A winter walk through the park at Ambras Castle

Difficulty

easy

Walking time total

50MIN

Max. route length

2.4 KM

Starting point

Ambras Castle

Endpoint

Ambras Castle

GPX Download Route to start

Ambras Castle is a stately building that towers up high above Innsbruck to the south-east of the city. The castle is surrounded by an extensive park with plenty of different terrain, from areas that are almost flat to much steeper sections. The main entrance is on the south-western side, directly off the road that leads up to the village of Aldrans.

If you take Postbus 4134 and get off at the "Schloss Ambras" stop, you will be standing right by the entrance. Alternatively, you can take tram no. 6 (the "Igler" tram) to the "Tummelplatz" stop. From there, it's only a short walk through the forest to the castle. Or take the Sightseer bus, which stops right in front of the entrance to the lower castle.

There is an attractive entrance on the north-western side of the walled park.

To get to this entrance, known as the "Schneiderhäusl-Tor" or the "Schneidertörl", you can take tram no. 3 to the "Philippine-Welser-Straße" stop. The walk from there to the park leads through the idyllic Amras district, which has a real village feel, along the roads Kirchsteig and Bichlweg and under the motorway underpass. On the other side of the underpass, you'll see a concrete staircase on your left.

This small entrance is named after the observation pavilion located there. It is a remnant of St. George's Church, which was endowed by Archduke Sigmund the Rich before being damaged by a stream and subsequently secularised. The building was used as a residence by a tailor for many years and parts were later demolished.

If you keep left at the turnoff and continue walking for just a few minutes, you will come to a votive chapel. The path continues from there, taking walkers into the romantic, natural part of the castle park with its steep cliffs, small gorges and valleys, wooden bridges and sometimes very dense mixed forest. If you continue along the winding paths from there, which can be steep in places, you will come to the artificial waterfall and Ferdinand hill, which drops off steeply on the eastern side.

On the right, paths lead up past the striking stair tower to the Renaissance garden on the south side of the upper castle. There you will find the Keuchengarten, named after the former prison tower (the "Keuchen"), the Bacchus grotto (rock cavern) and, at the level of the lower castle, the Venetian fountain.

The landscaped gardens extend out to the west of the castle and include a lawn and a large pond. The peacocks of Ambras Castle, which are a popular photo motif, roam around in this area, including the white peacock Weißkunig. If you follow any of the paths leading downhill towards the Nordkette mountain range, they will bring you back to the Schneidertörl entrance.

Arrival, public transport

In the surrounding area