The ibex cliffs
Real leaps on real rock above the city.
Hafelekar — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wilfredor — CC0 · Wilfredor — CC0 · Wilfredor — CC0
The Alpenzoo is Europe's highest-set zoo (750m) and its most specific in idea: Alpine animals exclusively — everything that ever lived in these mountains, in its own terrain: ibex on real cliffs, the bearded vulture on three-metre wings, bears, wolves and lynx in the slope forest, and the only cold mountain-fish aquaria of their kind. It is the lesson in who lives above, before or after the Nordkette ascent — the funicular itself serves it: the Alpenzoo station sits mid-line, making the pairing natural on a combined ticket. Its genuine slope is part of the experience: climbing, dipping paths between enclosures — comfortable shoes, and honest calculation for pushchairs.
Real leaps on real rock above the city.
Three metres of wing — the Alpine sky's returned king.
Weiherburggasse 37, 6020 Innsbruck
Weiherburg CastleA sixteenth-century noble seat on the slope north of the river Inn, looking down1 minute walk4.8
The Nordkette — Innsbruck's MountainThe Nordkette is Innsbruck's geographic miracle: city heart to 2,300 metres in h8 minutes walk4.5
The HofgartenThe Hofgarten extends north-east of the Hofburg palace in central Innsbruck, and13 minutes walk4.7
St. James's CathedralInnsbruck's Dom is complete Tyrolean baroque behind a quiet twin-towered face: a16 minutes walk4.7
The Leopold FountainThe Leopold Fountain stands on Rennweg between the Hofburg palace and the state 16 minutes walk4.7The recipe: funicular up for the summits in the morning, stop at the Alpenzoo station for its two hours on the way down, then finish the descent to town — the complete family Nordkette day on one card.