Bregenz Opera & Innsbruck

Bregenz Opera & Innsbruck Overview

We return to Austria for opera combined with walks in an Alpine setting. This new tour focuses on the states of Tyrol and Vorarlberg and their respective capitals, Innsbruck and Bregenz. Amongst the tour’s highlights will be walks in the hills above Innsbruck and von Weber's Der Freischutz set on the floating stage on Lake Constance.

We meet in Innsbruck and settle ourselves for 3 nights at a traditional mountain hotel in the hills above the city. We walk along a branch of the St. James’ pilgrimage route (Camino de Santiago) and take a cable car to access the Innsbruck University Alpine Botanical Gardens, established in the 1930s below the peak of Patscherkopfel (2,246 m). We explore the city, formed around a bridge across the river Inn, the former residence of the Hapsburg family and the centre of the struggle for Tyrolean liberation in 1809. More recently, Innsbruck has become a popular winter sports centre, hosting Winter Olympics and Paralympics.

Further west, having crossed the Arlberg massif via a spectacular high pass road, we spend 4 nights in Bregenz on Lake Constance (Bodensee), one of the largest in Western Europe. The final highlights of our journey will be two performances of the Bregenz Festival, including von Weber's Der Freischutz set on the floating stage on the lake.