Suggestions for things to do in Insbruck

We love to just drive around up on the mountain above Innsbruck from village to village. You can also ride the funicular up on the mountain above the city.
The valley's just a couple of miles wide, and you have a close up view of the incredible 10,000' Austrian Alps from up there.
Swarovski's just a few minutes away, and it's worth visiting.
If you're adventuresome, you could go up for a ride in a glider. Or go hiking. Or riding a bike.
We used to stay in a B&B at the end of the Innsbruck Airport runway. We'd sit on a park bench, drink beer and watch all the gliders come down for a landing beside the runway on the grass.
Innsbruck's a great place to do day trips out of after the snow's melted. You can go up to Fuessen and see Neuschwanstein. Or, you can pop over the Brenner Pass and visit the Dolomite Mountains which have a different look. Or, you can drive up to Salzburg for a day trip.

Thank you so much for the advise and suggestions.

We used Innsbruck as a stopping point on a long journey and I really liked it. I bought the Innsbruck tourist card, which was a really good deal. The Innsbruck card covers virtually everything. I know a lot of people here don't like these tourist cards and surely some are better deals than others, but the Innsbruck card was a very good value. We used it to go to the top of the Hungerburg Funicular and just that one ride almost covered the cost of the tourist card. It's three separate funiculars up to the top and it's really beautiful at the top. We also went to the Tyrolean Folk Art Museum, which was unique and very interesting. Since we had the tourist passes, we even wandered into the Alpenzoo, Innsbruck's nice little zoo.

If tram #6 is running, a tram trip through the woods to Igls. You can go back to Innsbruck by the same tram or, faster, on bus J from the village center. Urban tram ticket valid.

Ambras Castle has a nice courtyard and gardens, the Spanish hall is incredibly fine and the portrait collection nice - even if a bit hard to understand if you have not studied the deepest mysteries of European history.

The Imperial Palace has been renovated recently and is very much like the Imperial palaces in Vienna on a smaller scale. The main hall is imposing and the black chapel in memory of Francis I is chilling.

On lighter note, the Maria Theresien Strasse has a couple of interesting renovation projects - it is difficult to see antique and modern architecture matched so well. The Rathaus (Town hall) has been turned into a commercial gallery with a Baroque facade (also interesting, on its back, the new Penz hotel in black glass reflecting an ancient palace). The Kaufhaus Tyrol, in front of the Rathaus, is an example of building a brand new building in the middle of historic ones - and it works well. The first floor of Dorotheum (an action house in Vienna) has often old used jewels in attractive 19th and early 20th century styles, sometimes you can find very original and not so expensive pieces.

I would suggest the Nordkettenbahn (including Hungerburg) as a top priority. Magnificent views. This is a 3 stage trip:
1-Funicular from Innsbruck (by the Kongress) to Hungerburg
2-cable car from Hungerburg to the Seegrube station
3-cable car from Seegrube to the top station, Hafelekar.

You can do just the first stage, first and second, or all three.

The Hofkirche and Schloss Ambras are well worth seeing.

My opinion, Swarovski was a disappointment and waste of our time. My wife loves Swarovski Crystal and thought the same. Visit the store in Innsbruck instead.

Paul