My husband and I (for the second time this year) took a whirlwind European vacation a couple of weeks ago and hit four cities over the course of a week. Because we were only in each of them for a maximum of three days, I figured I’d distill my travel recommendations into a 24-hours post for each. (Shameless plug: tune in again this week on Thursday and Saturday for more overviews of my recent travels!) First up, the lovely Austrian town of Innsbruck. Famous for hosting the winter Olympics in 1964 and 1976, Innsbruck is a small city with ~130,000 people located in a valley that can make leaving and arriving by plane a bit tenuous (hello winds!). I really loved it there, as the overall feel is definitely one of community and beautiful architecture. Here are my picks if you only have a day to see the sights:

• By far the thing to do in Innsbruck is visit Nordkette by way of fernicular and cable cars. The “mountain at the heart of Innsbruck,” it is about a 20 minute ride to the top, with views that (even on our cloudy day!) took my breath away. We had walked around the town a bit before venturing upwards, and it was so fun to point out landmarks and watch the planes come in and go out through the valley.
  • There are a few hiking trails at the top of  the mountain, a bit of which is very doable if you happened to forget your hiking shoes (:raising-hand-emoji: I was wearing Birkenstocks and managed fine enough). The rocks can get a bit scrambly at times, so if you’re planning on any real hikes to or from the top, definitely be prepared with proper footwear and poles.
  • Stop on your way down for lunch at Nordkette Seegrube Restaurant. The menu is filled with traditional Austrian dishes, all of which go well with a high-altitude beer! Do not miss the Gulasch Spätzle. In the summer on Sundays there is live jazz accompanying brunch, and on Fridays, year-round, they offer a seasonal four-course meal that pairs perfectly with the view!
  • There are sheep that live on the mountain! You will for sure know this as soon as you get there as they leave, ahem, evidence…everywhere. They were released from their gated homes around 1pm when we visited, but I definitely recommend sticking around to watch them, as they’re very nimble on the steeply graded mountainside!
• Without delivering quite the views that Nordkette does, we also stopped by Caffee Lichtblick 360 for a drink with some friends and were very pleased with the view. Only a few stories up, the bar is 360 degrees of glass offering plenty of visibility into different areas of the city from a lower perspective. Also they had a few different beers on tap, which isn’t always the case in smaller cities.
• We also loved walking the old town area and Hofgarten. Both delivered on the beautiful architecture Austria is known for and a spaciousness not always found in older European cities. One of my favorite things to do in a new city is just wander until a new street, bar, or meal calls out for attention!

Anyone else visited Innsbruck lately? What did you see, eat, do, and look at?? Let us know in the comments!