4 Best Sights in Innsbruck, Tirol, and Vorarlberg, Austria

From the hill outside the church there is a wonderful view of the southwestern wall of the Old City, including the Beckenturm, the 16th-century tower once used as a prison and named after bakers imprisoned there for baking rolls that were too skimpy for the town fathers.

Go left from Belrupstrasse onto Maurachgasse. Walking up Maurachgasse, you'll reach the Stadtsteig guarding the entrance to the Old City, which bears the emblem of a Celtic-Roman equine goddess (the original is now housed in the Landesmuseum). Inside the gate are the coats of arms of the dukes of Bregenz and the dukes of Montfort, the latter crest now the Vorarlberg provincial emblem.

Innsbruck's looming City Tower was built in about 1460. It has a steep climb of 133 steps to the top, where the bulbous cupola was added in the 16th century, and from it there are magnificent views of the city and surrounding mountains. The 31-meter-high platform is a particularly good vantage point from which to view Helbling House on the corner across the square, right by Goldenes Dachl. This Gothic town house originally dates from the 15th century, though the colorful pink-and-white facade with its late-Baroque stuccos was added around 1730.

One of the icons of Innsbruck, the Roman-style Triumphal Arch was built in 1765 to commemorate both the marriage of emperor-to-be Leopold II (then Duke of Tuscany) to Spanish princess Maria Luisa, and the sudden death of Emperor Franz I, husband of Empress Maria Theresa. The south side clearly represents celebration, while the north side shows mourning motifs.