guy on the right fighting with a tree branch?)
The buildings themselves house tourist shops and lots of restaurants, so we had lunch here. I tried a cheese-filled pretzel bun which confirmed my suspicion that I’m going to like the food in this region of Europe!
Besides the Golden Roof, there are a few other landmarks in Altstadt that we checked out:
- Town Tower (Stadturn)
The town tower is a stone clock tower built in the Middle Ages. It’s very noticeable from the main street because of its age, as it doesn’t quite blend in with the brighter, more colorful buildings around it. Besides telling the time, you can also climb it for some fantastic views of Innsbruck. It’s only 4 euros to climb to the top which is an amazing deal, and I’m kicking myself for not having done it!
Not sure why I keep missing out on climbing towers in Europe, that’s gotta change!
- Saint Anne’s Column (Annasäule)
Located right in the middle of the street and close to the Golden Roof, Saint Anne’s Column is a tall pillar of red marble with a statue of Mary on top who is wearing a starry crown.
Saint Anne’s Column was a helpful landmark when I got lost
At the base of the column are 4 statues of other saints, and some stairs which make a great place to sit and get your bearings (if you’re like me and get turned around easily).
- The Pink Church (Spitalskirche)
This church is beautiful both inside and out. From the exterior, It is a rounded clock tower with a bulb-shaped roof and spire. It’s also bright pink with white trim, and the fairytale-ness of it meant I couldn’t resist taking lots of pictures.
The Pink Church is on the left
What I didn’t know is that Spitalskirche is actually a church, and that there are lots of beautiful frescoes on the ceiling inside. That’s kick #2 for me, because this would’ve been an amazing place to pop in and have a look around.
Swarovski Crystals Innsbruck, Austria
After declining an optional side trip to one of Innsbruck’s museums in a moment of hunger-induced weakness, I was feeling pretty crappy about that mistake because my classmates said there was a cool presentation/exhibit about Emperor Maximilian.
That being said, I felt a little better when we walked up to the display window at Swarovski Crystals Innsbruck and saw a crystal-crusted bust of Emperor Maximilian. Turns out, you don’t have to buy anything to look around at Swarovski Crystals, and I actually really enjoyed looking at the sparkly sculptures of different historical figures. Some of the sculptures are placed on rotating pedestals, which cause them to throw beams of sparkly light all over the place.
Our boy Maximilian never looked so good!
Seeing at least a little bit of Maximilian made me feel slightly less bad about missing out.
My Verdict:
Reading back over this post, I feel like my mopey-ness may have given the impression that I didn’t like Innsbruck, Austria. I actually feel the opposite, Innsbruck is gorgeous and I loved, LOVED it! This is why I think I was kind of upset after leaving, as I feel like I didn’t take full advantage of our time here. Besides missing out on the Pink Church and the museum (I can’t remember which one), I also missed the section of the Old Town that passes right along the Inn river, and from photos, it looks beautiful!
Both the mountainous setting and the beautiful architecture make Innsbruck’s Old Town the prettiest one I’ve visited in Europe, and the city as a whole deserves several days worth of exploring.
I am super grateful that we made a stop here instead of passing right on to Munich, and as a wanna-be explorer, I’m vowing to actually research the places we visit from now on as opposed to wandering aimlessly once we get there.
Don’t worry Innsbruck, Austria- I’ll be back for you 😉
___________________________________________________________________________________
Where did she come from? The Dolomite Mountains, Italy
Where is she going (next)? Diessen, Germany