An Amazing 3-Day Austria Itinerary: Innsbruck, Zell-am-See, Salzburg
A 3-day Austria itinerary! Actually, if we’re being honest its more like a 3.5-day itinerary. Either way, it is a great PTO-friendly itinerary to Austria if you are trying to see a bit of Austria with Slovenia or Croatia (like we did 😍).
We actually flew into Munich in the late afternoon on this trip. Therefore, we stayed in Munich one night and did a walking tour of Munich in the morning before heading to Austria.
Day 0.5: Innsbruck
After doing a walking tour of Munich, we drove 2 hours from Munich to Innsbruck.
If you are driving from Munich to Innsbruck, take the slightly longer route through Garmish-Partenkirchen to see gorgeous mountain views and stop in Garmish if you have the time!
Arriving in early afternoon, you will have time to explore and have dinner in downtown Innsbruck. You’ll notice the vibrant and colorful architecture as soon as you turn on the the central pedestrian street and it’s beauty is only magnified by the backdrop of the Austrian Alps. Take your time exploring the shops and boutiques around the town square.
Top the day off with dinner downtown and a walk along the Inn River afterwards.
Day 1: Innsbruck/Zell am See
Day 1 will consist of finishing up what you want to see in Innsbruck before heading to Zell am See!
Itinerary for day 1:
- Early morning views from the restaurant Licktblick in Innsbruck
- Free to walk around the ledge of the restaurant
- Bergisel Ski Jump
- Whether you are a skier or not, go up to the top for even higher panoramic views of Austria!
- “Painted ladies” of Innsbruck
- I don’t think the colorful houses located along the Inn River are actually called the “painted ladies,” but they are worth seeing and have become an identifying landmark for Innsbruck
Click here for more information on maximizing your 24 hours in Innsbruck!
4. After seeing the colorful house row of Innsbruck, begin you 2 hour journey to Zell am See. Getting there before nightfall, you will be able to check into your room (we booked a private room of a locals house found on booking.com) and explore downtown Zell am See. Visit the Grand Hotel and its gorgeous landscape before having dinner!
Side note: Zell am See is a ski town located on a gorgeous lake. Like any other ski town, it is bustling in the winter for skiing as well as in the summer when there is outdoor fun like hiking and enjoying the lake. So, while we visited in October, Zell am See was a ghost town! Many stores weren’t even open, so the options for dining and things to do in town were slim this time of year.
Day 2: Kitzsteinhorn Gondola
The main purpose of adding a pitstop in Zell am See was to ride the gondola up to Kitzteinhorn and see the glacier at the to; it was one of the highlights of this trip! I recommend it for ANY Austria itinerary. However, we had quite the time trying to plan our trip to include the views at Kitzteinhorn. We weren’t exactly sure what it was called or what town it was located in; I’ve provided all details in the guide here!
After finishing at Kitzteinhorn, drive 2.5 hours to Salzburg to spend two nights. You will arrive about 2 hours before nightfall in order to spend the remaining daylight hours walking along the river before having dinner; we ate at a local restaurant and beer garden called Sternbrau.
Day 3: Salzburg
Salzburg’s hills really are alive (iykyk)! Day three will be spent exploring Salzburg. We traveled in a group of 4, so our morning was split in two, with two people going on a “Sound of Music” tour while my (now husband) and I took a self-guided tour around Salzburg using our headphones and an app with information about the main sights to see around Salzburg. Don’t miss the climb to Hohensalzburg Fortress, Stiegkeller Brewery, Augustiner Brewery (has been open since 1621 🤯) and more!
For a list of everything we saw in Salzburg and a guide on recommended restaurants, where to stay and more, click here.
3-Day Austria Itinerary Recap (including possible additions/changes)
This is a fast-paced 3-day itinerary to Austria. However, we felt like we got to see a lot of Western Austria! Our end-goal of this trip was to travel down to Croatia, so we decided to leave out Vienna on this particular trip and fit it into our future trip to Hungry and Slovakia 🙂 Also, with more time we would have added a stop in Hallstatt on our drive from Zell am See to Salzburg. However, exploring Kitzsteinhorn took us longer than we expected, so we took it off the itinerary. Add it to yours if you have time!
I hope you love Austria as much as we did; we have every intention of returning again because there is honestly so much beauty in Austria!