We’re finally at the last Eurotrip destination! Our final stop in Austria was Innsbruck, neatly residing within a valley between two large mountain ranges. After nearly a month of traveling, we took a more relaxed approach to the few remaining days we had left, turning down the notch on what we wanted to see and just spent time strolling the city or resting at the hotel. We were fortunate enough to have beautiful clear skies throughout our entire stay as well, making it a nice end to our long trip.

Day 21

Taking the train from Salzburg and dropping our bags at our hotel, we decided to use the remaining time in the day to walk along Maria Theresien Street to see the Golden Roof in old town. It’s was hard to miss the mountain that towered over us and I was completely in awe of it since I’d never really seen anything quite like them before. I found myself continually taking photos as we walked along the street.

Old town is encapsulated by lovely and brightly painted buildings with cute hanging baskets of red and pinks flowers along the window sills. The architecture of the area contrasts greatly, with the more simple buildings right across the road from the baroque work of Helbling House. The centerpiece of the courtyard is the Golden Roof, built in 1500, it shows its age while still being quite a marvel to look at. The building behind serves as a museum documenting the history of Emperor Maximilian I and the construction and meaning behind some of the elements of the roof’s carvings.

Day 22

On the other side of the valley, you can clearly see the Bergisel Ski Jump poking up from the mountain side. We made the mistake of walking up the mountain (which is fine but very steep and we weren’t ready for it) but eventually found our way up. The views from the top gave an unreal perspective of the city and the surrounding mountain ranges. We were also treated to a ski jumper actually practicing on the slope despite it being summer, using watered over grass to ease the landing.

Later that day, we rode the ‘forest tram’ to the end of the line and back. The relaxing trip weaves its way through the southern woods of Innsbruck before coming out to the regional districts. It’s strange to look at pictures of the area during the winter, covered in snow and extending on forever, I’m glad we got to see it during the summer months in its full colourful potential.

Day 23

For our last day, we took a bus out of the city and headed towards the quiet town of Meiders. We had come here for one reason and one reason alone – to ride the alpine coaster down the slope of the mountain. I wasn’t game enough to take my camera out during the ride in fear of losing it but here’s a clip from a more brave rider.

The video doesn’t do justice to the speed you can fly along at when you use no brakes. The change in the course as you start zipping around the gondola polls before finding yourself off in the woods and speeding up over the steep parts of the rails is exhilarating and luckily we went on a quiet day where we had the track basically to ourselves.

While I didn’t take many pictures of the coaster itself, the top of the slope of course has some great views of the surrounding scenery. The mountain peaks around almost didn’t seem real, like they were from a ride for a theme park, almost too perfect. We stayed up there for a while admiring the views before walking back through the town and catching our bus back to the city. The remainder of our day was spent resting up and buying last minute gifts before it was time to leave.

The next day we we would catch a train all the way into Germany with a flight back to Rome, before leaving to come back home to Australia the following day. Our first time travelling through Europe initially seemed so daunting but after all the planning and stressing, the trip ended up being so worthwhile and memorable. Hopefully this wasn’t my last trip through the continent and there are more adventures to come :).