ELTIPS AV R T
So in this mecca of winter sports, it was nice to be able to duck under the sturdy arches of Innsbruck’s medieval Old Town.
With the shade afforded by the 500-year-old thick stone – and a cooling Austrian ice-tea – we were soon able to continue exploring.
And it wasn’t only cloudless, but crowd-less. Too few tourists take the time to discover the nooks and crannies of this old settlement.
Most prefer a swift transfer to the mountains, which are undoubtedly the jewel in the Tyrol’s crown.
That’s a pity, as it’s well worth spending a bit of time in historic, but buzzing, Innsbruck.
Having been one of those travellers myself – snatching the bags off the carousel then disappearing to my ski resort without giving the city a second glance – it was nice to chill and check it out.
Coming in to land between peaks jutting up almost 2,000m, you can see why pilots have to be specially trained to land here. There’s no coming in on auto-pilot – it’s DIY all the way.
Which is a bit like the city and the satellite towns where we were going to be based for a few days of summer bike riding. You can do it by the seat of your pants but it helps to have a good flight plan.
Whether you want to hang around the cool pavement cafes, visit the dozen or so museums or hike up to one of the nearby mountain hut restaurants, Innsbruck has enough to keep everyone happy.
It will satisfy those oh- so- hard couples divided into Sport Billy adventurers and their long-suffering culture vulture partners.
We were also in town for the Crankworx mountain bike festival, which has some of the craziest stunt riding in the world. Britain’s own Danny Hart won the downhill.
So let’s deal with the action lovers first. While you don’t have to be an expert, there are some hairy single track trails a tram ride away. A guide WATCH the sunset in the Westfacing bar on the 12th storey of the Adler Hotel. Or even head up to the 13th floor where DJs do their best Ibiza impression. GET multi-ticket passes for the museums and another for the various mountain bike parks. Innsbruck and the surrounding area is perfect to see different attractions every day. YOU can take your own bikes, but the quality of hired kit is great. The Austrians are geared up for it. will uncover the hidden gems. Lifts take adrenaline junkies higher still.
But the area is geared up for mere mortals too, with e-bikes that take the sting out of uphill peddling.
Our afternoon trip to the Stubai Glacier valley, just a few minutes further on the tram, showed just how much you can do when you base yourself in the city that calls itself the Capital of the Alps.
Flashed
Stubai is one of the few places where you can sample summer skiing. It’s also a mecca for hikers, who take a cable car into the hills.
While we were there, a dozen paragliders floated around on the thermals as armour- clad riders flashed through the forest.
Closer to town, the Alpenlounge SeegrubbeSee restaurant, at the top of Nordkette lift, was a wonderful place to while away an hour over a beer, with spectacular views into Italy. It’s an easy visit – hop on the funicular in the city centre, then the cable car, and be at 2,256m in 20 minutes.
For culture, top of the list has to be the Tyrol Panorama Museum where the 1,000sq m circular painting of Andreas Hofer’s 1809 defeat of French troops is immortalised.
A short walk away is the city’s spacecraft-like Olympic ski jump, designed by the late Iraqi- born British architect Zaha Hadid. Like everywhere else, there’s a restaurant to take in the jaw-dropping views.
Closer to the city centre is the Grassmayr Bell Foundry.
The forge behind the shop, run by the same family since 1599, isn’t something I would have rushed to see but it was fascinating. Don’t leave it for a rainy day.
But I guess I’m still in the Sport Billy category – the only bell I was itching to ring was one on a bike. FACTFILE: BA flies to Innsbruck from London for £80pp. We stayed at Hotel Seppl, hotel-seppl.at/en. From 73 euros pp per night, including breakfast. Access to the new Bikepark Innsbruck, bikepark-innsbruck.com, costs from 35 euros per adult and 22 euros per child each day. Check out Crankworx at crankworx.com. For more i nformation about Innsbruck and the Austrian Tyrol go to innsbruck.info and visittirol.co.uk.