By Anthony Dylan Anak Frankie Jurem
Our last city in our journey through the beautiful country of Austria would be Innsbruck. The capital of the state of Tyrol is a city well known for winter sports. It has a population of approximately 131,000 people. The Railjet train ride form Salzburg to Innsbruck took us about 1 hour and 48 minutes. Out IBIS Hotel was located just next to the train station and easily accessible via a dedicated elevator lobby.
The weather was rather gloomy when we arrived and threatened to rain. As we only had a night here before we headed out to Zurich, we made haste in checking in and placing our luggage in our room before we walked into the main city center. The alpine city had a beautiful backdrop of the alpine mountains. We could just imagine that when it is winter, those mountains would be snowcapped.
We passed by the Triumphforte, before hitting the main baroque promenade of Maria Theresien Strass which was named after Empress Marie Theresa. We managed to stop and visit the Servite Monastery and Church. The ceilings had beautiful murals. We then reached Annasaule or St Anne’s Column which was given its name when, in 1703, the last Bavarian troops were driven from the Tyrol on Saint Anne’s Day (26 July), as part of the War of the Spanish Succession. This marked the center of the city.
Here, we could not resist the temptation of getting chocolate and vanilla gelato from Tomaselli. To be honest, gelato in Austria and Slovakia had not disappointed us in any way. We then made our way to the Spitalkirche zum Heiligan Geist which is a Catholic Hospital Church. The walk around Innsbruck was very pleasant as the crowd was thinner than in the last cities we went to in Austria.
The famous golden roof is also a must see when the sun hits the copper roof tiles. The Goldenes Dachl (Golden Roof) is a landmark structure located in the Old Town (Altstadt) section of Innsbruck, Austria. It is considered the city’s most famous symbol. Completed in 1500, the roof was decorated with 2,657 fire-gilded copper tiles for Emperor Maximilian I to mark his wedding to Bianca Maria Sforza.
We also visited Hofskirche and Dum St Jakob, Innsbruck’s Catholic Cathedral before we made our way towards the river Inn where we could see the famous colorful medieval houses at Mariahilf by the riverbank.
Our dinner was from MPreis supermarket where we stocked fresh berries, bread and a speck semmel or Tyrolean ham and a bun. A good night’s rest gave us an early morning start to load up on the breakfast buffet.
We left Austria with beautiful memories and took the scenic train towards Zurich, Switzerland. We would spend 3 nights in Zurich in our most luxurious hotel on this trip, the Central Plaza Hotel. Switzerland would be our last country for this self-made journey after Slovakia and Austria.
We reached Zurich’s main train station after close to 4 hours of a panoramic journey from Innsbruck with the alpine mountains clearly seen through the large cabin glass. This was also the last leg of our Eurail Pass. A note to self for future travels is to be aware that the currency used in Switzerland is Swiss Francs instead of the Euro. I made this oversight which luckily, I was able to change my Euro into Swiss Francs at the money exchange facility within the train station.
We made an early morning walk to the local morning market at Wochenmarkt Helvetiaplatz and saw that asparagus seemed to be in season. It was our first time seeing large, freshly harvested white asparagus for sale. Artisan products for sale included cheese, cured meat, and fish. We then took time to head on to John Baker. An artisanal bakery which sold hearty bread. We had the roggensaurbrot and weissbrot before continuing our walk around the old streets. We made our way to the meeting point at Paradeplatz 8 by the UBS building for our “Free Walk Switzerland” Walking Tour. The tour was just about an hour and a half in duration and takes you through the culture and historical sights of Zurich.
After the tour, we took our own sweet time to walk around Zurich and parts of Lake Zurich or Zurichsee. The pristine turquoise waters with swans, geese, ducks and birds unafraid of humans made the scene surreal. We finished our day by dining at Haus Hilti, recognized by the Guinness Book of Records as the world’s oldest vegetarian restaurant, established on July 3, 1898.
On the next day, we took a walk towards the university areas of Zurich which was at the hill behind our hotel. We first made our way to Liebfrauenkirche, a 19th Century Catholic church. The highlight of the day was a visit to the FIFA Museum where this ticked off my bucket list. The retail store was a wonderful place to browse but I could not find anything which I could get. At least I got to see the signed jersey of Diego Armando Maradona of Argentina who won the World Cup 1986 in Mexico.
This was our last night in Zurich, and we claimed our free chocolate cake on this night from the hotel. The night before, we had a slice of apple tart. We got this because we opted for a no housekeeping service as part of the hotel’s efforts to be environmentally friendly.
Our train ride to the airport was only 15 minutes and we arrived early for our check-in. We left Zurich towards Istanbul, Turkey and waited for a few hours in transit before we flew back home to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
This trip was one which we really enjoyed. The journey through Austria and a short hop to Slovakia before ending in Switzerland was truly inspirational. Austria offers much more to discover than just its well-known cities like Vienna, Salzburg, and Hallstatt. It should at least include Graz, Innsbruck and if you have time, Linz.
This would not be our last, but this ends our first chapter of travel in Europe. Where would the next one be? Perhaps Budapest in Hungary and her surrounding? Till next time, I hope you enjoyed the series.
HAPPY NEW YEAR 2026
