Innsbruck

After Milan we decided to head up to Austria for a short pre-Christmas soggiorno in Innsbruck. The thought was that we’d base ourselves there and travel to a few nearby towns and villages. That’s not quite how it’s worked out; in the end we spent almost all our time in Innsbruck itself.

What a good city it is! Surrounded by the spectacular Tyrolean Alps, Innsbruck offered more than enough to keep us occupied for a week or so.

View from Innsbruck's historic City Tower

The main street, Maria-Theresien Straße, named for the revered Empress who died in 1780

Wandering around this city means spending a lot of time looking up at beautiful buildings

Helbling Haus, a famous and striking example of Innsbruck's Baroque and Gothic architecture

This is the Museum of Tyrolean Folk Art; the collections here are fascinating

And right next door, the Hofkirche, built as a memorial to Emperor Maximilian I (about 250 years before Maria-Theresien); the tomb, which is actually empty, is surrounded by 28 bronze statues of the Emperor's ancestors and heroes

Riesengasse in the old town, guarded by giants from popular Austrian fairytales

Nothing to fear from these guys though - most kids seemed to want a photo with one or other of the giants 🙂

Innsbruck is located on the Inn River

These colourful houses are one of the city's iconic sights

The view from Hungerford

This part of the city is easily accessed by funicular

It's a pretty place for a walk

St Theresa's Church

Of course it's much closer to the mountains up here

And quite a few degrees colder too - about minus 7 on this day!

Back down in the city centre; on the right is Innsbruck's new House of Music

The performance space opened only a couple of months ago; this 'Jazzy' Christmas' concert was a sell-out

In fact we enjoyed a few musical events in Innsbruck; this performance outside the Tyrolean State Theatre was the culmination of the annual 'Christkind' lantern parade through the city

The little angels sang the Austrian Christmas classic 'Silent Night'

And this is the superb 150-voice Wilten Boys' Choir, one of Europe's oldest choirs with members as young as six years; the concert took place in the beautiful church in Götzens just outside Innsbruck

But at this time of year, Innsbruck is all about the Christmas markets

There are three or four large markets around the city and many other small 'mercatini' almost wherever there's a bit of space

This one is in the medieval old town

Each evening a traditional brass band plays on the balcony under the city's famous Golden Roof

Many of the little stalls sell hand-made timber ornaments

And there's a lot of great food available too; this man was selling 'schmaarn', a traditional dessert similar to pieces of thick pancake, served warm with apple sauce - yum!

And, finally, just enough time for a post-schmaarn pre-Christmas haircut ...

... and it's back on the road again. Auf wiedersehen schöne Innsbruck!