The Hafelekar
The summit: city as gravel, the Karwendel endless.
KlausFoehl — CC BY-SA 3.0 · ernst andre — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wilfredor — CC0 · Wilfredor — CC0
The Nordkette is Innsbruck's geographic miracle: city heart to 2,300 metres in half an hour — Zaha Hadid's futurist funicular from the Congress station, then two successive cable cars to Seegrube and the Hafelekar summit: the whole city coloured gravel below, the Inn valley a ribbon, and behind you the vast Karwendel wilderness, Austria's largest Alpine reserve. The top is a world of seasons: summer trails for every ability (the summit path fifteen minutes from the top station), winter the legendary steep amateurs' run of the bowl — with Europe's highest zoo (the Alpenzoo) a stop en route on a combined ticket. It is the Innsbruck summit that makes the city — book a clear day and ride early: summer cloud arrives by noon.
The summit: city as gravel, the Karwendel endless.
Her ice-flow stations — the ascent as gallery.
The mid terrace and its tables — the mountain's social heart.
Hungerburgbahn, Rennweg 3, 6020 Innsbruck
Weiherburg CastleA sixteenth-century noble seat on the slope north of the river Inn, looking down7 minutes walk4.8
The AlpenzooThe Alpenzoo is Europe's highest-set zoo (750m) and its most specific in idea: A8 minutes walk4.5
The HofgartenThe Hofgarten extends north-east of the Hofburg palace in central Innsbruck, and21 minutes walk4.7
The ZeughausThe Zeughaus is an arsenal built by Emperor Maximilian I between 1500 and 1510, 23 minutes walk4.3
St. James's CathedralInnsbruck's Dom is complete Tyrolean baroque behind a quiet twin-towered face: a24 minutes walk4.7Seegrube (1,905m) gives the greatest scene with tables and meadows — sufficing most visitors. Hafelekar is the true summit and its final fifteen-minute path: take it when sky and breath allow. Hungerburg alone is a pleasant city balcony at small cost.