Wattens

Wattens is an alpine town in Tyrol, Austria, home of the Swarovski Crystal Company. It is a market town with 8,200 inhabitants (as of 2023).

Get in

By train

Wattens is 20 minutes east of Innsbruck. Get off at 1 Fritzens-Wattens station. (updated Dec 2023)

By car

Take Autobahn E45 to Wattens. There is a 1-hour free parking at the church square parking garage.

See

• 1 Swarovski Crystal Worlds. 10:00-19:00. Adults €23 (online reservation), €25 (on site). One-hour guided tour €30.  
• 2 Museum Wattens, Innsbrucker Straße 2, ☏ +43 664 88711579, hallo@museum-wattens.com. W-Sa 10:00-16:00. Museum is in German. Printed English visitor guide is available. Guided tours available in English by request. €6 (under 18 free). (updated Dec 2023)
• 3 St. Laurentius church (Laurentiuskirche). The church in the town centre of Wattens dates back to Roman times and was first mentioned in a document in 1318. The current church was rebuilt after several fires and consecrated in 1820.  
• Rätersiedlung. Rhaetian settlement Himmelreich. The Rätersiedlung is located on a hilltop between Wattens and Volders. In the settlement area surrounded by a ring wall, the foundations of five buildings can be viewed, which probably represented the courtyard of a Rhaetian nobleman. He was from the 4th to the 1st century. It was inhabited before Christ and was destroyed by fire. The open-air museum can be reached in about 15 minutes on foot and is freely accessible. (updated Dec 2023)

Do

• 1 Kugelwald Adventure World on Glungezer Mountain. 
• Cycling — The well-known Inn cycle path from Innsbruck to Passau passes in the immediate vicinity, and there are also several tours available specifically for mountain bikers. These range from comfortable cycling routes to challenging mountain slopes.
• Hiking — in Tyrol's largest nature park, the Alpenpark Karwendel. Routes of different lengths and levels of difficulty are available. The best known are: Way of St. James, Eagle Way, Historical circular hiking trail
• Climbing — The 10-km Halltal, which leads from the Inntal into the Karwendel, is the ideal starting point for climbing tours of all kinds. The Hall Alpine Club offers ideal climbing conditions with seven climbing gardens. The classic routes are around difficulty level 6, a few easier ones are in the 4 and 5 range also available. If you want to get to know the extreme side, you can try routes in the upper 8 and 9 range.
• Football: WSG Tirol play soccer in Austrian Bundesliga, the top tier. Their Gernot Langes Stadion (capacity 5500) is cramped, and they play at Tivoli Stadium in Innsbruck while it's being rebuilt.

Sleep

• 1 Hotel Goldener Adler, Innsbrucker Straße 1, ☏ +43 5224 52255, hotel@goldener-adler-wattens.at. (updated Dec 2023)