© Lonely Planet Publications 329 Tyrol If you could bottle everything that sums up Austria surely Tyrol would be it: from the woodsy log chalets and wholesome food to the thigh-slapping tradition and alpine peaks rising like shark fins in a frothy white ocean. Few places can match it on a winter’s day, with a big sky above, dazzling snow crunching underfoot and bracing mountain air filling your lungs. No wonder the locals are notoriously proud and independent. Who wouldn’t be with all that? There are plenty of reasons to fall for Tyrol: the people are down-to-earth, sincere and marvellously eccentric; the cities such as Innsbruck and Kufstein are gems (overshadowed by frosty mountains and complete with precipitous castles and medieval backstreets); the schnapps is potent; the powder deep; and the culture a happy marriage of old and new – shifting from rural farms and cobbled alleyways to Zen-like spas and crystalline edifices. But it’s the Alps that steal the show in a ‘wow I’m in Austria’ kind of way and nowhere else are they more prominent or accessible. Tyrol is a beauty with bumps and curves in all the right places, with resorts like Kitzbühel where you can find your ski legs, Mayrhofen where they’ll turn to jelly on black runs, and St Anton where you can get legless in après-ski bars before wobbling down the valley. When sunshine spills across the green vales in summer, walks stretch from gentle strolls to week-long tramps over windswept passes where, with any luck, you might spot an eagle: Tyrol’s most famous yet elusive high-flyer. Tyrol’s eastern region, Osttirol (East Tyrol), is cut off from the rest of the province by Salzburg and is covered in the Hohe Tauern National Park Region chapter ( p323 ). HIGHLIGHTS Strolling cobbled lanes to gaze upon the shimmering Goldenes Dachl ( p337 ) in Innsbruck Quaking in your boots before hurtling down Kufstein Austria’s steepest slope, the Harakiri ( p348 ) in Mayrhofen Rising above Kufstein ( p354 ) in a rickety Innsbruck St Anton chairlift for awesome Wilder Kaiser views am Arlberg Mayrhofen Revisiting the Neolithic world of Ötzi and Ötztal Valley soaking in Aqua Dome’s flying saucers in the Ötztal ( p356 ) TYROL TYROL Bopping in your snow boots to Europop with the après-ski crowd in St Anton am Arlberg ( p362 ) POPULATION: 685,000 AREA: 10,626 SQ KM HIGHEST ELEVATION: WILDSPITZE 3774M TYROL 330 0 30 km TYROL 0 20 miles TYROL To Munich To Munich To Salzburg Kempten (München) (75km) (München) (65km) A12 (30km) E60 G E R M A N Y Immenstadt Füssen Neuschwanstein Castle Lofer To Bregenz Kufstein (60km) Kai serg e Garmisch- 181 bi rge Reutte St Johann in Tirol Partenkirchen Achenkirch 312 l I n n t a l Achensee Söll Going Kitzbüheler Horn e Inn River Wörgl (1996m) d n Zugspitze Perisau 314 n A12 e (2962m) Mittenwald Maurach Hopfgarten e E60 Kirchberg Kitzbühel p Ehrwald w Jenbach l Reither Spitze Seefeld Spitze Hahnenkamm r Hafelekarspitz A (2374m) 177 (2220m) a Schlitters (1655m) 161 K (Hafelkarhaus; 2269m) Nassereith Seefeld r Mösern 169 A Zell Seegrube Hall Schwaz Uderns e l e r l p e n e Ziller River h l (1905m) in Tirol b ü am See 171 Kaltenbach z a S t t A12 i Thurn Pass h Innsbruck Ried K Imst E60 Stams t Wattens e c Zirl n Aschau L u Tulfes e p SALZBURG Stanz Roppen Ötz b Mutters Igls l Zell am Gerlos Salzach St Anton a (SALZBURGER LAND) VORARLBERG a Ziller Krimml am Arlberg r 165 Kitzsteinhorn i o Ramsau S16 Krahberg 186 V (3203m) Sanna River e Mayrhofen (2208m) A13 r h e T 107 St Christoph Landeck r E45 e o a Umhausen u x u Arlberg Pass Kappl T Z i l l e r t a l H Felber Tauern e Ö Ötztaler Ache A n r 315 Hintertux l Tunnel n n t z t a l a Ginzling e a u l r t p Grossvenediger Franz Josefs Höhe 188 n Stubai p Steinach Olperer e m S t u b a i t a l u x l (3674m) (2369m) a Glacier e (3476m) T A P a z n a u n t a l S 108 Ischgl Inn River n ὄBrenner Pass StauseeὈὈr Grossglockner e Pfunds I n n t a l (1374m) Schlegeis l Hochgebirgs-Naturpark (3797m) Galtür Hochsölden (1782m) a Zillertaler Alpen Matrei Heiligenblut Kaunertal t Sölden r in Osttirol e Zwieselstein l Bielerhöhe Samnaun Gaislachkogel i l CARINTHIA (3058m) Timmelsjoch Pass Hochgurgl Z Nauders Pass Obergurgl St Jakob EAST TYROL Wildspitze Timmelsjoch (OSTTIROL) Ö (3774m) n g e b i r g e t g e Reschen z e g t a e r Pass l n f Lienz e r A l p e Bruneck e (1508m) ὄ ὈὈ(Brunico) D A22 Drau lonelyplanet.com Sillian Toblach i e n z e r D o L l o m i t Brixen Obertilliach e n Merano (Bressanone) (Meran) K a r n i s c h e See Hohe Tauern National A l S W I T Z E R L A N D I T A L Y p Park Region Map (p311) e n its history. earlyin asanorth–southtraderoute velop tode- intoItaly,crossing allowedtheregion (1374m), Pass ). Thehigh Brenner p357 text, in icetheÖtztal Alpsin1991(see boxed amanpreserved bodyof a5500-year-old of bythediscovery verified since theIronAge, tribesandtravellers of experienced influxes lonelyplanet.com the Winter Olympics. Winter the flourished andInnsbruck hastwicehosted tourism (particularly theskiindustry)has Tyrol hasenjoyed peaceandprosperity: proclaimed itsneutrality in1955.Sincethen, cupied byAlliedforcesuntilthe country WWII,Tyrolwasdividedintozonesoc- of invaded Austriain1938.Intheaftermath not claimbackSouthTyrolwhenhis troops the province. of and East fromtherest Tyrolwasisolated prosperous SouthTyrolwascededtoItaly further blowtothestrongTyroleanidentity; 1810. February 20 on shot byfiringsquadonNapoleon’sorders continuedthestruggle, andwas Hofer year. that toBavarialater and Tyrolwasreturned didnotsupporthisheroicstancefortunately un- monarchy ). TheHabsburg p336 Bergisel ( dependence, winningafamousvictoryat ledasuccessfulfight forin- Hofer Andreas and troublesome;in1809localinnkeeper wasshort-lived theprovince Bavarian ruleof passed intoBavarian handsunder Napoleon. the back by beingbeaten before Pass Brenner the theyreached In alliancewiththeFrench, theSpanishSuccession. Tyrol intheWarof from Vienna. ruled directly Tyrolwas of Franz, diedin1665theduchy Sigmund Archduke last TyroleanHabsburg, still existstoday.Whenthe militia) which thecelebrated creating thus to theTyroleansthemselves, over fence islation in1511thatpassed theborderde- uptheLandibell alsodrew leg- He centre. capital andacultural into theadministrative status andtransformedthetown the region’s spotforInnsbruckboosted ahead. Hissoft trulyforged (r 1490–1519)thattheprovince I EmperorMaximilian wasn’t untiltheruleof Despite itsdifficult Tyrolhas Despite alpineterrain, History History Tyrol fell to the Habsburgs in1363,butit totheHabsburgs Tyrol fell A staunch ally of Mussolini, Hitler did Hitler did Mussolini, A staunchallyof StGermain (1919)dealta of The Treaty tocapture In 1703theBavariansattempted Schützen . But just a century later Tyrol . Butjustacenturylater TYROL ••Innsbruck Schützen (marksmen its prosperity and world-class museums, its prosperity andworld-class museums, urbanandnatural. Despite past andpresent, as abackdrop,Innsbruck successfullyblends quietly confident air andthetoweringAlps Withitslow-slung skyline, bars. side lounge inriver- andsippingsundowners creations oglingZaha spacey the afternoon Hadid’s palaces,and medieval lanesandHabsburg youcanspendthemorningroaming where city:aplace capital isachameleon-like Tyrol’s % INNSBRUCK see p343. Innsbruckisan exception; regions. for all12 €29/91.80 perweek/month or€61/196.10 costs passes). Apassforindividualregions by vidually covered indi- are which lapping transportregions, railway) trains. on buses, tramsandÖBB(Austrianfederal journeys cover citizens andfamilies.Tickets senior forchildren, reductions are There costs €1.70andit’s€3.40foradaypass. through; asingleticket zonesyoutravel of noon Fri) .vvt.at; Innrain25,Innsbruck; the Regional transportcomesunderthewingof Getting Around Innsbruck. of south directly Pass Brenner A13 connectsTyrolwithItaly, crossingthe The StAntoninVorarlberg. exiting westof fromGermany and entering nearKufstein intoalmostequalhalves, cutting theprovince withtheeast–westA12autobahn (Inn River), TyrolfollowstheInntal inandoutof route toInnsbruck.Themainroadandrail operate andnationalflights international Frequent Getting There&Away the mountains. sweeps downfrom no endbythe surprisinglymild,helped are the temperatures Inthevalleys weather. andchangeable winters longcold withshortsummers, ince’s climate, theprov- mountains, of theAlpsrulemuch to over Tyrolgiven With almost90%of Climate Championships. Euro UEFA upforthe on theTyroleancapital, asitgears Additionally, Tyrolisdividedinto12over- onceagainfocused In 2008,alleyesare 0512 /pop117,000 Verkehrsverbund Tirol . Ticket pricesdependonthenumber . Ticket Föhn, awarmsouthwindthat Regio Ticket Regio h ( 8am-5pm Mon-Thu, 8am- 8am-5pm Mon-Thu, % 0512-561 616;www (regional (regional 331 TYROL TYROL 332 TYROL •• Innsbruck lonelyplanet.com lonelyplanet.com TYROL •• Innsbruck 333 the city remains refreshingly unpretentious Information 0 300 m INNSBRUCK 0 0.2 miles and friendly. BOOKSHOPS Suspended above the deep-green Inn River, The best source of international papers can To Pension the Alps are Innsbruck’s monumental attrac- be found at a handy newspaper stand on the Paula (200m); To Rundgemälde Alpenzoo (500m); (500m); tions: creeping up on street corners, reflect- corner of Riesengasse and Herzog-Friedrich- Skylinepark (4km) ing in glass façades and sneaking into every Strasse (Map p334 ). e Inn s s Innstr Steg Karl Kapferer Str snapshot. And this old man of the mountain Freytag & Berndt (Map p333 ; %572 430; Wilhelm-Greil- a G s und) To Volkshaus Innsbruck; u o still knows how