Day #212 - Innsbruck, Austria

Lake Constance - Bregenz, Austria

Autumn in Austria

Looking out from the viewing dock on Lake Constance

Bregenz - surrounded by mountains

Tuesday, October 12th

Today was a lengthy travel day as I took the train out of Zurich into Austria. This is my first time into Austria on this trip (connected through Vienna in past) -- seems surprising to me.

The train from Zurich goes through several city/towns that I'd like to visit as I make my way across the country. Connections go through Bregenz, Innsbruck, Salszburg, Lech, and Vienna. I plan to spend at least a little time in each place.

It took a couple hours to get to Bregenz - at the western tip of Austria. I decided to walk around a little bit. Bregenz sits on Lake Constance (the Bodensee). Lake Constance crosses the borders of Germany, Switzerland, and Austria. It's known as a big-time resort area - popular for fishing, hiking, boating, etc. Bregenz is also very popular for the 'Bregenz Festival' - a summer music festival along the shores of the Lake. Pretty neat place to visit. The scenery around the lake was spectacular.

I next jumped back on the train and continued on to Innsbruck. Innsbruck is known as a major winter sports destination. It's also a big mountaineering area. I saw a huge indoor climbing center as I passed through town. The city is one of 3 cities in the world (St. Moritz, Switzerland and Lake Placid, New York) that have twice hosted the Winter Olympic Games. Innsbruck hosted in 1964 and 1976. Due to its altitude and position in Central Europe far from the coast, Innsbruck gets very cold. It's average annual temperature is 48 deg F.

I really didn't see much in Innsbruck today. It was nearly dark when I arrived by train. I had to get to my hotel up on this mountain. I plan to walk around tomorrow morning. What I did see was a bit surprising. It kind of felt like a pretty big city with alot of activity. Thinking about it though, if this place has hosted the Winter Games recently, it has to have some size and attractions. I keep confusing ski resorts and ski cities. Denver and Salt Lake City are ski cities (hub locations were skiers will gather) - but most of the resorts are a little ways out. I think Innsbruck falls into the 'ski city' group -- I'll find out more tomorrow.

Good night from Austria.