Best small village to overnight between Innsbruck and Verona?

Instead of Innsbruck stay half an hour or so up the hill surrounded by mountains and forest in Seefeld in Tirol.

We're reaching Innsbruck on the slow, scenic train via Garmisch after an overnight flight from the USA to Munich.

I think Innsbruck will be fine. We're at our traveling limit for the day.

That's why I think the 2nd day is a better choice for something a little more rural.

IMHO I would stay two days in Innsbruck. There you have museums - the recently restored Hofburg is magnificent and very underrated, the Ambras castle in the woods looks like a thing you may appreciate. On the back of the Hofburg a cable railway connecting to a cable car will bring you from the very centre to the top of mountains in half an hour, and the Igls and Vill suburbs, reachable by urban buses and trams, are small Tyrolean villages. In Innsbruck you may choose between the city and the mountain experience as they are so close.

But if you want something different, both Vipiteno/Sterzing and Bressanone/Brixen are on the main railway line and more characterful than Bolzano/Bozen. I could also suggest a couple of tiny alpine villages on a railway line: Villabassa/Niederdorf (good hotels very near the station) and Dobbiaco/Toblach (more sparse), but these are a 1-hour detour on a side line from Fortezza/Franzenfeste stop.

Other feasible choices, like Ortisei or Cavalese, need longer bus detours from the main railway line.

The 1:21 long train from Garmisch Partenkirchen (if you get one without the change at Mittenwald) goes right through (and stops at) Seefeld in Tirol before it goes down the hill into valley for Innsbruck.

It is truly a beautiful place and I can highly recommend a few of its hotels. The others are probably very nice too but I haven't stayed at all of them. My favourite at the moment is the Hotel Eden which not only has lovely view and well fitted rooms but an excellent breakfast and very good dinner - on the meal plan, and has an indoor/outdoor pool with views all around to the Alps.

The train stops there 44 minutes after Garmisch Partenkirchen and 37 minutes before Innsbruck, so it is actually less traveling.

BTW - the Eden is a 5 minute walk from the station, there are live Austrian folk evenings several times a week in the village, and I forgot to say that the rooms are large, the showers big and very wet, and they will give you apples.

Not discouraging Seefeld, which I've not visited, but I enjoyed multi-day stays in both Bozen/Bolzano and Brixen/Bressanone last year. They both have colorful, picturesque old quarters. Bozen is a much larger city, but I believe its old town is a bit closer to the train station than is the case in Brixen, so once I arrived, I didn't feel as if I was in a large city. I'd agree that Brixen does have more of a small-town feel, though it's far from tiny itself.

Both Bozen and Brixen are in the valley, not in the mountains, so the experience would perhaps not be what you're looking for. If this is a summer trip, be aware that it can be very hot down in that valley, and a lot of the mid-range hotels are not air conditioned. Been there, done that; you needn't repeat my experience. Screen for a/c if there's any possibility that it will be hot during your visit.

Exactly the kind of experienced perspective I was looking for. Thank you for your comments thus far.

Wow, the temperatures are quite a bit higher than I expected.

Still deciding what to do. I bet Castelrotto would be great. I know Rick Steves recommends Hall just outside Innsbruck. But with short time and wanting to do as much as possible, the city may be easiest. Hop a cable car, see a few things.

We might do an overnight and the next morning in Innsbruck, and take the afternoon train (during the time when its hottest) to Verona, to get there in time for a few hours of north Italy and a nice dinner.

Let me give you an idea of our time challenge.

Wed Aug 17 Land Munich AM, either get a driver/guide or take trains to Innsbruck. Overnight there.

Friday 12:30 PM Italo high speed train - Verona to Rome

Friday-Saturday nights Rome

Sunday evening Fly back to Munich

Monday midday Take European Delivery of my BMW! Drive around a bit.

Tuesday Explore by car briefly and turn in car near Munich airport that evening.

Wed AM Fly back to USA

I know we're trying to do a lot, but we'll enjoy the train scenery and I promised Mom Rome!

Fortunately we have already visited Florence, Cinque Terre and a bit of Tuscany on a previous trip.

By necessity, we're doing our trip very quickly, and it seems rather crazy to only spend two nights in Rome without another stop in Italy. Verona would at least be a taste of the terra-cotta roofs, arena, and I assume some tasty northern Italian cuisine.

Hi Stephen,

I'd skip the Castelrotto idea. It's not in the Dolomites. If you're going to have any detour off the main rail line, head into the Val Gardena and stay a night in Ortisei. You'll find cable cars right here to whisk you high up to the Dolomite peaks in a matter of minutes.

www.val-gardena.com

On the rail line, look at Chiusa/Klausen at the start of the Val Gardena.

http://www.klausen.it/en/eisack-south-valley/chiusa-artists-city/

Paul

I walked around Chiusa/Klausen for an hour or so last year. It's not up in the mountains, but it's pretty and has that small-town vibe. However, I don't know whether all the trains on that line stop in Klausen. If not, you might lose a good bit of time having to switch to a regional train inbound and starting on a regional train outbound. The thing about such small towns, though, is that you can see a lot in an hour.

You ain't wrong about the heat in Rome in mid-August. You and Mom will be toasty, and in Munich and Verona too.

I would spend both nights in Innsbruck, giving you a full day to do as much or as little from there as any jet lag may allow. Then enjoy the scenery from the 3.5 hour train journey as you travel onwards to Verona.

We loved Hall in Tyrol!

Also loved Mittenwald which is close by. Both are very small, but we prefer a smaller village rather than a bigger city.