Background
For Winter Break 2023-2024, our family visited Germany and Austria! This has been at the top of our family wish list for a few years. Planning this big multi-city trip was so fun. We saw Christmas markets, snowy villages, ice-skated in 3 cities, and loved loved loved train rides with gorgeous scenery. European travel is quickly becoming one of my favorite things with family-friendly towns, easy navigating with trains and so much history and beauty. Traveling internationally with kids can be daunting but with a little preparation and research and tips from other travelers, we had a successful trip!
This post covers our 3 full days in Innsbruck, Austria. The small towns of the region were so cute and different and had such a wonderful vibe.
Read all of our European Christmas Market posts at the following links:
Getting around Salzburg
From Salzburg’s main station, it was an easy 2 hour trip to the main Innsbruck station. On our trips between cities, we generally booked tickets the night before and were able to get really inexpensive tickets. The price for all 4 of us was 44 euro and it was a double-deck train (Ellie was so excited!) I love how easy train travel is in Europe. We used the website seat 61 to get some guidance but it was really straightforward. In Innsbruck, we had the Innsbruck card for bus travel around the city.
Where we stayed:
We booked a 2-bedroom apartment on booking.com right in the middle of the city. Primarily because we thought we would walk home after NYE celebrations. However, we didn’t stay awake till midnight anyway. Either way, this was an awesome location and made it very easy to adventure out and about in the city. We used the Innsbruck card for 3 days (more below) which came with public transport which made it really easy to get around daily. We stopped at grocery stores for breakfast and evening snacks and had a wonderful stay.
Innsbruck Card Tips
When exploring highlights of cities, we often like to look at cards that include multiple museums and attractions. The Innsbruck Card was a great deal and included many of the attractions we were most interested in seeing. I included in our itinerary below if it was part of the card. We purchased a 72 hr 3 day card to give us more flexibility but could have been more efficient/squeezed it in 2 days. Definitely make a plan to do non-included things outside of the window if you’re there for a little longer.
Our 3.5 day itinerary in Innsbruck
Day 0: Transit to Innsbruck, Ambras Castle, Evening Light Show
We arrived in Innsbruck in the early afternoon after arriving by train from Salzburg. After settling into our hotel, we wasted no time in grabbing an Innsbruck Card. We went to the information center near our hotel to get the physical passes because the online options weren’t working. With our sightseeing pass secured, we hopped on a bus and made our way to the majestic Ambras Castle. This castle sits high on a hilltop overlooking Innsbruck and has some fun things to see such as armor, weird wacky collections, and fun art. We also explored the outdoor garden areas a little and found a fun bridge to a cave. Off the beaten path! We spent around 2 hours at the castle and then headed back to our apartment.
From our spot near the golden roof, we heard a fun little concert at sunset. I looked it up online and found that there is usually a band that plays throughout November and December on the roof. It was a lovely surprise! The Golden Roof is one of Innsbruck’s most popular tourist attraction. The small roof sticks out from a building and is covered with 2,657 fire-gilded copper tiles. We didn’t explore the attached museum or do a lot of history things in the area but the location was really convenient.
As part of our innsbruck card, admission to a light show at a nearby park was included. Lumagica was a fun walk-through light sculpture show that was really well done. Lots of different themes and fun areas to see. To complete our evening, we had dinner at Stiftskeller. This was our favorite spot, maybe of the whole trip. We had schnitzel, stew, fish sticks and returned here multiple times throughout the week!
Day 1: Top of Innsbruck cable cars, Zoo, Sound Museum
Top of Innsbruck
Our first full day in Innsbruck began with a fun ride on the Nordkette cable car, which whisked us up the mountainside in style. The rides were all included as part of our Innsbruck card. We walked from our hotel to the nearby park and started our journey at the Congress station.
Congress – Hungerburg This is the first leg of the ride, from the Congress Station in Innsbruck city center to Hungerburg, a stop where you can find the Alpenzoo and stunning mountain views. The ride on the Hungerburg Funicular takes about 8 minutes. It was a little squished but super awesome to see the city shrink beneath us.
Alpenzoo
We stopped at the Alpenzoo, Europe’s highest zoo. Our favorite animal was the ibex, a majestic mountain goat with impressive horns. We spent about an hour and a half at the zoo, following the path and pointing out birds we recognized from wingspan, our favorite board game lol.
Hungerburg – Seegrube The second stage involves a cable car ride from Hungerburg to Seegrube, a scenic plateau at an altitude of 1,905 meters. This leg offers panoramic views of Innsbruck and the Inn Valley. The ride takes approximately 6 minutes.
At this spot, we were excited to see all the skiers! We oohed and ahhed at all their jumps and tricks! There were also these cute little kids in their baby boots. It inspired us (well, me) to schedule a ski trip so we could partake the next time we were in Europe. Ellie LOVED this part of the trip. Girl loves her some snow. It was truly magical to see these large snow-capped mountains up close. One of my favorite parts of the trip. We had a delightful lunch at the Seegrube Restaurant, where we enjoyed some dumplings and shnitzel and continued on our way.
Seegrube – Hafelekar The final stage is another cable car ride from Seegrube to Hafelekar, the peak of the Nordkette mountain range, at an altitude of 2,300 meters. This leg boasts the most dramatic views and takes about 4 minutes. It was very icy as we worked our way to the top (Well, as close as Ben would brave) Super cool! On our way back down, we stopped at a small Christmas market and took the bus instead of the cable car back for the last leg towards town. The kids enjoyed some kindle time as a mini-break. This was a full day adventure and we were out and about from 9a-3p
Audioversum Museum
After we arrived back in town, we decided between a kids sound museum or a history museum. We always have a must-do part of the day and then a few options to feel out in the afternoon/evening. We decided on the Audioversum, a museum devoted to sound. The museum is highly interactive and aimed at kids. It had excellent reviews from other visiting families, so we added it to the itinerary. Also note, the museum is included on the Innsbruck Card. It was fun, although I don’t know if I would prioritize it or do it again. The kids favorite part was a VR roller coaster ride and building a cardboard model of an ear.
Evening Light Projections
After a brief stop at a grocery store for beers and snacks, we hung out at the apartment for some down time. We found a really cute board game shop near where we were staying and bought a few fun options that we enjoyed! Super fun souvenirs. In the evening, we walked around the town to see the light projections that the city puts on their buildings. It was beautiful seeing the cool lights and music! For dinner, we found a cute Italian spot where we enjoyed pasta and pizza. We’ll need to make an Italy trip soon!
Day 2: Swarovski Crystal World, Kid's NYE festival, Local hockey game!
Crystal World
We actually didn’t spend a lot of time in the main Innsbruck area but used it as a base for exploring. On this day, we spent the morning exploring Swarovski Crystal World. The shuttle bus and entrance fee are covered by the Innsbruck card but the shuttle bus wasn’t running due to new year eve events so we took a 40 minute bus. Swarovski Kristallwelten, a crystal-themed attraction at the headquarters of Swarovski (the world’s most famous crystal producer) was super trippy. This is not a museum or learning spot, it’s more like an art gallery but with crystals, lol. Very weird but super fun. There are 17 Chambers of Wonder with different themes and worlds. Ellie’s favorite was the snowy crystal room (of course), I loved the enclosed sphere, and everyone loved the gift shop (although we were sad that we didn’t buy a crystal baby yoda or unicorn). We stopped for a quick cookie snack at the shop and then went over to the children’s play area
Swarovski Play Tower
The playtower had trampolines, ropes, slides, and tremendous views. Super awesome. One of my favorite things to do with our kids at this age is taking them to explore playgrounds. I love watching how independent and brave they are. We can sit back and watch (and sometimes join in). We didn’t explore a lot of outdoor areas at the crystal world in the cold but those would be fun in summer months. We ended our visit with a super random non-crystally carousel. We spent around 2 hours total at Swarovski.
Kid's NYE Festival
We had lunch at our favorite spot, Sfitskeller where we ate more Schnitzel and drank more beer. Carter started to realize that parents are more free with their yesses on vacation and asked for the adult portion of meals. Sure! Why not! We then explored the Kids NYE festival near our apartment. Make sure you note that this takes place on Dec 30th, not NYE. It was so cute, with fun wooden games, activities, performances, and different activities. It felt like we were just part of a local festival, not tourists visiting an unfamiliar site. There were drinks and snacks nearby and we could feel the city start to get busier and busier.
Local Hockey Game!
While I generally do most of the trip itinerary setting on trips, I told Ben to make sure to let me know if there was anything he wanted to add. He looked up and found a local hockey game!! It was amazing. The rink was small and I doubt there were very many other tourists. All the announcements and cheers were in German and it was so fun cheering for the players. They were pretty good and they won! There was a really cute mascot and we were able to right up by the glass for less than 20 euro a ticket. In the same arena, out back, there was a huge ice skating area, around a big track. This was so fun and the kids loved that we were able to ice skate in all the cities we visited. I’m glad we had a lot of time to explore the city and get off the main path a little bit.
Day 3 (NYE): Innsbruck: Day trip to Seefeld, Hike, Pool with waterslides, NYE run
Seefeld
We spent New Year’s Eve visiting Seefeld, a ski town 30 minutes from Innsbruck. We were excited to spend more time around the snowy mountains and read a blog that recommended a really cool waterpark complex. Many people visit the area for cross-country and downhill skiing. I think we would definitely come back in the future to try these winter sports. We’ve been to a few ski resorts in the US who strive to achieve the picturesque alpine lodge feel. The buildings were beautiful and this was a really cute town.
Wildsee Lake
We walked from the train station to Wildsee, a small lake about 15 minutes away. We hiked around the lake for about an hour. It was gorgeous. The kids really wanted to walk across the lake lol.
Waterpark Adventures
After that, we walked towards a really cool waterpark complex. The olympiabad swimming pool was super cool. There was a heated outdoor pool, large swimming area, and 2 super fun slides. One was technically advertised as 12+ but they said everyone 6+ could go. I only went once and felt like it was too intense for me. The kids and Ben had a blast! This would absolutely not pass safety requirements in the US. It was so cool seeing the mountainy sky while going through the slides. We spent about 2 hours at the pool. There was a family deal where we could have stayed for 4 hours but we needed to head back to Innsbruck for an evening run!
NYE Run!
As part of the NYE festivities, there was a 5k and kids run. The kids did the run and one of two enjoyed it. Ha! It was a long week of traveling… It was fun counting down in German and the kids received a gingerbread medal as a prize. A fun memory and a fun way to end our Innsbruck trip. We ended up not staying awake for any NYE festivities. After the race, we ate dinner again at Sfitskeller and packed up for our morning train ride back to Munich the following day.
Departure to Munich
On our final morning, we packed up to head back to Munich for our flight back to the states! We loved Innsbruck and would definitely return again. If you’re hitting multiple cities, plan on giving up half the day to movement and getting settled. From Innsbruck’s main station, it was an easy 2 hour trip to the main Munich station. On our trips between cities, we generally booked tickets the night before and were able to get really inexpensive tickets. On the train, operators stopped by to scan our qr-codes and give us a receipt. We used the website seat 61 to get some guidance but it was really straightforward.
More Christmas 2023 Posts
Read all of our European Christmas Market posts at the following links:
