The Loveometer
Skiing
72%
Families
62%
Value for Money
72%
Restaurants
70%
Nightlife
72%
Overall
69.6%
In a Nutshell
The capital of the Tirol is ringed with ski areas which between them serve up an extraordinary variety of ski terrain. Add the interest of the city itself – and the convenience of the airport – and you’ve got the makings of a ski weekend, or a ski safari, that’ll stretch both mind and body.
The Stats
Altitude: 574m
Lifts: 90
Top Lift: 3210m
Ski area: 300km of piste
Adult lift pass: 203€ for six days
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Wolfgang Platzer was born in Igls, just above the city of Innsbruck, and has been skiing there since he was “three or four”. That was 60 years ago. He now holds the highest Austrian qualification as a ski instructor and ski mountaineering guide, and runs the Allmountain Ski Centre in the village.
Table of Contents ▼▲
Essential Advice for the Perfect Trip
So how should you ski it?
Set aside some time for the city, too
A Short Guide to the Skiing
Which lift pass should I buy?
Off-pisters will love the Nordkette
The Patscherkofl belongs to Franz Klammer
The Stubai Glacier: paradise for piste skiers
Something for everyone at Axamer Lizum
Snowy Kuhtai is home to the region’s best terrain park
And that’s not all…
Snow quality
Where to Learn
Where to Stay
Where to Eat
Where to Party
…and not forgetting the bars and clubs
Essential Advice for the Perfect Trip
Photo: © TVBI
You’re probably thinking, “Innsbruck? That’s a city, not a ski resort. Why would I want to go there?”
But take a look at the map. This is a place ringed with mountains. Immediately to the north lies the Nordkette. South-east of the city centre is my own backyard on the Patscherkofl, while due south you’ll find the main east-west ridge of the Alps, and the snowsure slopes of the Stubai Glacier.
In fact, there are nine ski areas dotted around the city, covered by the same Olympiaworld lift pass, and together they offer an extraordinary variety of terrain: there’s everything from broad, glacier pistes where the snow is almost always soft and squeaky, to Olympic-standard superpipes, and breathtaking, stomach-in-your mouth chutes.
They can all be reached in under an hour by car from the city centre, and some are far more accessible than that. To get to the Nordkette, for example, you board a mountain railway in the middle of the city. To ski the Patscherkofl, just jump on bus route J in the city centre. For anyone who has just touched down at Innsbruck airport – and can see some of the best pistes and couloirs from the runway – it’s a tantalising prospect.
Of course, that doesn’t mean everyone is going to like the Innsbruck way of skiing. If your taste is for a ski-in, ski-out chalet in one of the big, integrated ski areas such as the Skiwelt, or the Arlberg, or the Three Valleys or Espace Killy in France, then it isn’t for you.
But if you’re looking for a bit of grit, and more variety than any single lift system can contain, you’ll love it. After all this is a city where 122,000 people work, study and raise their kids: and whenever they can they’re out in the mountains, screaming down the Nordkette steeps, pulling tricks in the Kuhtai terrain park, or ski touring at night by the light of a headtorch in Axamer Lizum. Skiing is not just a winter holiday here: it’s a part of everyday life.
Steep enough for you? The top of the Nordkette. Photo: Welove2ski.com
So how should you ski it?
The obvious way to ski Innsbruck is on a short break. No international airport will get you closer to the Alps than Innsbruck airport, and if you book a city-centre hotel, the transfer will take you 15 minutes. You can hire ski equipment in the middle of town, too.
Then you can day-trip out to a resort, picking the one with the terrain you want – and the snow conditions. A hire car works best for the more far-flung ski areas such as Kuhtai, although there is also a bus service from Innsbruck connecting all the Olympiaworld resorts.
(Bear in mind, however, that when it’s snowing hard or foggy, Innsbruck airport can sometimes close, and you may find yourself being redirected to Munich. In this case, there’s always a free bus laid on, but it will lengthen your journey by three or four hours.)
However, you should stay a whole week if you can. Either stay in one place, or put together a ski safari and move hotels during the trip – and promise yourself you’ll ski in at least four different areas. That way, you’ll really understand why Innsbruck’s skiing is special.
Set aside some time for the city, too
Original Sacher Torte/Facebook
Thanks to its long association with the Hapsburg emperors, and its current status as the capital of the Tirol, Innsbruck packs a big punch for a small city. Exploring the exceptional art collection at the Ferdinandeum, and the imperial monuments in the Hofkirche adds an extra dimension to the trip.
So too the chance to get stuck into its superb cake-and-coffee scene. There’s even a branch of Vienna’s Café Sacher, where you can scoff its famous chocolate cake (which is best eaten with cream).
You can also make your own skis in Innsbruck – at the Spurart workshop on the northern side of the city.
Here’s a very short video taster of Innsbruck and the lower half of the Nordkette, courtesy of a promotional video in the Chairlift Chats series.
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A Short Guide to the Skiing
Axamer-Lizum. Photo: © TVB Innsbruck
No doubt about it, Innsbruck suits energetic skiers best – because at whatever level you’re skiing, you’ll need some get up and go to understand its appeal. Yes, you could always stick to one of the larger ski areas (such as Kuhtai or the Stubai Glacier), which would work for a couple of days.
But this place really comes into its own when you ski at least four or five different lift systems. There are nine in all, offering 300km of piste, with some world-class off-piste terrain in between. The sense of variety will make you giddy.
Which lift pass should I buy?
Some of the ski areas have flexible pricing systems. For example, a one-day lift ticket on the Nordkette gets cheaper by the hour as the day progresses. You can even buy a lunchtime pass from 11.30am-2pm. But for stays of three days or longer, the Olympiaworld ski pass, which covers all nine ski areas, is the one to go for. Only those with a Guest Card (free to hotel guests in Innsbruck and its surrounding villages) can buy it.
Off-pisters will love the Nordkette
Photo: © Innsbruck Tourismus
The Nordkette is the most accessible mountain – via Zaha Hadid’s super-cool mountain railway which leaves from an underground station on the Rennweg. It’s home to some of the most exciting off-piste terrain in the region, and the sense of weirdness when you come back down again at the end of the day is one of the lasting impressions of Innsbruck.
There you are, the adrenaline still pumping, and the snow not quite melted on your ski boots, walking back to your hotel through city streets, past shoppers and tourists. It feels just a little bit James Bond…
Two things distinguish the Nordkette. First are the super-steep chutes you can hike to from the top of the cable-car station. Protected against avalanches, they serve up extraordinary views of the city, and lead into a wide mountain bowl.
Second is the fact that during a Nordstau (a snowstorm from the north) a lot of extra powder blows over the ridge and settles in its south-facing bowls. You need to ski it quickly before the sun affects it, but in the right conditions it’s a superb experience.
The Patscherkofl belongs to Franz Klammer
Bad Klein Kirchenheim may be the home resort of the Austrian ski hero Franz Klammer. But in the eyes of the international ski community, the Patscherkofl is his mountain. Because it was here, in the Winter Olympics of 1976, that he won what is probably the most famous ski race of all time.
With a seemingly impossibly low start number he tore down the course, taking a line dismissed by the leading Canadians as simply too dangerous. His pole brushed the boundary fence and to the watchers down below and on television around the world it seemed inconceivable that he could remain upright. But he threw himself into the finishing jump to snatch victory by a micro-second.
Even today, it’s an astonishing run to watch, and the mountain remains a place of pilgrimage for ski-racing fans.
You can still ski most of Klammer’s run on a piste called, not surprisingly, the Olympic Downhill. It’s marked #1 on the map, and despite the drama of 1976, any reasonably confident intermediate can ski it – provided they put in a few turns en route. You’ll also find good nursery slopes here, and a terrain park – as well as the Olympic bobsleigh run, which offers mind-blowing, 115kph descents to paying guests.
The Stubai Glacier: paradise for piste skiers
From the centre of Innsbruck, the Stubai Glacier is a 45-minute drive – and on a sunny day it’s where any self-respecting intermediate or high-speed carver should be. With 62km of steady, super-wide pistes, most of which are set between 2600m and 3210m, it’s home to some of the most consistent snow in the Alps, as well as some of their most ego-boosting pistes. If you can’t make good turns here, you should probably throw away your ski boots and take up tiddlywinks instead.
Empty pistes midweek on the Stubai glacier. Photo: © Welove2ski.com
Something for everyone at Axamer Lizum
20km from Innsbruck, Axamer Lizum sits in a cold, north-facing bowl and offers 40km of pistes beneath the magnificent Kalkkögel mountains – known as the North Tirol Dolomites. There are some lovely long pistes here (which were used for racing in both the 1964 and 1976 winter Olympics).
Piste 3, for example, follows the course of both the 1964 Giant Slalom and the 1976 Women’s Downhill, and on its lower section is a hell-for-leather fall-line run between the trees. Plus there are 300 hectares of freeride terrain, several popular ski-touring and split-boarding routes, and a snowpark. All the pistes are between 1580 and 2340m, which isn’t high by the standards of Kuhtai or the Stubai glacier, but the north-facing slopes hold their snow well, and there are snow cannons on key runs for back-up.
Snowy Kuhtai is home to the region’s best terrain park
It’ll take just under an hour to drive up to Kuhtai – another pocket-sized ski area with 41km of pistes. But it’s well worth the journey, especially for freestylers, who’ll find one of only eight Olympic-standard superpipes on its slopes. The village is set at 2020m, and the top lift is at 2520m, and the north-facing slopes usually hold their snow well into May. Freeriders, intermediates and ski tourers will have a great time here: read Welove2ski’s separate Kuhtai resort guide for more.
And that’s not all…
Other Olympiaworld ski areas to sample include Glungezer, which is home to 22km of pistes and one of the longest downhill runs in the Tirol. Meanwhile, Oberperfuss is a family-friendly area 12km west of Innsbruck. A gondola accesses Rangger Köpfl, a sunny ski area with 17km of slopes for beginners and intermediates. There’s also a 10km-long natural toboggan run.
Snow quality
The Stubai Glacier is your snow insurance policy, and is open from mid-autumn to early summer. But you want to come when as much of the terrain right across the region is in tip-top condition. So aim for a January or February visit.
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Where to Learn
Ski instructor training at Axamer Lizum. Photo: © Welove2ski
There lots of ski schools in and around Innsbruck: in fact you’ll find 20 listed here. One of their defining characteristics is the breadth of disciplines they cover – reflecting the size and diversity of the local market, which is key part of their business. Yes, of course, you will get expert coaching on your parallel turns but freestyle, telemarking, split-boarding, cross-country and ice-climbing are often on the menu, too.
Some, such as the Ski & Snowboard School Innsbruck offer tuition in all nine of the Olympiaworld ski resorts. Others, such as my own ski school, Snowsport Igls – focus on one ski area (although of course we can travel to other venues). Competition keeps prices low. For example, 2.5hrs of private lessons with Snowsport Igls costs €130, compared with over €200 in some ski schools in Courchevel, France.
Axamer Lizum is the venue for ski instructor courses, run by the Tirol Ski Instructors Association, and based in “the only hotel for ski instructors in the world”, the Lizum 1600 (although the general public can stay here too).
The entry-level course is for the basic Schilehrer-Anwarfer qualification, which includes nine days of training, followed by written and practical tests, and they’re open to anyone who can speak German, and can make proper parallel turns on the steeper kind of intermediate piste. If you pass, you’ll be qualified to teach beginners of any age in Austria, Switzerland, Italy and Germany.
Axamer Lizum is also a good spot for off-piste and avalanche-safety training, thanks to its long snowboarding tradition, as are freeride-friendly Nordkette and Kuhtai. Meanwhile, Igls is a great venue for kids, along with the Stubai glacier and Neustift in the Stubaital, beneath it. Up on the glacier there’s a large nursery area with covered moving carpets and an indoor play area with painting classes and other children’s entertainment on offer.
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Where to Stay
Inside the Grand Hotel Europa. Photo: © TVB Innsbruck
The city’s best hotel is the five-star Europa-Tyrol – the only five-star in Innsbruck. The setting is a bit grimy – opposite the main railway station – but actually it’s a brilliant location for a freewheeling ski safari around the region, because you get free parking in the underground car park next door. So hitting the road each morning is a doddle. It’s also a lot cheaper than five or even four-star hotels on the slopes.
Service is courteous, but formal, and the decor a bit dated in places, but the rooms are quiet and comfortable, and the wood-panelled Stübli-style restaurant is excellent. Most nights you’ll find plenty of locals in there having a celebration supper, as well as hotel guests. This is also where the cast of the British TV programme “The Jump” stayed in 2015.
A recent addition is the Hotel Adlers. With 14 storeys, it is Innsbruck’s tallest hotel. It has a roof-top terrace and an impressive restaurant on the 12th floor. Meanwhile, its sister hotel, the Hotel Schwarzer Adler, is pastel pink on the outside and has recently-refurbished rooms. Suites are themed – Versace, Tirol, Kaiser Maximilian.
Guests at the four-star Goldener Adler include Mozart, Wagner, Goethe, Camus and Sartre. The hotel is located in the historic and pedestrianised core of the city, but the train up to the Nordkette is only a short walk away. The newly-refurbished rooms are a clever mix of traditional materials and modernity: the deluxe doubles in particular are lovely.
The Penz Hotel is part of the glass-walled town hall and has 360 degree views. Hotel Weisses Kreuz is a 500-year-old hotel in the historic core of the city and is where Mozart stayed as a child.
The bistro at the Lizum 1600, Axamer Lizum. Photo: Lizum1600/Facebook
Staying in the middle of Innsbruck is the best option if you want the classic Innsbruck experience of urban swagger mixed with day trips to the slopes. But there are of course plenty of hotels near or in the ski areas.
Probably the best compromise between city and mountain is Igls. Perched just above the city centre at 870m, it has the pistes of the Patscherkofl on the doorstep, while Innsbruck is 15 minutes away on the local bus. Given it’s so close to the city, it’s remarkably quiet and villagey, and has some good hotels, notably the Sporthotel Igls (known for its food), and the Bon Alpina.
In Axamer Lizum, the new, ski-in, ski-out Lizum 1600 is the place to stay. Ostensibly, it’s designed to house the candidates on the ski-instructor training courses organised there. But its bright, unfussy and spacious rooms can be booked by anyone, and it has a lovely, light and airy slopeside bar and bistro. Plus, with all the ski instructors milling about, you’ve got a bit of ready-made buzz in the evenings.
Meanwhile, in the Stubaital, beneath the Stubai glacier, the five-star, Relais & Chateaux Hotel Jagdhof in Neustift is the place to stay for proper luxury with a Tirolean flavour.
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Where to Eat
Lunch at the Alpenlounge Seegrube restaurant on the Nordkette. Photo: © welove2ski.com
One of the great things about skiing in the Innsbruck region is how cheap the mountain food is. For example, last winter on the Nordkette, the Alpenlounge Seegrube restaurant was serving a delicious duet of two dumplings with Sauerkraut for just €7.90: little more than the cost of a plate of chips in some self-service restaurants in France. It’s what comes from having such a big city on your doorstep. You need the locals to keep coming back at the weekend if you want your business to work. And they won’t if you charge rip-off prices.
Meanwhile, down in the city, the dinner options are legion. Among those worth targeting are Das Schindler and the Europa Stuberl at the Grand Hotel Europa, which is divided into several cosy rooms. The Alte Stube has 200-year-old wood panelling and antiques. Others include the Max Weiler Stube, the Philippine Welser Stube, and the Andreas Hofer Stube – all with a great atmosphere.
By contrast, the Das Schindler occupies a pared-back, open-plan room with big-window views of the city centre. Local-sourced food is its speciality, all the way from pikeperch and watercress soup to homemade raspberry sorbet.
Another gastronomic highlight is Alfred Miller’s Schoneck, a 10-minute taxi ride from the city centre at the bottom of the Nordkette. The restaurant has an enchanting garden, great views and in 2014 it was awarded 89/100 points in the Falstaff restaurant guide. You choose from just two set menus and the style is a blend of local dishes and international cuisine. The building itself was renovated in keeping with its history and you eat either on the wooden veranda, in the cosy Stuberl or the wine cellar.
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Where to Party
Photo: © TVB Innsbruck.
Innsbruck has a lot to offer beyond the slopes, and you’d be mad not to add some sightseeing to your list of must-dos. The Goldene Dachl (‘Golden Roof’) in the middle of the Old Town is probably the highlight. Emperor Maximilian commissioned the gilding of the 2,657 roof shingles at the start of the 16th century. Then there’s the state apartments of the Kaiserliche Hofburg (Imperial Court Fortress), various Gothic confections, and two interesting museums. The Volkskunst Museum features folk art, such as handcarved sleighs, Christmas cribs and carnival masks.
Meanwhile, the Ferdinandeum is one of the best regional art museums in Europe: and includes paintings by Gustav Klimt and Oskar Kokoschka, as well as the Tirol’s own Albin Egger-Lienz. There’s also a fine collection of Dutch still life from the 17th century.
The all-inclusive Innsbruck Card makes everything easy: allowing free access to many museums and attractions in town. From mid-November to the beginning of January each year the city holds a popular Christmas Market with 70 stalls selling everything from Christmas tree decorations and Gluhwein to arts and crafts. The Italians love it, and come in their thousands.
Bergisel Stadium is the ski jumping tower designed by architect Zaha Hadid, on the site of the original 1925 ski jump. The Olympic flame burnt here during the Winter Olympic Games in 1964 and 1976. The restaurant and the visitor’s platform in the tower offer a 360 degree panorama of the city.
…and not forgetting the bars and clubs
The city also abounds with bars and clubs, many of them aimed at the large student population. Theresienbrau is a brewery which also serves good, hearty food, while Moustache is a lively bar with a warren of little rooms – one of which features live music.
At the Dom Bar vaulted ceilings and antiques mix with modern furniture. Treibhaus is a venue for dinner and dancing, and Cafe Club Filou is a late-night dance club, with a large dance floor surrounded by balconies.
If it’s a night of classy cocktails you’re after, then the bar at Das Schindler restaurant is the place.
By the way, don’t leave the city without trying a Hugo (pronounced ‘ugo’), the essential Tirolean cocktail. It was invented in the area and is a bit like a Mojito in that it shares similar ingredients, such as lime and mint.