54901CH
Route Marches
Vaduz free visit of town
Innsbruck Group use ACIS Walking Tours
Visit inside Hofkirche with TM
- Passports are not routinely checked, but should be available in case of spot checks at the border.
- You need cash or ACIS card for entrances to the Hofkirche.
- NB Only certified ‘Austria Guides’ are allowed to guide in Innsbruck city centre (warn the group). Fines are hefty.
- Lunch stops between Vaduz and Innsbruck are not very
easy. If you stop in Landeck or St Anton, don’t take the
bus into the village, there are parking facilities outside.
You could have a picnic en route – maybe on the Arlberg.
- During the summer the bus driver might be prepared to
go over the Arlberg Pass rather than through the tunnel.
Don’t make promises to the group and don’t push the
driver if they are unwilling. Allow about 40 mins extra for
the pass route. There are restaurants and toilets at the top,
you could also picnic here.
Opening days/times, entrance fees, etc. listed on Yellow Pages attachment.
Vaduz – free visit of the town
Drive to the bus drop off point (the driver must park by the football stadium during the season). Free toilets are located here. Make a rendezvous for departure. Everything of interest is along the main street. Turn right for the Tourist Information office, which will stamp passports for CHF3 (or equivalent in most currencies) and the Post Office opposite, for stamp collectors.
There is also an excellent “one stop” souvenir shop just up to the stair to the left of the bus called “Souvenir” – address Städtle, 9490 Vaduz. They can get their passport stamped here, buy Liechtenstein wine and every imaginable souvenir including stamp collections. They are well-used to ACIS groups: take along a copy of your passenger list and discretely hand it in behind reception.
The currency used in Liechtenstein is Swiss francs – Euros generally accepted, too. There is an ATM near the bus drop off point.
Innsbruck
PROCEDURE – WALKING TOUR
Park in the bus park behind the Hofgarten and make a rendezvous for departure. Either arrange a meeting point (Golden Roof?) or tell the group that they should return to the bus on their own; the path through the garden is clearly marked with blue bus signs. An alternative parking place is on the corner of Marktgraben by the pedestrian zone. (3 spaces for buses – will not be able to wait so tell driver your rendezvous time).
Walk them through the garden and pause to point out the front of the Hofburg. Take them next to the Hofkirche to see the tomb of Maximilian I. There is now an excellent introductory multimedia show here, which they should see before going into the church.
Distribute the ACIS Walking Tours (if you have them) and make sure they know the meeting time and place. You may well want to walk them to the Golden Roof to give them orientation before giving free time.
There are lots of restaurants in the old town and less expensive places on Maria-Theresienstrasse. The old town is full of souvenir shops. There are more everyday shops on Maria-Theresienstrasse, Marktgraben and Burggraben. Swarovski have a large shop, small exhibition and free toilets in the Old Town.
You may want to drive up to the Bergisel to view the Olympic ski-jump and/or the new Tyrolean Panorama Museum celebrating Andreas Hofer’s victories on the Bergisel against the French/Bavarians. His statue is here, too. En route, you can also pause to visit the Wilten Basilica – a fine example of rococo decoration.
FACTS AND FREE TIME SUGGESTIONS
Tourist information office: Burggraben 3 (Changes money on Sundays!)
Money exchange facilities also include…
Post office: Maximilianstrasse 2. Open 24 hrs.
There are several banks and ATMs in the old town.
THINGS TO DO
- Climb the city tower (Stadtturm).
- Visit the Hofburg. State apartments and Habsburg portrait gallery (guided tours only).
- Olympic Museum. Exhibits of the Winter Olympic Games of 1964 and 1976. In the Golden Roof building.
- St James’ Cathedral (Dom). Famous Lukas Cranach altarpiece and a riot of Asam Brothers’ Rococo.
- Tyrolean Folk Art Museum. Folk costume, furniture, Christmas cribs, etc. by the Hofkirche. (You can get a combined ticket.)
- Fiacres (Horse Carriages) for (expensive) hire by the Hofburg.