Things to do in Kufstein, Austrian Alps: The Best Sights & Landmarks

Reviewed By MarcusHurley - Bristol, United Kingdom

Kufstein is a beautiful Austrian Tyrolean town on the river Inn (of Innsbruk fame) that just happens to be dominated by a massive castle. This is built on a sheer rock outcrop and over the years has expanded to cover the entire upper surface of the rock. The castle bounced between the control of Bavaria and the Habsburgs for 500 years with Maximillian I creating the famous round tower that is a symbol of the castle. After its military purpose ended it became a political prison for those deemed too liberal by the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Which was just about anyone who lifted their forehead off the ground. It is now a tourist attraction and museum. We parked in the town centre and then promptly lost sight of the aforementioned castle that dominates the town and got lost. I crossed the river to get my bearings, such as they are and then we headed in a vaguely correct direction until we found the castle entrance. We paid our €25 entrance and took the funicular to the upper courtyard and keep complex. The castle is well signposted for each of the museums and they generally have a decent amount of English explanations, although some were lacking. Before the funicular there was a man powered treadmill to get goods from the ground to the upper levels of the castle! This is still in place along with a wooden gallery overlooking the courtyard. The next courtyard has the castle cafe where we paused for a coffee before continuing our tour. The castle includes museums of local history, costumes and culture, arms and armour (including replicas you can try on), a history of Maximillian I and the castle and the political prison. There are also gun batteries, a herb garden, the worlds largest open air organ (that we didn't visit) and a rock cut tunnel that extended for a couple of hundred metres linking two parts of the castle. Although I'm sure you're thinking this was just another castle it was that but also a superb set of museums and a tour through 500 years of Tyrolean history. The views were pretty good too. We left the castle after about three hours and wandered around the town before making our way home.