INNSBRUCK AUSTRIA
A 5-night Travel Guide for Families with Autistic Children
Useful information for Families Travelling with Autistic / ADHD Children
IN-GUIDE QUICK LINKS
Our Itinerary
DAY ONE
Taxi to Apartment, arrive at 1pm. hosts kindly agreed to early check-in.
Enjoy a pre-packed lunch from home in the apartment.
Find the bus stop and get the A bus into the Old Town
Explore the Easter market by the river with kids activities and great street food.
Buy groceries and head back to apartment
Dine in.
DAY TWO
Clear weather so decide to go tothe Nordkette - the Top of Innsbruck!
This is a full day trip, we leave to catch the bus around 9:30am.
We pack a picnic lunch to have at the top of the mountain, thermal wet weather gear to change into and lots of snacks. After a funicular and 2 cable cars and a 15 minute walk we make it to Hafeleker - a viewing platform at the top of the Nordkette. It stands an impressive altitude of 2234m above sea level.
It is a magical experience!
The boys have so much fun exploring and throwing snowballs they are too tired to visit the Alpine Zoo on the way back down so we go straight to the bototom and then spend some time relaxing in a nearby park before heading home.
Arrive back to the apartment around 4pm.
Dine in.
DAY THREE
A more relaxed morning, as not leaving apartment until 10am.
Catch the bus into the Old Town and then transfer onto the No.6 Forest Tram (25 minute wait).
Travel through the hills up to Lanser See, the stop before the destination town of Igls.
Starting by Lake Lans, we enjoy a leisurely walk through the scenic wooded mountain side, stopping for a picnic lunch.
The final part of our walk down the hills takes us to the Tantegert Alpine playground with stunning mountain views. Once the boys have finished playing we catch the No 6. tram back into Innsbruck from the nearby Tantegert Tram Stop.
Pick up more groceries and arrive back at apartment around 4:30pm
Dine in.
DAY FOUR
Leave around 9:30am and catch the bus into Innsbruck.
Catch the M Tram and get off at the stop for Castle Ambrass where we have fun exploring the castle grounds before sitting down for a picnic lunch in the old courtyard.
After lunch we do a steep 1km walk through the woods to Tummelplatz which is a stop on the No.6 Tram route and take the tram one stop to Bretterkeller. After another very steep 750m walk up hill from the tram stop we arrive at the museum of Tyrol Panorama - there is a rotunda nearby that has incredible views across Innsbruck and the valley.
We skip the museum and treat ourselves to cake and refreshments in the neighbouring Restaurant 1809 a bar / cafe with a great kids section and comfy seating plus awesome views.
After snacks we do a further 1km round trip walk which takes us past Bergisel, the Olypmic ski jump and olympic rings. By this point the boys were tired and had no more energy to visit the Drachenfelson Observation Platform with its transparent vewing platform suspended over the Sill Gorge.
Catch a bus from the Museum forecourt back to Innsbruck town and then made our way home.
Dine in.
DAY FIVE
Our last full day (also Easter Saturday).
All the walking during the week is beginning to catch up with the boys, so we keep it simple and take the bus to the Old Town and stroll gently along the pedestrianised Museumstraße with is cafes and lively buskers. rom there we head to the main town square making sure to spot the town's famous Golden Roof which features 2657 gold shingles that shimmer in the sun.
From there we meander through the old town's winding alleyways to Innsbruck's Hofgarten, once the gardens of its former Imperial Palace, now freely open to the public each day. The boys are delighted to discover fortress themed wooden playground.
After playtime we go back to the main square and enjoy an Easter morning treat of traditional austrian pastries in Cafe Katzung - absolutely delicious and worth the price!
Back to our apartment for lunch and some downtime in the afternoon.
Around 3:30pm we explore one of the walking trails behind the apartment and do one final uphill hike to the Gruener Boden Forest Playground. The boys moan all the way up but love it when we get there! We complete our holiday with a short walk through the forest and loop down a valley to get back to the apartment.
Spend the evening packing for our flight back to London in the morning.
DAY SIX
Depart Innsbruck, return flight to London Gatwick.
INNSBRUCK PHOTO GALLERY
Scenic mountains, enchanted woodlands and a picturesque old town by a river - Innsbruck has magic at its heart!
We went with no expectations and found a family friendly city that offered our autistic boys the chance for new experiences in truly stunning scenery. Below are a few of our favourite moments from our 5 night stay in this beautiful country.
GETTING THERE
BY PLANE
We flew to Innsbruck Airport from Gatwick with Easy Jet. The flight took 1hr 30mins.
It was an early start, the taxi picked us up at 5am - it was very tempting to book an airport hotel! Fif you are considering this option make sure to read our article Top Tips for Staying in an Airport Hotel with autistic children.
Innsbruck airport is very small, with only a handful of gates. In the departure lounge there is one central cafe and a few shops.
On arrival we disembarked down stairs onto the tarmac and walked across to the arrival / departure terminal. The ground crew were pretty relaxed and let us take our time, this meant that F had the chance to have his photo taken beside the plane with the mountains in the background; we'd barely arrived and were already ticking boxes!
There were three passport gates in operation so we didnt have to wait too long before walking directly to the luggage carousels where our suitcases were already out!
AIRPORT TRANSFERS
The airport is located very near the town, so it would be easy to use a bus to get to your accommodation. However with two tired boys and our usual mountain of luggage we opted to get a taxi from the rank just outside. We werent staying in the centre so our transfer took a bit longer, about 13 minutes. On the morning of our departure we booked a transfer using the Uber App. The airport taxi cost us 25 euros while the Uber ride was only 15 euros.
SENSORY ENVIRONMENT
Innsbruck was a beautiful and peaceful place to visit, and it was very accessible to our autistic family.
The mountainous landscape of this city offered lots of opportunities for a boys to play and explore - and we all benefitted from the time we spent outside as a family.
NATURE ACTIVITIES
We all loved Innsbruck - and spent most our time outside, walking in the forest and woods, throwing snowballs, climbing to viewpoints and exploring the beautiful old town. There was so much space for the boys to run, move, climb and play and they loved going into the hills and finding the mountain playgrounds. Just being outside in the fresh air, feeling the wind and the sun was very uplifting.
NO CROWDS
We visited during the second half of the Easter break which included Good Friday, Easter Saturday and Easter Sunday. We were pleasantly surprised by the lack of crowds, and had expected it to be much busier.
Admittedly there were plenty of tourists and some tour groups on the day we went to the Top of Innsbruck, but this is the main attraction in Innsbruck and we had anticipated it would be busy. We spent the morning of Easter Saturday exploring the old town and Botanic garden, and once again while there was a nice atmosphere and plenty of people strolling around we still found it very easy to find a table for cake and coffee!
Generally speaking we saw very few people, paticularly up in the mountains where there are simply miles of trails for hiking, walking and cycling.
FAMILY FRIENDLY
We felt families were welcomed in the town, and the people we met in shops or at attractions were all very friendly. Even our fellow passengers on the buses and trams showed admirable patience; the boys approach to transport can sometimes be quite loud and boistrous!
There were also lots of nice touches that had clearly been designed with the child experience in mind. They were some really excellent family attractions and there were lots of great woodland palygrounds to discover with simply breathtaking views.
MEDICAL EMERGENCIES
This is the pan-European emergency number and can be called for any type of emergency. It is a free number which can be dialled from any landline or mobile phone.
If you need urgent or emergency help in Austria call 112
Operators speak English and will connect you to local services. If in doubt, or if you are worried about being able to explain the emergency in Germany, this is the number to use.
If you know you want an ambulance you can call 144 directly
You can also download the 112 Where Are U app, the European emergency number app.
The number 114 provides the same pan-European assistance for people with hearing difficulties.
SLEEPING
Chalet style serviced apartment with incredible mountain views.
Kasperhof Apartments
Booking.com or book direct
Our initial plan had been to find a self-catering apartment in the Old Town. However the Easter period put the prices up and the best I could find for our budget was a one bed apartment without a balcony.
Widening my search area I discovered there were some really good options outside of the main town and we ended up booking a lovely 2 bedroom self-catering apartment in a family owned complex of six apartments across the river in the surrounding hills. It was approximately 12 minutes from the old town by bus, and the bus stop was just outside.
We all loved the space, especially as its balcony had a fantastic view of the airport in the valley, surrounded by mountains. With only around 6 flights a day, the boys looked up the flights schedules and eagerly anticipated watching the planes take off and land!
There were plenty of hill walks directly from the complex, a cafe onsite that opened Fri - Sunday and some restaurants very close by. We wouldnt hesitate to return.
EATING & DRINKING
SELF CATERING
Our plan for our stay in Innsbruck was to self-cater our meals, mainly as a way of helping to keep costs down, and because the boys don’t do well in restaurants. To make sure the boys would feel relaxed enough to eat normally we packed plenty of safe foods from home including marmite, oat cakes, oat milk, nomo chocolate and fruit yoyo's. The rest we were able to buy from local supermarkets.
SUPERMARKETS
MPREIS, SPAR, BILLA, HOFER (Austrian Aldi)
We stuck to our self-catering plan and visited each of the supermarkets listed above during our days out. Our nearest was the MPREIS which did a good range of fresh products. We did treat ourselves to the occasional Austrian pastry!
The retail trade is closed on Sundays and on weekday evenings. Most food retailers are also only open on weekdays (Monday to Saturday). On some weekdays, however, some shops are open until 8.00 pm. Usual shop opening hours are Mon - Fri from 8.00 am to 6.00 pm and Sat from 8.00 am to 12.00 pm. A lunch break is only to be expected for smaller retailers.
Exceptions to this are some bakeries in Innsbruck and various shops in tourist communities, which are also open on Sundays.
MARKETS
I have a total weak spot when it comes to markets and farm shops so I was delighted to discover the fun Easter Market by the riverside on our first afternoon. We had fun improving our supermarket shop with produce from the various stalls and bought cheese, cured meats and chocolate! It was also a good excuse to try some traditional street food, I think the potate spiral with paprika spices is quite possible the best fried food I've ever had!
ALCOHOL
There were no special rules governing the sale of alcohol and we able to buy beer or wine in the supermarkets.
TRANSPORT OPTIONS
Innsbruck has a great public transport systemwith vey reliable buses and trams as well as trains that connect it to the other main cities in Austria.
WELCOME CARD / INNSBRUCK CARD
It was an unexpected to surprise to discover that our accommodation hosts were affiliated with the Innsbruck tourist board. This meant we were presented with the Welcome + card for 4 people when we checked in - and discovered that once we registered we would be entitled to use the city's main buses and trams completely free of charge! It also gave us a 10% discount on the cable car / funicular to the Top of Innsbruck.
If your accommodation is not registered for the Welcome Card, then you could consider buying the tourist Innsbruck Card which also entitles the holder to free public transport and use of the cable cars / funicular to the Top of Innsbruck.
This was such a bonus and we made full use of it.
FAVOURITE JOURNEYS
Our favourite journey was on the Number 6 "Forest Tram".
There are also buses that run between the main peaks, which makes it possible to get pretty high up the mountains without using the more expensive funicular and cable car options.
GENERAL HEALTHCARE
FREE HEALTHCARE
As of Jan 2024 UK residents can access medically necessary healthcare when visiting mainland europe if they have obtained an EHIC, Global Health Insurance Card (GHIC) or a UK European Health Insurance Card (UK EHIC) issued by the UK government.
EVERY member of the family needs their own card.
However you SHOULD STILL take out travel insurance as this may not cover all medical costs e.g. repatriation.
You will need to pay a fee to access non-urgent public medical services in Austria.
For more information visit our travel family health page: Travelling with medicines and medical conditions.
DOCTORS
You can access an english speaking GP using a private provider such as Mobidoctors - online consultations start from 38 euros. A general practitioner is called "Allgemeinmediziner", "praktischer Arzt" or "Hausarzt".
PHARMACIES
These are located throughout the region and are a good place to start for advice. They're usually open until 18h00, some close during lunch time.
There is a helpful website which shows you where the pharmacies are and their opening times - PHARMACY SEARCH
Every night one of the pharmacies takes over the "emergency service". They're open all night long, but they're allowed to demand a surcharge on the normal price of their products (usually around 3 to 4 €). Every pharmacy will display the name & addresse of that day's emergency pharmacy at their front door.
HOSPITALS
The main hospital in Innsbruck - the Landeskrankenhaus Universitätsklinik Innsbruck has an excellent reputation.
There is also the A.ö. State Hospital - University Hospital Innsbruck, Anichstraße 35, A - 6020 Innsbruck - Phone: 050 504-0
Vaccine recommendations and health risks
At least 8 weeks before your trip:
check the latest vaccine recommendations for Austria
see where to get vaccines and whether you have to pay on the NHS travel vaccinations page
Tick-borne diseases are a risk throughout Austria, particularly in woodland and other outdoor areas with long grass. For information on avoiding tick bites read here.
Altitude sickness is a risk in the mountainous parts of Austria. Read more about altitude sickness on TravelHealthPro.
SOME FINAL THOUGHTS....
We absolutely loved Innsbruck. We spent most of our time together outdoors in what can only be described as stunning scenery. Whatever the season I genuinely don't think you'll be disappointed by what this town has to offer. Oh, and the food was fabulous!
For more information on packing when travelling with autistic children visit our Packing Essentials page.