Innsbruck

The balcony roof carries 2657 gilded copper tiles. An emperor had it built in 1500 so that he could look down on events in the square.

From the riverbank in the centre the ride changes cars until it reaches a ridge at 2256 metres. An architect bent the roofs of the lower stations after the shape of a glacier.

A lift climbs the tower even on days when no competition is held. From the start gate the landing zone, the built up area and a cemetery line up beyond it.

An archduke filled the rooms with armour and curiosities and left them on display. The Spanish Hall runs 43 metres with a timber ceiling fitted across the whole span.

Twenty eight bronze figures taller than life surround an empty tomb. The emperor never came to rest in that coffin and lies in another town instead.

A hillside was shaped into the face of a giant with water running from its mouth. Inside, each chamber holds glass work that throws light along the walls.

Arcaded buildings line both sides of the narrow lanes, so rain never reaches a walker. The walls are painted in pastel shades that set off the grey of the mountains.

Sitting at 750 metres, this is the highest zoo in Europe. It keeps only animals native to the alps, with the bearded vulture and the lynx as the best known.

An hour away by road, it lets a visitor walk on ice even in summer. Markers are planted each year where the glacier has pulled back, with the distance written on them.

Along the north bank a row of houses carries yellow, pink and green paint. From the middle of the bridge the snow covered ridge lines up directly behind that row.

The palace Maria Theresa had remodelled in Rococo style in the 18th century. In the Giant's Hall the walls are hung with portraits of the empress's children. The Golden Roof lies a stone's throw off, so it fits easily into an old-town walk.

A marble column raised in 1706 to mark the Bavarian army leaving Tyrol on St Anne's Day in 1703. It stands mid-street on Maria-Theresien-Strasse, with the Nordkette ridge rising behind it, the most photographed angle in town.

Built in 1765 for Archduke Leopold's wedding, during which Emperor Francis Stephen died. So the south face celebrates the marriage and the north face mourns. Walk round it and the two sides tell different stories.

A 15th-century tower beside the old town hall, climbed by stairs to a lookout gallery near its top. Below lie the old-town roofs with the Golden Roof among them, ringed by mountains. There is no lift, so it is a narrow spiral all the way.

A Gothic town house later dressed in 18th-century Baroque stucco. Flowers and shells crowd round every window like icing on a cake. Its corner faces the Golden Roof, so one turn of the head finds it.

Innsbruck's Baroque cathedral. Above the high altar hangs Lucas Cranach's Maria Hilf, and the Asam brothers painted the ceiling frescoes. The Cranach is small, so you need to step close to the altar to make out the faces.

A museum housing a giant circular painting of the 1809 Battle of Bergisel. From the central platform the canvas wraps all the way round, as if you stood in the fighting. It shares the hill with the ski jump, making a single outing of the pair.

A Rococo pilgrimage church decorated inside in pink and white stucco. The red-towered abbey church of Wilten faces it over the road, so the pair are seen together. It is on Innsbruck's southern fringe, reached quickly by tram.

Whole wood-panelled parlours, the Stube, were taken out of farmhouses and rebuilt here room by room. Nativity cribs, masks and old costume fill the other floors. It connects to the Court Church, and a single ticket admits to both.

Innsbruck's house mountain, whose cable car leaves from Igls, a village to the south. The 1964 and 1976 Winter Olympic downhills were raced on its slopes. In summer a ridge path below the summit gazes down on the city and along the Inn valley.

A salt town about 10 minutes from Innsbruck by train, keeping the largest old town in Tyrol. Its mint struck the first large silver Guldiner in 1486 and later moved into Hasegg Castle. From the castle's mint tower the old-town roofscape opens beneath you.

Tyrol's largest lake, lying long between the mountains and nicknamed the Tyrolean sea. Its deep turquoise water feels cold to swimmers in high summer too. Strong winds on the northern shore draw sailors and windsurfers.

A broad garden beside the Hofburg and the theatre, once Renaissance and Baroque, today an English-style landscape park. It keeps a music pavilion and a palm house, and people shift pieces on giant chess boards on the lawn. Entry is free.