Imst

The small sunny town of Imst is embedded into the Oberinntal valley in the holiday area Pitztal and Oetztal.

Altitude: 830 m asl

Imst has already been eternalised several centuries ago in an operetta, which has been written by the composer Carl Zeller. This operetta is about a bird-dealer, which sold songbirds to Europe in the 18th and 19th century. That is why this operetta was entitled “Der Vogelhändler” (The Bird-Dealer). By the way, Imst is also considered to be the birthplace of “SOS Children’s Villages”, which has been found by Hermann Gmeiner in 1949-1951.

Both summer and winter, Imst (see pic) delights its visitors with theatre performances, classical concerts and modern festivals. However, also the fun factor doesn’t come off badly, as there is the longest alpine rollercoaster all the world over. This “Alpine Coaster” is 3.5 km long and provides a rush of adrenaline when you roll down from the Untermarkter alpine pasture towards the valley. The rollercoaster is open from May to October and December to March. Beside a considerable number of hiking paths and mountainbike trails, there are several other jewels in the centre of Imst: The Rosengartenschlucht gorge and the Blue Grotto, which can be visited while hiking along a circular route. Millions of years of history of earth come alive in only one afternoon…

Of course winter sports characterise also this locality in the cold season, as Imst is located in the heart of the large winter sport centres of Tyrol. The close-by Imst cable car takes you into the family-oriented skiing area, where 9 km of ski slopes as well as two natural luge tracks (open from December to March) are available. Moreover three times a week these facilites are also operated at night. The skiing areas Oetztal valley, Pitztal Glacier and Zams provide further possibilities for skiing.

Our tip: Carnival is really popular in this area and one of the events is the so called “Schemenlaufen”, one of the most famous carneval traditions, taking place four-yearly. Only men are allowed to participate. In the “Schemenlauf” men put on different masks and walk across Imst from early morning.