FOR an outdoor enthusiast looking for a holiday destination with a plethora of activities to fulfil their requirements, Innsbruck is an ideal location. And this latest guide from Cicerone publications written by Sharon Boscoe gives the reader plenty of ideas for a week or two in the Austrian Tyrol.

Eight topics are covered in the book – Walking, Alpine Mountaineering, Sport Climbing, Via Ferratas, Mountain Biking, Road Cycling, City & Trail Running and Family Activities – totalling 60 routes altogether.

The walking chapter is sub-divided into three groups; Day Walks, Adventure Walks & Scrambles and Overnight Hut Walks with a total of 20 walks. Alpine Mountaineering has four routes all of which are two-day expeditions and reach summits in excess of 3,000 metres high during the expeditions. The Sport Climbing chapter contains half a dozen great rock climbs and Via Ferratas has eight of these high-level rock face traverses clipped into fixed lines bolted into the rock.

There are six mountain biking routes and five road cycling journeys to tempt the reader to dig out their lycra. City & Trail Running chapter contains five routes ranging in distance from 4 to 10.9 kilometres. Finally, there are half a dozen family activities involving interactive things for children to do. These include lakeside and forest walks of between one- and two-hours duration plus also adventure playgrounds.

All these activities are within easy travelling distance of Innsbruck with most of them accessible by public transport. There are a number of maps at the start of the book – a regional overview map, Innsbruck City map, plus three further overview maps for the various activities. Each route has its own individual map and many also have an altitude profile.

At the end of the book there is a route summary appendix, one of useful contacts, a glossary of terms translated into German and finally an index of routes by their locations.

Published by Cicerone priced at £14.95

by John Burland