City Forest Trails, Innsbruck, Tyrol, Austria

City to Hungerburg forest trails: Heinrich-Süß-Weg & Wilhelm Greil-Weg

Not a serious hiker but want to enjoy Innsbruck’s mountain setting? This easy 1–2 hour forest walk takes you from the Inn River up to Hungerburg, with panoramic views and picnic spots along the way — no hiking boots required.

Start at Hutterpark (outdoor gym, playground). Cross the Hans-Psenner-Steg — a wooden pedestrian bridge over the Inn — and follow the signs for Heinrich-Süß-Weg.

The path winds uphill past the Volière in Villa Blanka Park — a historic aviary and forerunner of the Alpine Zoo. The park is also home to a tourism school whose training restaurant is open to the public – worth a stop if you’re hungry. Cut through the park eastwards to a ‘Spiel- und Liegewiese’ (a lawn where you’re welcome to spread your blanket). There’s a pavilion nearby for rainy-day picnics.

Further up, you’ll reach the Weiherburg, a late Gothic castle, and the Alpine Zoo just behind (your zoo ticket includes the castle). Don’t miss the picnic area on the small hill south of the bus stop — tables, benches and drinking water.

Past the zoo entrance, the Wilhelm-Greil-Weg heads north into the forest toward Hungerburg — this is where the real forest trail begins.

Rough distances: Hans-Psenner-Steg to Alpine Zoo, about 20 minutes. Total to Hungerburg Station via Wilhelm-Greil-Weg: 2.3 km, roughly an hour at a leisurely pace.

Alternatively, you could plan your day in the opposite way if you want to go all the way to the top. Take the funicular, cable car and gondola up. Back at the Seegrube, stroll around (see post Innsbruck’s Nordkette). Take the cable car down but get off at Alpenzoo, which leaves you to explore the area described above, just by walking down.

A word on getting up the mountain the fast & easy way: 

On paper, the entire journey from the city center to the summit takes approximately 20 minutes. That’s without waiting time for the funicular, cable car (runs every 15 minutes) or gondola of course. 

First, there’s the Hungerburgbahn funicular whose four glacier-inspired stations were designed by architect Zaha Hadid. The station closest to the Old Town is Congress, then ORF Tirol (former Löwenhaus station), Alpenzoo and Hungerburg, the final destination at 860m. 

At the Hungerburg station, transfer to the Seegrubenbahn cable car to continue up the mountain. From Seegrube, at 1,905m, transfer to the Hafelekarbahn, the final section of the Nordkettenbahnen, where a gondola takes you up to 2,256m in about 3 minutes.