Innsbruck is the capital city of the federal state of Tyrol in western Austria. It is located in the Inn Valley at the junction with the Wipptal (Sill River), which provides access to the Brenner Pass, some 30 km south of Innsbruck. Innsbruck is the provincial capital of Tyrol. Its 110,000 residents make it the fifth largest city in Austria. It was one of the eight host cities in the 2008 European Football Championships.
Located in the broad valley between high mountains, the Nordkette (Hafelekar, 2,334 m) in the north, Patscherkofel (2,246 m) and Serles (2,718 m) in the south, it is an internationally renowned winter sports centre, and hosted the 1964 and 1976 Winter Olympics. The word bruck comes from the German word Brücke meaning “bridge” which leads to “the bridge over the Inn”.
Innsbruck became the capital of Tyrol in 1429 and in the 15th century the city became a centre of European politics and culture as emperor Maximilian I moved the imperial court to Innsbruck in the 1490s. Many old buildings from the middle ages and modern times survived in the heart of Innsbrucks old town.
Tourism is the most important source of income for the city authority, largely because of Innsbruck’s beautiful town centre with its historic buildings, the friendly ambience and the extensive sport facilities both in winter and in summer.
Innsbruck has also hosted the Winter Olympics in 1964 and 1976 as well as the World University Games in 2005. In summer 2008 it will host several games of the EURO 2008 European Football Championship.
The city is well known for its sporting opportunities, especially alpine sports, as it is located in the Alps and surrounded by mountains. Several ski resorts are situated inside the city territory or within short distance. There are two universities and several colleges in Innsbruck, with over 25,000 students altogether, which makes the city’s nightlife very lively.
Due to its altitude and position in Central Europe, far from the coast, Innsbruck has an hemiboreal climate (Köppen classification : Dfb). Winter is cold – colder than those of most major European cities -, and snowy. Winter nights can get frigid, occasionally dropping to -12°C. Innsbruck’s fair distance from the coast and altitude lead to a continental climate.
Winters are cold and snowy; summers are generally warm, with highly variable weather. Hot and dry days, with temperatures hitting 30°C, are quite common; but can be followed by a cool and rainy spell, with temperatures only around 17°C in the day. Be warned, however, at any time, summer nights are cool and temperature often drop quickly after sunset, sometimes falling below 10°C in early morning.
Spring is brief; days start to get warm, often over 15°C, but nights remain cool or even freezing. Summer is highly variable and unpredictable. Days can be cool (17°C) and rainy, or sunny and extremely hot, sometimes hitting 34°C. In summer, as expected from an alpine climate, the diurnal temperature variation is often very high as nights always remain cool (12°C on average, but sometimes dipping as low as 6°C). The average annual temperature is 9°C.
The Innsbruck-Card offers free entrance to all of Innsbruck’s sights, free use of public transportation (including the TS line). It also includes a one-time ascent&descent to Nordkette, Patscherkofel and Axamer Lizum and free entrance to Swarovski Kristallwelten in Wattens. The Innsbruck-Card is valid for 24/48/72 hours and can be purchased at Innsbruck Information (Burggraben 3), the TI in Hauptbahnhof, and several museums and tourist offices.
Tip: The Innsbruck card is pretty expensive, 23/28/33 euro for 1/2/3 day cards. And daily or weekly public transport cards are cheap – the “all inclusive” sales pitch is alluring to disoriented travelers, but make sure the discounts are worth the initial price. If you are not seeing these major entrance-fee sites, remember that you may buy more than one daily card at a time, as the 24 hours only starts once validated. Be sure to compare with the price of a weekly ticket too.
The bus line Sightseer (TS) connects the major sights in Innsbruck. However it there is always a cheaper public transport line going to the same destination, though it might take you more time. Innsbruck is located along the A12/A13 corridor, providing freeway access to Verona, Italy and Munich, Germany. The A12 and A13 converge near Innsbruck, at which point the A13 terminates.
Innsbruck Hauptbahnhof, the most important railway station of Innsbruck and Tyrol, is one of the most frequented railway stations in Austria. The Austrian east-west railway crosses the south-west route through the Brenner pass, connecting northern Italy and southern Germany.
Innsbruck Airport provides services including Frankfurt, London, and Vienna. The town’s metre gauge tram-network consists of two city-lines and two lines serving the surrounding area the Innsbrucker Mittelgebirgsbahn to Igls and the Stubaitalbahn into the Stubaital until Fulpmes. The network will be enlarged during the coming years to reach Hall in Tirol in the east and Völs in the west.
The trolleybus service will be abandoned as the tram network is enlarged. Numerous bus lines serve the inner city and transport to surrounding areas. At the end of 2007, the Hungerburgbahn a funicular service to the district of Hungerburg has been inaugurated.
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