Snuggled in the heart of the Austrian Alps, capital of the Tyrol region and Europe’s mountain sports mecca, twinkling Innsbruck is a city of many faces.  If you’re heading north from Italy by road or rail, after traversing the Alps on the Brenner Pass, the Austrian alpine city is the first to greet you.

Innsbruck does mountains like some cities do skyscrapers, with the city cocooned by sky-scraping peaks in all directions. Just 90 minutes from Salzburg, the lush, sweeping high valleys of the Tyrol region stretch all the way to Innsbruck, so you’ll be right at home if you want to unleash your inner Von Trapp, skip through the cow-nibbled meadows and climb every mountain.

With so many ski-fields on its doorstep, it’s no surprise that Innsbruck has played host to the Winter Olympics twice. Even if you just want to scale a mountain to suck up the panoramic splendour, ski poles and crampons aren’t required. Innsbruck is heavily threaded to its alpine wonderland with a spoil of funiculars, cable cars, chair lifts and cog-railways at the ready to whisk you up and down the slopes.

Just five minutes from the city centre, the Olympic Ski Jump crowns Bergisel Hill, looming on the skyline like some menacing alien installation. If you want a first-hand encounter with the extreme adrenalin junkies who hang out in Innsbruck, the 400 metre high ski jump is where to head.  Watching skiers hurtle down the 90 metre long ramp, and then off it, 50 metres above ground, is  mind-blowing entertainment.  I don’t know if the Austrians have a macabre sense of humour, but I happened to notice that adjacent to the base of the ski jump is a highly populated cemetery.

Innsbruck’s Altstadt (old town)  is like a mini-Vienna of treats, with legacy architectural confections commissioned by the mighty Hapsburgs, including the Imperial Palace. But the city’s most photographed landmark is the Golden Roof, which is actually a three-storey balcony, built on the side of a townhouse and coated in three thousand gold-plated tiles. It was constructed for a Hapsburg Emperor as a royal box, so he could perch and keep an eye on his subjects, and watch the tournaments that would be held in the town square. 

Perfectly positioned, directly opposite Innsbruck's railway station, the Grand Hotel Europa exemplifies all that is good about time-honoured European hotels.  Dating from 1869, this charming property has hosted a regular procession of the great and the good including Queen Elizabeth II, the Shah of Iran, General Patton, the Rolling Stones and the crew of Apollo 14. Take peek at the hotel’s exquisite yellow-and-white Baroque Hall, which the Tyrolean government uses for its most important functions. The historically protected ballroom was constructed by the court architects of Bavaria’s King Ludwig II of Neuschwanstein Castle fame.

Rooms and suites,  handsomely dressed in cosy Tyrolean furnishings and blended with modern Italian design, feature marble bathrooms and all the mod-cons are laid on. If you’re a snow-bunny, the ski bus stops right in front of the hotel, making for a seamless transit to the slopes. Grand Hotel Europa offers surprisingly great-value rates. Five-star trimmings at three-star prices. www.grandhotelauropa.at

If Walt Disney wanted to create  a crystal magic kingdom, I don’t think he could have outdone Crystal World, a fantasy pleasure land and world headquarters of Swarovski. There’s underground crystal caves, waterfalls, 3D lightshows and all sorts of high-tech wizardry to keep the kids enthralled,, as you survey the glorious collections of crystal glass pieces. The acclaimed crystal glass empire is still a family owned company, founded by Daniel Swarovski over a century ago, just outside Innsbruck. 

If you’ve dreamed about experiencing  a European winter and the ensuing Christmas charms, the city’s Christmas Market is an atmospheric affair, with wooden huts, mulled wine, handmade decorations and traditional gifts, which is just another reason why Innsbruck ticks a lot of boxes.

Mike Yardley Is Newstalk ZB’s Travel Correspondent on Jack Tame Saturdays. 11.20am