When we were planning the logistics of this trip, we had booked train tickets for key sections as we wanted flexibility of when we would move on to the next town. What we didn’t anticipate was that train tickets would double in price booking them within a day of actual travel, which is what happened for our Salzburg to Innsbruck journey. This is one of those instances where experience can save some cash, unfortunately one has to pay for the mistake in order to gain access to that experience.
After getting over the sticker shock, we left Salzburg around nine and headed to Innsbruck, moving further to the western part of the country and that much closer to Munich. It is here where we were meeting up with the bulk of our friends to begin the joint section of the trip.
Innsbruck is a picturesque mountain town just situation along the Austrian Alps. In the winter, it’s a skiing destination and boasts miles upon miles of hiking trails for all other seasons. Given our short stint in the city, we were unable to experience it for ourselves but have definitely made a mental note to come back and explore the sweeping views one can only see after hiking along a mountain.
We spent the afternoon aimlessly wondering through various sections of the town, trying to take in as much as we could before the rain swept over the city. The highlight was Innenstadt (town center) which boasts a pedestrian only section of town with a variety of different shops, cafes and restaurants appealing to the most finicky of folks. The baroque style architecture adds to the overall charm of the area and envelops you into the soul of the city.
We ended the day with a group dinner at Glorious Bastards, a pizza/grill establishment that was able to accommodate all seven of us without much heartache. Naturally, I ordered a small pizza which was enough to feed the entire table.
Jacket Watch
Lauren wanted to wait until we arrived at Innsbruck to seriously look for a jacket since the selection was a bit more extensive than where we were in Salzburg and Vienna. Being in a mountain town, this seemed to be the best course of action, until we discovered that they heavily markup this gear leading up to the winter season. However, we did find a shop with a great clearance section where Lauren finally was able to purchase a jacket she liked at a reasonable price (half off!), just in time for it to start raining the moment we walked out.
Featured Image: The striking turquoise water of the inn river looking west towards to alps.
Accommodation: NALA individuellhotel
