Car Hire in Innsbruck

About Innsbruck

Innsbruck is a beautiful city in the Alps, with breathtaking mountain views, wonderful architecture and good shopping. Innsbruck's history can be seen in its magnificent buildings. Innsbruck is also easy to reach from the Austrian capital Vienna, with regular trains and buses running there. The city is a popular tourist destination because of its natural beauty and ski resorts.

Basic info and car hire in Innsbruck

• Location: Innsbruck is the capital of Austria’s western state of Tyro
• Population: 311.428 (2020)
• Official language: German
• Currency: Euro
• Weather: The climate in Innsbruck is temperate continental, with cold winters and warm summers. 
• Internet coverage: Hotels, bars, restaurants, and cafés offer Wi-Fi.
• Road conditions: Austria is a highly developed and stable country, with an excellent network of roads.
• Car hire in Innsbruck: With a rental car in Innsbruck you can explore all of Austria's beautiful landscape and cities. The most popular pickup location is at the Innsbruck airport. 

 Driving in Innsbruck

Driving in Innsbruck can be fun, but it can also be quite stressful. At rush hour, traffic jams are frequent on the city's main roads. Car parks in the city centre are often overcrowded and finding a parking space can take some time. Bike lanes are common throughout the city, especially in the central parts. Most main roads have dedicated cycle lanes away from car traffic or separate cycle lanes, marked either by painted lines or small signs with a drawing of a bicycle on two arrows pointing left and right where the lane begins and ends.

When renting a car, read the fine print in the contract about where you are allowed to take the car. Many rental companies prohibit drivers from taking rental cars to Eastern European countries. If you do this anyway and get caught, the consequences are extreme. Speed limits are 30 to 50km/h inside built-up areas, 100km/h outside built-up areas, and 130km/h on motorways. 

In winter, roads in alpine areas can become dangerous due to snow, ice, and avalanches. Some mountain roads may be closed for extended periods. Between November 1 and April 15, the use of winter tires is mandatory. All-season tires meet the requirements if they are marked M S and have at least 4 mm of the tread. In addition, the local police may prescribe snow chains during or after heavy snowfall.

• Age limits: The minimum age to drive a car in Austria is 18 years. However, most car rental companies require you to be at least 21 to rent a car and at least 25 years to avoid paying an additional young driver fee. 
• International Driving Permit: Yes, if you are a non-EU license holder.  
• Additional papers: Identification(passport), a valid driving license, and valid proof of insurance. (It is advisable to buy insurance at the car hire agency in case your policy doesn't cover you while driving in Austria)  
• Additional requirements: Reflective jackets (in case of breakdown on all main routes), warning triangle, first aid kit, headlight deflectors (depending on the vehicle, you will either need deflector stickers or have to adjust the light beam manually).  
• Children in the car: If you are travelling with children under 12 or less than 135cm tall, you are required by law to have a child seat in your car. If you do not have your own, most car rental companies will provide one for a fee. However, it is advisable to request such a seat before collecting the vehicle, otherwise one may not always be available.
• Driving side of the road: Right Side. 
• Lights: Check that all lights are working, clean, and correctly aimed. 
• General speed limits: Speed limits are 30 to 50km/h inside built-up areas, 100km/h outside built-up areas, and 130km/h on motorways.  
• Parking suggestions: Car parks in the city centre are often overcrowded and finding a parking space can take some time.

What to see in Innsbruck

Innsbruck is a beautiful city in the Austrian Alps. It is located very close to the border between Italy and Germany and between two different rivers: the Sill and the Inn. Innsbruck is very famous for its spectacular mountain scenery - the Nordkette can be seen from almost everywhere in the city. A must-see nearby is the Bergisel ski jump with an impressive tower from which you have an incredible view of Innsbruck and its surroundings. For those who are more interested in culture than nature, Innsbruck offers a number of museums as well as historical buildings worth seeing, such as castles and churches, and many green spaces for those who enjoy being outdoors.

Drive your rental car beyond Innsbruck

There are many great road trips possible from Innsbruck, here we have noted our top 3 road trips from Innsbruck that is ideal in all seasons throughout the year. 

1) If you drive along with the spectacular mountain panoramas of the Alps, you will reach many of Italy's most beautiful regions. These are usually accessible by car from Innsbruck.

2) The UNESCO World Heritage Site "Hallstatt Dachstein Salzkammergut" is also relatively easy to reach from Innsbruck. The drive to Hallstatt takes about an hour via the A10 Tauern motorway and then on via Bad Ischl and Steeg before you finally reach Hallstatt itself.

3) To reach Bolzano, it is best to first take the scenic route over the Brenner Pass, whose long history dates back to Roman times. This pass leads south towards South Tyrol and further down into northern Italy.

Where to eat, drink, and party in Innsbruck

Innsbruck has a variety of places to eat and drink. In general, the city offers a nice selection of restaurants for all types of meals and price ranges.
On Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays it is sometimes difficult to find a seat in these restaurants as they are very popular with the locals. It might be wise to book a table in advance.

There are also several bars, bistros and cafés where you can have a drink. There are also many restaurants with outdoor seating in the summer, especially in Schanzlgasse, which turns into a large, lively square on warm evenings.