4 Best Sights in Innsbruck, Tirol, and Vorarlberg, Austria

If you're driving from Hall in Tirol to Zell am Ziller, this impressive gorge hike is the perfect stop along the way. Exhilarating and spectacular (but very safe), the climb starts in the village of Stans, follows walkways hewn from the mountainside and across bridges spanning the tumbling river and beside waterfalls—all protected by railings—and finally reaches the Benedictine monastery of St. Georgenberg. The whole thing takes about 90 minutes and features 354 steps. At the top, the monastery's sumptuously decorated Baroque church, precariously perched on a rocky peak, is worth a few minutes of your time. There is a decent restaurant, too, with a terrace dizzily located above a sheer drop of several hundred feet.

Built to protect the salt mines and trade on the River Inn, Burg Hasegg was enlarged into a showpiece castle by Duke Siegmund and Emperor Maximilian I. Meanwhile, the first silver coin in Tyrol, the thaler—say it quickly and you'll realize it was the root of the modern word, dollar—emerged from the Münze (mint) in the center of Hall. In 1567, Ferdinand II moved the mint to Burg Hasegg, and thereafter the fortunes of the mint and the castle became intertwined. In the 18th century, 17 million Maria Theresa thaler were minted here and became a valued currency throughout the world. Today, you can visit the mint museum where you can even mint your own coin, as well as climb to the top of the Mint Tower for splendid views.

Archduchess Magdelena, sister of Ferdinand II, founded the Damenstift Abbey, home of the silent order of Carmelite nuns, in 1567–69. While the abbey was abolished in 1783, the order survived, and today the remaining (mostly elderly) nuns can be found praying in the Collegiate Church (Herz-Jesu-Basilika) at the top of Eugenstrasse. A tiny plaque on the dramatic church facade—an example of the transition from the Renaissance to the Baroque style—confirms its links to the historic Damenstift. Sit quietly at the back of the church and witness the silent and extensive devotions of the nuns amidst the glorious interior of wood, marble, and gold.

Hall in Tirol's most prominent building is this large, 13th-century Catholic church, boasting a dramatic interior of pinks, golds, and blacks with grand ceiling frescos. The undoubted highlight is the Waldaufkapelle, home to Florian Waldauf's rather gruesome collection of 45 skulls, said to be those of B-list saints. Waldauf, something of a fixer for Emperor Maximilian I at the beginning of the 16th century, began scouring Europe for relics to purchase, and eventually opened his prized collection to the public. Now, the skulls rest on individual embroidered cushions and are, rather oddly, topped with decorative headdresses.