City life, old traditions and a huge love of sport come together in Innsbruck, the capital of Tyrol which is surrounded by the Nordkette mountains.
Head into the heart of the city and you’re met by the historic centre – with its grand baroque buildings along Maria-Theresien-Straße, painted pastel pinks and oranges with beautiful frescoes. Famous parts of the city include the gothic Golden Roof and the Hofburg Imperial palace built by Emperor Maximilian I in 1500. Elsewhere, you’ll find more innovative b...
The Nordkette ski area is the smallest, with 15km of slopes, mostly reds, served by five lifts. Muttereralm pips it to the post size-wise, with an extra kilometre of terrain – it’s also a slightly better bet for beginners with more by way of blue runs.
There are 17km of slopes in Rangger Köpfl, including 2km of expert terrain and the majority of slopes (8km) graded blue. The Patscherkofel totals 18km of terrain, with no black runs for experts but a decent amount for beginners and intermediates.
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Mountain bars and restaurants can be found around all of the individual ski resorts – though none of them are known for being big party towns, there are still some good options like Kuhtai’s Graf Ferdinandhaus, Leo’s Stadlbar in Fulpmes and the Schirmbar in Axamer Lizum.
Back in Innsbruck there are bars of all shapes and sizes, from Tribaun with its craft beers to 360o in the Old Town for fine wines. Later on, Gossers has a cracking menu of beers and cocktails and Couch Club stays open until 4am for danc...