When planning a trip to the Tirol region of Austria, we were looking for a town to stay a few nights in that would serve as a good base to the area. We particularly wanted to visit St Johann in Tirol. Innsbruck, as beautiful as it is, was something we’d done before, and we wanted to try somewhere new. Of course, by the time we decided we wanted to stay a couple of nights in the Tirol region, the area already had many rooms booked because it was ski season. Rooms in St Johann were few and far between and Kitzbühel, which is a luxury destination, had most properties sold out, or they were really expensive, as expected. I started looking at other nearby destinations and priced Kufstein. Kufstein had options that were not outrageously overpriced and looked nice. Plus, the town looked like it had things to do.
So I made a booking at the Arte Hotel in Kufstein and we planned the rest of our trip.
We arrived in Kufstein from Munich. After getting off our international flight in Munich, we purchased a Bayern ticket in the airport and boarded a train. More on the Bayern ticket in a later post, but this worked out well for us. The train journey was about an hour and a half.
We arrived at the train station in town and crossed over the bridge to our hotel. It was a 10 minute walk to the Arte Hotel. You can read more about that here.
What’s Kufstein Like?
Kufstein is a historic town located along the Inn River near the German border. Its history dates back to the Middle Ages, when control of the town frequently shifted between Bavaria and Tirol due to its valuable position along major trade routes. The most iconic building is the Fortress overlooking the town and river. This Fortress was a key defensive stronghold and still is the most recognizable landmark in town.
The historic Old Town is very scenic with colorfully painted buildings, a few narrow streets, and a main square. Even in winter, it was picturesque. The area also offers scenic views of the nearby Austrian Alps. While Kufstein isn’t a skiing destination, it makes an easy base to get to the slopes.
The town is also famous for the Heroes’ Organ inside Kufstein Fortress, one of the world’s largest outdoor organs, which plays daily and can be heard throughout the town. We were lucky to hear it on our walk into town on the first day. I will tell you that was incredible to hear it play as we walked jetlagged across the bridge. What a welcome!
Things to Do
The most popular thing to do in town is to take the Funicular (Festungsbahn) up to the Fortress. This is free with the Kufstein Card if you are staying in town. The Funicular is particularly fun because you push a button and it automatically goes. I had fun “driving it.” The Fortress features a historic prison complete with torture displays as well as the World’s Largest Pipe Organ. There are other exhibitions that showcase local history and life. The views from up there are also really good. The fortress is open daily from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Romerghofgasses is the quaint street with traditional architecture. There are a few “bridge” restaurants meaning you can dine in a portion of a restaurant that is a bridge between two buildings. There is also a gin bar there called Stollen 1930 Gin Bar. It holds a Guinnes World Record for the number of gins at a bar. I believe they have more than 750!
Riedel Glass Factory is also nearby. The Kufstein card offers some discounts.
Kufstein also has a shopping center and a number of restaurants and cafes in town. We had planned to dine at Braustuberl Kufstein one night but ended up going to Innsbruck instead. We dined our first night at Arkade Pizza Restaurant Café. I think that would have been better if we could have had pizza, but they weren’t serving pizza at the time, so we ended up with spaghetti. Not memorable. The waiter was nice though.
Overall Thoughts
Overall, I liked Kufstein. It was cute and a good base to what we wanted to do. If you don’t want to stay there, it does make a nice detour for a few hours to wander around and visit the fortress. With the fortress and river, it is quite scenic. I don’t know that I’d make a special trip to the area just for Kufstein, but it is nice to visit if you’re planning to be in the region.
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