You may know Innsbruck’s ski slopes and incredible medieval Old Town, but visit in the summer and discover the sunny side of a destination made for family adventures in the mountains.
Natterersee, Innsbruck © Innsbruck Tourismus / Natterersee
Innsbruck in summer: a tale of two destinations in one easy trip
You get two for the price of one in Innsbruck this summer, because a trip to this historic destination brings you to the doorstep of the Austrian Alps, meaning you can combine an educational European city break with a nature paradise of lush meadows, mountain lakes, and hundreds of family-friendly activities. What’s more, the flight time from the UK is only two hours, so you can be in the mountains in no time.
Innsbruck sits at the foot of the Nordkette mountain range, and is accessible from the city in minutes via cable car. In the summer, the Nordkette and the surrounding ranges transform into an active playground for families, full of hiking trails, refreshing lakes, mountain playgrounds, treasure hunts, and a full programme of events for families throughout the season.
Innsbruck Old Town, © Innsbruck Tourismus / Christof Lackner
Two destinations, and two cards to get the best of them
Visitors to Innsbruck won’t regret grabbing an Innsbruck Card, for free travel across the city’s public transport network, including the hop-on-hop-off Sightseer bus. The card also gives you free entrance to 22 local attractions such as Swarovski Crystal Worlds, the Alpine Zoo, the Bergisel Stadium and Ski Jump, and the Imperial Palace.
You can buy an Innsbruck Card online or at tourist information centres, hotel receptions, museums and Innsbruck airport.
Then there’s the Welcome Card, which is given free to guests, staying two or more nights, at partner establishments in Innsbruck. As well as discounts on a range of attractions, the Welcome Card lets you travel free on public transport around the entire Innsbruck region, including the city, and covers cable car rides like the Hungerburgbahn: a buggy-friendly cable car route taking you into the heart of the Nordkette mountains – see the summer cable cars timetable.
If all that isn’t quite generous enough, the card also allows families to take part in the Innsbruck Summer Active Programme for free. The programme runs from 28 May to 27 October 2025 and offers fun stuff like family hikes – including barefoot ones – trips to the summit of the Azamer Lizum, a Three Lakes tour, and even an adventure where the forest serves as an escape room, which is just as exciting as it sounds.
Hiking is a top family activity in Innsbruck © Innsbruck Tourismus / Christian Vorhofer
Geocaching – hiking with a twist
How do you make a family hike even more exciting? Go Geocaching!
Combine a hike with a treasure hunt in the Tyrolean Alps, and you’ll be Geocaching – outdoor puzzle fun that everyone in the family can get involved with, at various locations, most offering ‘multi cache’ rewards, so you get to know a new place whilst finding your caches.
Geographic coordinates are used to solve puzzles and discover different areas around the Innsbruck region, such as the Stöttlalm in Mieming – a beautiful restaurant by a lake – or Rietz, a village in the central upper Inn valley with a large number of churches and chapels. The parish church and pilgrimage church high above Rietz are well known, and seeking the cache takes you on a lovely walk around the town.
Family hiking © Innsbruck Tourismus / Kathrin Baumann
But don’t forget regular hiking: an Innsbruck classic
The hikes around Innsbruck in summer are numerous, and there are plenty of family-friendly, shorter hikes for smaller kids. The hiking trails go all around the Nordkette and the Mutteralm, and popular family hikes include the Nordkette Perspective Trail on the Seegrube, and the ascent to Hafelekar summit: known as the ‘Top of Innsbruck’, and where you’ll find breathtaking city and valley views.
From the Muttereralm mountain station at 1,620m, the Innsbrucker Almenweg – a wide forest trail that is also suitable for all-terrain wheelchairs and prams – leads to the Kreither Alm at 1,492m with a vital stop for refreshments around an hour into the hike, where you can sample local dumplings and homemade cake to refuel for the trip back down.
Those seeking a more challenging climb will love the Goetheweg, one of the most beautiful and spectacular high-altitude hiking trails in Austria, which starts from the mountain station on the Hafelekar and leads along the ridge with a few ascents and descents to the Pfeishütte at 1,922m.
Mountain carts, Mutterer Alm © Innsbruck Tourismus / Christian Vorhofer
Ride the mountain carts at Muttereralm
Muttereralm is the adventure mountain of the Nordkette range. Perfect for families, it offers adventure playgrounds, motor skills activity stations, a panoramic lake, mill wheels, a nature trail, a house on stilts, and mountain carts. A bit like tobogganing for the summer months, they are a fun way to get down the hillside, and if you’ve got kids under 10, they can ride with you. There’s also a mountain railway going right to the summit, and if you’re mountain bikers, you can take the single trail instead of the carts.
The Muttereralm adventure area is located between the reservoir, the Sennalm and the mountain station, with its wooden water wheel being one of the highlights of the “Magic Water”. There are watercourses, ponds and places to splash around, and even handy tree trunks for balancing. It’s a great spot for a rest, and the panoramic views don’t hurt either.
Innsbruck old town © Innsbruck Tourism/Christian Vorhofer
Get into the city sights of summer Innsbruck
You can’t do summer in Innsbruck without taking in its famous medieval Old Town, and arguably its most famous feature, the Golden Roof. This three-storey balcony adorned with 2,657 gilded copper tiles, dates back to 1500, and is held as a prime example of late Gothic to early Renaissance architecture. Its 18 reliefs also rank among the world’s most important examples of Tyrolean art, so make sure you get a good look.
The Old Town itself with its narrow streets and colourful buildings has a fun vibe, and spots like Maria-Theresia-Street are great places to stop and watch the world go by.
Don’t miss the Imperial Palace and the Court Church, which houses the Museum of Tyrolean Folk Art: one of the best heritage museums in Europe. St. James’ Cathedral, a baroque masterpiece, is close to the Imperial Palace too. But if you want the ultimate overview of Innsbruck old town and the surrounding mountains, climb up the 133 steps to the viewing platform at the top of the City Tower; it might feel like an energy investment, but it’s totally worth it for the panorama.
Jump into an Innsbruck summer holiday ©innsbrucktourismus
Make a splash in the region’s lakes during summer in Innsbruck
There are plenty of opportunities to swim in and around Innsbruck, with five natural lakes and eight outdoor pools, as well as a selection of indoor pools and saunas should you need heating up.
The Rossau bathing lake in Innsbruck, known by the locals as “Baggersee”, is a favourite with families, with a diving centre, dinghy boats, non-swimmers area, play stream and sunbathing area, as well as a spacious sports area for youngsters, and a large children’s playground with table tennis, outdoor chess, and crazy golf.
Lake Lanser is enduringly popular, with its water lilies in June and July, diving platform, playground and shallow bathing area for kids, though depths of up to 12m in other parts. Natterer See has an average temperature of 22°C, and a children’s bathing area complete with sandy beach.
While the lake at Untermieming has child-friendly banks and steeper areas, as well as four jetties that provide easy access to the water. There’s also an adventure bridge with a diving board and climbing nets, several diving points, floating docks, a water trampoline and a beach volleyball court, a playground and a children’s bay.