Dreamy Europe Trip Summer 2024 - Part 4 Innsbruck Old Town Austria

Innsbruck Old Town

It was our last day in Germany! I took the opportunity in the morning to meet up with my highschool friend who recently moved to Munich. She and her hubby were nice enough to meet us at a cafe very close to our hotel. After our quick catch-up, we went to a grocery shop. Yes, I am at the age where shopping abroad involves grocery shopping lol. There was something that I wanted to bring home from Germany: bread flour. I jumped on to the sourdough baking wagon during the pandemic and still continues to bake regularly. One thing I realize is that we can’t really get nice bread flour in Jakarta. At least not at a decent price. Meanwhile I know Europe has a wide variety of strong flour so I wanted to bring some home. I got myself a kilo each of 3 different types of organic flour, and a few packs of dry pasta made from the same flour. We then walked around the neighborhood until it was time to check out of our hotel and pick up our rental car.

We checked out of the hotel without a problem, but we were met with one. How do we haul the luggages from the hotel to the rental office? Since Miss Kiki is now old enough to be on her own, we decided to ask her to stay behind at the hotel with our luggages while DH and I went to the rental office by train. 

When we arrived at Sixt car rental, the “Audi Q3 or similar” that I had booked turned out to be some Chinese car. Of course, this is not acceptable. We were renting a car in Germany, there’s no way I would classify some unknown Chinese car with an Audi! Unfortunately, the only other options they had in the garage were an Audi station wagon (too long) or a BMW X5 (too big). After much contemplation and negotiations, we chose the X5. We figured we’ll worry about the small European streets later when we get there :D

Overall the X5 was a nice ride, fast and responsive, but has an overly sensitive sensors. It started to get annoying when we were in Italy where everything was a lot tighter, and even more so in France. The driving comfort, however, is undeniable.

We drove from the car rental office to the hotel to get Miss Kiki and our luggages, and took the autobahn to Innsbruck, Austria. This ride on the autobahn was another thing that I really looked forward to.  Despite being a defensive driver, I do love driving fast when I can. Sadly for me, the autobahn was full of constructions. Most of it had a speed limit of 110 or 90 km/h, and when there was no limit, it was only a short stretch that we couldn’t get to speed before having to slow down again.

Before entering Austria, we stopped at a gas station and bought a vignette. This is a sticker that is proof of toll payment in some European countries. For our itinerary though, the vignette was only necessary for Austria.

Inside the BMW X5

In Innsbruck, we stayed at the cute Alpen-style Alphotel Innsbruck just for one night. With this time limit, I had to be selective and efficient with our visits. We didn’t waste much time after check-in, we left our car in the hotel parking lot and took the bus to the Old Town.

The Innsbruck Old Town was lively, clean, and very busy. One of the main attractions there is the Golden Roof, built in year 1500. Apparently though, the works of art on the outside is now copies and the protected originals can be seen inside the museum.

Also in Innsbruck, the Swarovski shop is popular with the tourists. We all went to check it out but didn’t end up buying anything. This day was also the first time we tried using the app Too Good To Go, where you can buy perfectly fine food at a discounted price just because they had extras. We ordered a surprise bag from a bakery that seemed popular there called Ruetz. I think we paid around 5 Euros and we got a big bag of goodies that lasted us for the rest of the week :D

Bus Ticket Vending Machine

Innsbruck Old Town

Hard Rock Cafe Innsbruck

Innsbruck Old Town

Spacious Alleys in Innsbruck

Swarovski Crown

Bread from To Good To Go

Yummy goodies

By the Golden Roof

Starbucks Innsbruck Mugs and Tumblers

The Golden Roof

Restaurant in an alley in Innsbruck Old Town

After we had enough of the hustle and bustle of the old town, we ventured a little out towards the river. This is where you can view the multi-coloured row of buildings that is iconic to Innsbruck. The river current was pretty strong, and it was a windy day. We took some pictures from the bridge and realized that we were getting hungry. Browsing Google Maps for restaurants, I found one that has very good reviews across the river and a bit up. We decided to give it a try. We walked and walked and walked, uphill, through some constructions, and finally we arrived at Burenwirt.

At Burenwirt, we ordered a couple of dishes to share for the three of us. We’ve learnt from our experience the day before that European servings are way too big for us. Of course, we ordered a schnitzel, and another dish recommended by the server. Both were very delicious and we were stuffed. After we were done and they cleared out our dishes, one of the server, an older lady came and brought 4 shots of pine liquor. This liquor is a specialty for the area. And yes, 4 shots. One for each of us including the server lady and Miss Kiki :D Cheers! The pine liquor was yummy, but DH ended up finishing off mine and Miss Kiki’s share. Had I finish the shot it wouldn’t have been a pretty sight lol.

After finishing one of the best meals we had in Europe, we walked down the hill towards the old town again. We waited for the bus and went back to the hotel. 

Up next, was our adventure at the Top of Innsbruck!