03Cities and regions

A city at the foot of the wall

Innsbruck and the Nordkette

Innsbruck means the bridge over the Inn. The city is the capital of Tyrol and Austria’s fifth city; its population was 132,188 in 2024. It stands where the Inn Valley meets the Wipp Valley, with the Brenner Pass thirty kilometres south. You need not leave the street to see the mountain: the Nordkette closes the valley from the north, its highest summit Kleiner Solstein at 2,637 metres. The Nordkette cable car reaches Hafelekar station at 2,269 metres, where the Goethe Way begins east along the ridge. On the square a Golden Roof completed in 1500 carries 2,657 gilded copper tiles. The airport is about four kilometres from the centre and grows busy in winter because skiers arrive there. One day for the old town and river; another if you ride the cable car. Do not merge the two on one timetable if the weather shifts with altitude. Square and cable car do not fit into a single half-day. Watch the ridge before you book the second day — cloud on Hafelekar can rewrite the plan.

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Population

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Highest peak in the range (m)

1500

Golden Roof completed