Tyrol


 * This article is about the Austrian region. For the Italian part of Tyrol, see South Tyrol.

Tyrol is one of the Lande (states) of Austria, in the heart of the Alps. It consists of North and East Tyrol, separated by a strip of Salzburg and Italy. North Tyrol consists of eight districts; East Tyrol of just one, Lienz. The historical region extends into modern Italy.

Regions
These subregions are the administrative districts, which don't really correspond to tourist or travel regions. As most roads follow the valley and passes between them, the natural regions are valleys (German: tal). The Lower Inn Valley is large and covers much of central Tyrol.

Innsbruck Land and Innsbruck Stadt

 * — the state capital
 * — home of the Swarovski Crystal Company
 * — home of the Swarovski Crystal Company
 * — home of the Swarovski Crystal Company
 * — home of the Swarovski Crystal Company

Kitzbühel

 * – a medieval town; famous and exclusive ski resort

Kufstein

 * — last Austrian town in the Inn valley near the German border

Landeck

 * – in Stanzer Valley
 * – in Paznaun Valley
 * – in Paznaun Valley
 * – in Paznaun Valley
 * – in Paznaun Valley
 * – in Paznaun Valley

Reutte

 * — a popular destination for outdoor enthusiasts year-round at the foot of the Zugspitze, Germany's highest peak
 * — a popular destination for outdoor enthusiasts year-round at the foot of the Zugspitze, Germany's highest peak

Schwaz

 * – The largest town in the Achen Valley and popular ski resort in winter with extensive ski infrastructure. It sits at the border with Bavaria.
 * – In the Achen valley
 * – In the Achen valley
 * – A small town deep in the Rofan mountain range
 * – ski area with thermal
 * – In the Achen valley
 * – A small town deep in the Rofan mountain range
 * – ski area with thermal

East Tyrol

 * – at Großglockner
 * – at Großglockner

Other destinations
Innsbruck Land and Innsbruck Stadt:
 * – a Glacier

Imst:

Kufstein:

Landeck:

Schwaz:
 * — the largest alm in Europe and one of the most remote settlements in the Alps

East Tyrol:
 * – at the largest nature reserve in the Alps, including the Grossglockner and Grossvenediger massifs.

Understand


North Tyrol borders the German state of Bavaria to the north, Vorarlberg to the west, the Swiss canton Graubünden to the south-west, Salzburg to the east. South Tyrol is in Italy, part of Trentino-Alto Adige.

Like its sister provinces of Bavaria in Germany and Salzburgerland in Austria, Tyrol is the very definition of the Germanic Alpine stereotype. Full of romantic lakes and castles and beer-drinking lederhosen-clad locals playing oom-pa-pa music and marching in bands, the place can seem a bit of a fairy tale to the visitor at times. Innsbruck is the only real "bigger" city, with the rest a beautiful natural panorama. The roads get clogged with tourists in the summer and winter months.

Talk
As in nearly all of Austria, Austro-Bavarian is the main everyday spoken language of Tyrol (except in Reutte district where it is Alemannic). The Tyrolean dialect is even often tricky to understand for residents of eastern Austria (including Vienna) let alone from northern Germany. But, as in all of Austria, standard (Austrian) German is the official language used in all official publications and schools, so the vast majority speaks it, and in Innsbruck basically everyone is fluent. English is spoken by most educated middle aged and young people, and Italian is also quite prevalent due to the proximity of the South Tyrolian border and a small immigrant community in Innsbruck. Tyroleans greet each other with Servus rather than the more common Grussgott elsewhere in Austria.

By plane
The main entry point by air is the  which has scheduled flights to Vienna Airport, Frankfurt Airport, London, Amsterdam Schiphol, Graz, Nice, Hannover, Stavanger, Alghero, Gothenburg and Olbia. EasyJet also offers weekly low cost direct flights from Bristol on Fridays. Schedules may differ in winter.

Munich Airport, 2.5 hours away by road transport, is another alternative. There are vans that will meet you at Munich Airport and take you directly to your lodging in or around Innsbruck for the price of a comparable train ticket.

The has a  asphalt runway but no scheduled services.

By train
Considering the topography rail connections are impressive and a highly scenic and relaxing way to see the Tyrol. Trains also connect the "three Tyrols" via rail and tunnels.

Innsbruck has connections to all major cities in Austria such as Vienna, Graz, Salzburg, Linz and Bregenz.

Between Munich and Innsbruck, there is usually one train per hour with stops at Kufstein, Wörgl and Jenbach and trip times between 2:20 and 2:50.

See Austrian Federal Railways (ÖBB) site.

By ski
Skiing into Tyrol is very easy from Switzerland when crossing the Silvretta above Samnaun. The mountain ridge is the border between Switzerland and Austria, and multiple lifts take skiers to the ridge from either side. Descending the mountain on one side leads back to Switzerland, the other side leads into Tyrol. There is no border checkpoint for obvious practical reasons and because both countries are members of the Schengen treaty, but skiers with a keen eye for detail may notice a ceremonial border guard who "patrols" the border on skis!

Get around
The alpine geography creates obvious chokepoints for both road and rail traffic and during busy times there may be restrictions on driving with visitors using local roads having to prove they are indeed visiting local accommodation and not transiting the country. Many road and rail tunnels have already been built, but the politically contentious situation is likely to remain difficult until the opening of the Brenner Base Tunnel which will hopefully divert a significant share of transiting freight transport from road to rail. If you can arrange a rail based troop to your destination, do so for the sake of your own sanity.

Do

 * Erlebnistherme Zillertal in Kapfing has indoor and outdoor pools and wellness including water slides and fun park.
 * Erlebnistherme Zillertal in Kapfing has indoor and outdoor pools and wellness including water slides and fun park.

Eat

 * Tiroler Speck - a juniper-flavored ham

Go next

 * Bolzano/Bozen — capital of South Tyrol
 * Brenner Pass and Timmelsjoch are scenic ways of getting into Italy.