Explorer Innsbruck

The Golden Roof is a late Gothic oriel balcony on the Neuhof in Innsbruck's old town, completed around 1500 for Emperor Maximilian I. Its roof is covered with 2,657 fire-gilded copper tiles, and the balcony carries carved reliefs and painted coats of arms; from here the emperor watched tournaments and festivals on the square below. The building houses a small museum.

The Hofburg is the former Habsburg residence in Innsbruck, begun as a castle under Archduke Sigismund in the 15th century and enlarged by Emperor Maximilian I. Its Rococo form dates from rebuilding under Empress Maria Theresa in 1754–1773. Visitors see the imperial apartments, the Gothic cellar and the Giants' Hall with ceiling frescoes by Franz Anton Maulbertsch.

Innsbruck Cathedral, dedicated to St James, is a Baroque church built from 1717 to 1724 to designs by Johann Jakob Herkomer on the site of a 12th-century church. The Asam brothers painted and stuccoed its domed interior, and the high altar displays the Maria Hilf painting by Lucas Cranach the Elder. The north aisle holds the tomb of Archduke Maximilian III.

The Hofkirche is a Gothic court church in Innsbruck's old town, built from 1553 under Emperor Ferdinand I as a memorial to his grandfather Maximilian I. Its nave holds Maximilian's cenotaph, surrounded by 28 larger-than-life bronze figures known as the Schwarze Mander, and the tomb of the Tyrolean leader Andreas Hofer. Visitors enter through the Tyrolean Folk Art Museum.

Alpenzoo Innsbruck is a zoo devoted to the animals of the Alps, on the slope of the Nordkette below Hungerburg at about 750 metres. Founded by Hans Psenner in 1962 beside the Weiherburg, it keeps around 150 alpine species, among them ibex, bearded vultures and northern bald ibises, and has a farm with old Tyrolean livestock breeds.

The Nordkette Cable Car links Innsbruck with the Nordkette, the southernmost range of the Karwendel. The Hungerburgbahn funicular, with stations by Zaha Hadid, runs from the city centre to Hungerburg, where two cableways continue to Seegrube at 1,905 metres and Hafelekar at 2,269 metres. The first cableway opened in 1928.

The Tirol Panorama is a museum on Bergisel hill in Innsbruck, opened in 2011 to house the Innsbruck Giant Panorama Painting. The circular canvas, painted in 1896 and about 1,000 square metres in size, shows the 1809 Battle of Bergisel; the building also holds the Kaiserjäger Museum of the Tyrolean imperial infantry.

The Bergisel Ski Jump is a ski jumping hill on the Bergisel at the southern edge of Innsbruck, used for the 1964 and 1976 Winter Olympics and each year for a round of the Four Hills Tournament. Its present concrete tower was designed by Zaha Hadid in the early 2000s; an inclined lift takes visitors up to a viewing platform and a panoramic restaurant.

Ambras Castle is a Renaissance palace in the hills above Innsbruck, rebuilt in the 1560s for Archduke Ferdinand II of Tyrol on the site of a medieval fortress. The Lower Castle, built for his collections, holds armouries and the Chamber of Art and Curiosities; above it stand the Upper Castle and the Spanish Hall. It is run by the Kunsthistorisches Museum.

Hasegg Castle in Hall in Tirol was built around 1300 to guard the salt trade, the Inn bridge and the road. The mint moved here in 1567, and Hall struck Europe's first large silver coin, the Guldengroschen, in 1486. Today it houses the Hall Mint museum with demonstrations of historic coining, and the Mint Tower can be climbed.