The Austrian Tyrol has a 27-hole mountain course, two Michelin stars up the road, and a city centre you’ll actually want to spend time in.
Thirty minutes west of Innsbruck, the Mieming Plateau has a 27-hole course, mountain views, and Alpenresort Schwarz’s two-Michelin-star restaurant up the road. It’s a strong start to a three-day trip that keeps delivering.
Innsbruck is the kind of city that earns its place in a golf holiday rather than diluting it. It’s small enough to navigate on foot, old enough to be genuinely interesting, and positioned at the foot of a mountain range that you can actually get onto. The Nordkettenbahnen funicular runs from the city centre to 2,256 metres in half an hour. That’s not a day out — that’s a morning, leaving the afternoon free.
The golf
The Mieming Plateau course is the headline. Twenty-seven holes, mountain panorama, and attached to Alpenresort Schwarz — where Restaurant 141, run by Joachim Jaud, holds two Michelin stars and four Gault&Millau toques. Post-round dinner here isn’t an add-on. It’s a reason to book.
The course is parkland in style, not links, so it plays more forgivingly than the setting might suggest. Forward tees are in play; this isn’t a set-up designed exclusively for the single-figure man. Worth confirming tee time availability for groups directly with the resort before booking.
Three days — a working itinerary
Day one makes most sense on the Mieming Plateau: morning round, lunch or dinner at the resort. The Genuss-Radweg, a bike trail connecting 24 farm shops and local producers across the Inn valley, is worth knowing about for a non-golf half-day — it covers dairy, honey, bakeries, and moves at whatever pace you like.
Day two: the Nordkette. Take the cable car early, walk some of the Goetheweg trail or the geology-themed Geotrail if the legs are willing, then come down to the city. Innsbruck’s old town is compact and good — the Golden Roof, the Habsburg residences, medieval alleys that don’t feel like a tourist trail. The city runs guided themed walks if you’d rather have context.
Day three leans cultural. Hofkirche has the (deliberately) empty tomb of Emperor Maximilian I — watched over by larger-than-life bronze figures that are genuinely worth seeing. The Hofburg’s Baroque state rooms are next door. In the afternoon, Ambras Castle is a 15-minute drive: Renaissance, set in parkland, with collections of arms, art and portraits. The Swarovski Crystal Worlds in Wattens is 20 minutes east — a better experience than it sounds, and popular with anyone who isn’t a committed golfer.
How to get there
Flights into Innsbruck airport are available from most UK airports; the city centre is 20 minutes from the terminal. Innsbruck is also well connected by rail from Munich (under two hours), Vienna and Zurich — worth knowing if you’d rather not fly.
Once there, the Welcome Card — offered free to guests staying at least two nights at participating accommodation — covers public transport across the region and discounted entry to attractions. The Innsbruck Card (24, 48 or 72 hours) adds the Nordkette cable cars and entry to multiple sites. Both are worth having.
Group logistics: Innsbruck has a solid range of hotels across price points, and the city’s compact size means most are walkable to the old town. Single supplements shouldn’t be the problem they are at dedicated golf resorts — this is a city hotel market, not a fairway lodge. Worth asking directly when booking.
Who this is for
Innsbruck works well if your group contains at least a few non-golfers, or if you want a trip that doesn’t feel like golf at the exclusion of everything else. The golf is genuinely good, not a compromise. But so is the food, the walking, and the city. Three days is enough to do it properly; five would be comfortable.
Picture Credit: Innsbruck Tourismus / Markus Mair
