Innsbruck and surroundings
 

Hello!
I will be visitng the city of Inssbruck in next May. I would like to know wich villages do you recommend to visit in the surroundings . I will have a car.
Thank you

Well ditch the car and take the mountain climbing tram up to the old Olympic Ski Jumping area - a wonderful area of forests and nice hiking paths. Igls is the name of the area. Good drive too I guess but the tram is kind of nice.

I enjoyed Hall in Tirol.

I love Pertisau on the Achensee, there is a lovely narrow gauge rack railway up to it from Jenbach. You might also like a similar rail trip, narrow gauge again also from Jenbach to Mayerhofen. The Achensee has steamers on it and they are well worth a trip.

Take the #6 tram to Igls. The village is nice, but the ascent by tram in the woods is a somewhat uncommon experience.

I would suggest keeping your car. One of my favorite things to do when we travel to Europe is rent a car and drive into villages and get a B&B. No reservations. May is not very busy so you should be able to find quite a few places. Not making reservations and taking the locals advice on where to stay and go is a great way to see the area and the culture.

Hall in Tirol is just 6 km from Innsbruck. It has a much lovelier old town than Innsbruck IMO due to the wealthy salt merchants who lived there.

http://www.hall-wattens.at/en/hall-tirol.html

Also, I agree with the recommendation of Pertisau on the Achensee. We stayed nearby in Maurach a few years ago and enjoyed our time in the area.

What tipsygus said about the Achensee and Mayerhofen. Plus, in the other direction, the Stubai glacier. A car is unnecessary.

Hi,

For our visits to Innsbruck and the area, we stay in Hall in Tirol. The Gasthof Badl is hard to top, not just in the area, but anywhere. We've stayed 5 times, as recently as Dec. 2013, for a total of 18 nights, so far.

www.badl.at

Along with Igls, Mayrhofen, etc., Rattenberg is very nice, as is a visit to both Schloss Ambras (Innsbruck) and Tratzberg castle by Jenbach.

www.rattenberg.at/en/home.html
www.schlossambras-innsbruck.at
www.schloss-tratzberg.at


Over the border in Italy, Sterzing/Vipiteno is an extremely charming old town. This is about 40 minutes drive from Innsbruck/Hall in Tirol. Note that in this area all the towns, all the signs, etc. have a German name/Italian name.

www.sterzing.com/en/sterzing.html
http://www.suedtirol.info/en/Destina...-Sterzing.html

Just a little further is the very nice old town of Brixen/Bressanone.

www.brixen.org

On a nice day, I'd suggest a day trip to see the Italian Dolomites, the Val Gardena in particular. This is a 1:30 drive, but the Dolomites will amaze you. The Val Gardena is a short valley consisting of the towns/villages of Ortisei, St. Christina and Selva. In mid May the Mont Seuc/Seiser Alm cable car in Ortisei opens for the season. The Gardena Pass is a spectacular alpine drive.

www.val-gardena.com
www.alpedisiusi-seiseralm.com/index.html

Paul

Thanks for all the replies!