Innsbruck, Austria / Hunter Publishing (ePub)

Austria's Tyrol draws travelers year-round for its picturesque villages and its warm hospitality. The region squeezes between Germany and Italy, stretching the length of the Inn Valley along a wide river. At the region's center is the lively university city of Innsbruck. All around Innsbruck, within an hour's drive, valleys jut off into high-Alpine glacial terrain. It's into these valleys - the Ötztal, the Stubaital, and the Zillertal - that adventurers escape the city each weekend. The charming resort of Seefeld rests just south of the Zügspitze and the German , and chic Kitzbühel puts on a good show to the east. Unlike the more extreme steeps of the Arlberg to the west, the rolling pastures here prove a family-friendly place to play. Catering to sightseers and adventurers of all ages and abilities, the Tyrol greets visitors with an ambiance of rustic coziness here called gemutlichkeit. Innsbruck is both the political capital and the cultural core of the Tyrol - a dynamic university town at once stirred by student energy and entrenched in traditional conservatism. With 25 holiday villages on its doorstep and two Olympic Winter Games under its belt, it's also the most athletically active city in the Alps. More than any other city I know, Innsbruck offers an ideal combination of city sightseeing and Alpine adventure. Innsbruck lies in western Austria, along the Inn River at the crossroads of the Inntal and Wipptal valleys. The Nordkette mountain range rises dramatically to the north, and the Ötztal, Stubaital, and Zillertal Alps stretch out to the south. Two autobahns, the A12 and the A13, converge just south of town - the A12 running east toward Salzburg and west toward Landeck, and the A13 running south over the Brenner Pass into Italy. Central Innsbruck fills a triangular chunk of land surrounded by a kink in the wide Inn River and the autobahns to the south. The old town, or altstadt, lies at the western edge of the center and remains the focus of the city's tourism. The nucleus of the altstadt district is a pedestrian area along Herzog Friedrich Strasse, a cobblestone road lined with shops, arcades, and cafés. Innsbruck's small but charming old town is the center of the city's tourist action. Here, visitors wander back alleys, shop in the boutiques, and dine in outdoor cafés. Additionally, Innsbruck boasts 18 museums on topics ranging from alpinism to bells, running second only to Vienna among Austria's museum cities. This is a guide to it all - the sights, the activities, where to stay, where to eat, and more. Color photos and maps throughout.