Carmen + brandon
Location Guide
Looking for the perfect location?
I’ve got you covered!
Below, I’ve shortlisted my top recommendations for you.
While I wholeheartedly believe that all nature is beautiful, I know from experience that not every location is ideal for an elopement.
In this location guide, I’ve shortlisted my top recommended locations that tick many of the boxes in what you’re looking for on your elopement adventure.
What to consider when selecting your adventure
There are a number of factors to consider when choosing your elopement itinerary. Here are my top tips for choosing the right kind of adventure for you.
Privacy vs Ease of Access
The easier a location is to reach, the less likely it is you’ll have privacy there. Especially in locations with cable car/ski lift access, you should expect to share your location with other people.
If you really don’t want to see other people, opt for locations that don’t use any mountain transport but involve hiking instead.
Your Abilities
Most itineraries can be adapted to your abilities, whether that’s taking an easier hiking trail, using a mountain lift, shortening a route or planning in more breaks. And if you’re not sure, ask me!
Sunrise & Sunset
Sunrise and sunset generally have the best light, but not all locations are suited to sunrise/sunset. For the best sunrises and sunsets, you want to be in a higher elevation location, which means either long hikes in the dark or extending your coverage and staying overnight in a mountain hut. In the list below, I specify if a location works particularly well for sunrise or sunset.
This is Not a Photoshoot
Your elopement isn’t a photoshoot. I’ll be there to capture the adventure for you so that you have photos to treasure, but you’re here for an adventure and to immerse yourselves in the stunning natural beauty of the Alps. When choosing your adventure, think about what scenery you’ll enjoy exploring the most.
Half-Day Locations
Half-day coverage consists of 5 hours of consecutive photographic coverage. This is ideal for couples who want their adventure to be short and sweet. A half-day is enough for a short adventure, sharing your vows, and some beautiful photos in one primary location. If you want to capture getting ready, a first look, dinner or multiple locations, you’ll want to upgrade to full-day coverage.
Axamer Lizum
A beautiful ski resort and mountain vista close to Innsbruck with lift access. The mountain range here is known as the “Dolomites of Tirol”
Best time of year:
Summer: July to September. July & August can get busy, especially at weekends.
Best time of day: Early morning (first lift at 8:30 am) or later in the afternoon offer better light & fewer people. Last lift down 4:30 pm.
Privacy & seclusion: Popular ski & summer resort. There are always people around, but I wouldn’t call it crowded. Weekends and during school vacations in the summer can be busier.
Ease of access: 30-min drive from Innsbruck. Cable car to the top.
The Dolomites of Tirol
Axamer Lizum is one of Innsbruck’s famous winter ski areas, known for the Olympics. It’s also got one of the most beautiful mountain ranges here – the Kalkkogel, known as the “Dolomites of Tirol”.
From July to September, both the main cable car and a chairlift run during the summer to whisk you up to higher elevations. From there, you can hike for 20-30 minutes really dramatic views.
The hiking trails are relatively narrow and in some places are on steep hillsides, so good footwear is essential.
For those who like to hike, a great option is to take the lift up in the afternoon and stay for sunset. While this does mean hiking down in the dark afterwards, the sunset up here is magnificent.
Example Half-day Timeline
3:30 pm – Take the lift up
4 pm – Hiking around, stopping for photos all along the way
5:30 pm – Picnic at the top
6 pm – Vows & sunset photos
7 pm – Sunset. Possible alpenglow pictures.
7:30 – Hike down after sunset (approx. 1-1.5 hours)
Seefeld in Tirol
A pretty mountain town in summer and winter, with a ski lift up high for stunning mountain views.
Best time of year:
Summer: May-June and September-October.
Best time of day: Early morning (first lift at 9 am) or later in the afternoon offers better light & fewer people. Last lift down 4:30 pm.
Privacy & seclusion: Popular ski & summer resort. There are always people around, but I wouldn’t call it crowded. Weekends and during school vacations in the summer can be busier (schools go back in early September).
Ease of access: 30-min drive or train from Innsbruck. Funicular train & cable car to the top.
Dramatic views without Long Hikes
Seefeld is a ski resort that sits on a sunny plateau just 30-minutes from Innsbruck by train. It’s a thriving ski town in winter and a popular hiking destination in summer.
Taking the Rosshütte furnicular train and cable car to the Seefelder Joch transports you from the valley to the mountains in around 20 minutes.
At the top you’ll find grassy slopes with dramatic mountains in the backdrop. While hiking isn’t necessary here, for couples who want to have a mini-adventure, it’s possible to hike for 30 mins to a nearby summit.
The location is accessible in summer from May to October, and is usually mostly snow-free into September.
Seefeld can be chosen as a stand-alone location, or combined with other nearby locations or activities to make it a full day adventure.
Getting Here & Around
Seefeld is easy to reach by train from Innsbruck (or a 30-minute drive) but since it is a popular summer and winter destination with everything you would want in the town, you could also choose to stay in one of the great hotels or apartments up here.
Regional trains connect Seefeld with Innsbruck and also Munich (via Garmisch-Partenkirchen).
Stubai Valley
A beautiful valley with waterfalls, a glacier and stunning mountain views.
Best time of year:
Summer: May-June and September-October.
Best time of day: Early morning or later in the afternoon offers better light & fewer people.
Privacy & seclusion: Grawa waterfall can be crowded, but it’s manageable for a short stop. Weekends and during school vacations in the summer (July – early September) are the busiest. On the mountains, there will be people, but it’s usually not hard to find quiet spots.
Ease of access: The end of the Stubai valley is approx. 1 hour from Innsbruck.
Waterfalls, glaciers, Lakes, and mountain lifts
The Stubai valley is perfect for giving you a variety of mountain scenery in a relatively small area.
Stubai is one of the few options where you can visit several different locations as part of a half-day coverage.
Possibilities inclulde:
– Grawa waterfall & the Ruetz river
– Stubai Glacier middle station with a short hike to an alpine lake (bottom images)
– Schlick 2000 with views of the Kalkkogel
– Elfer (with views into the Pinnis Valley)
There are a number of mountain lifts in this area, such as the Stubai Glacier (with snow at the top), Elfer (Neustift) and Schlick 2000 (Fulpmes). Taking one of the mountain lifts means you get a contrasting view to the photos in the valley by the waterfall and river, but with easy access with the mountain lift.
The Stubai valley could be a half-day (visiting just the waterfall and one lift) or a fall day, taking in multiple locations and mountain lifts*.
*Please note that extra tickets are required for the lifts. They cost between €30-€55 per person, per lift.
Schlick 2000
Elfer
Getting Here & Around
The entrance to the Stubai Valley is a 30-minute drive from Innsbruck (1 hour to the glacier at the end of the valley). There are a number of towns in the valley with a great selection of accommodation, should you choose to stay in the Stubai valley instead of in Innsbruck. The largest town is Neustift, but Fulpmes is also a convenient town with a ski lift nearby.
Obernberg Lake
A tranquil alpine lake surrounded by lush green meadows and pine forests with tall mountains in the background.
Best time of year: Accessible year-round. The best months are May-June and September-October.
Best time of day: Early morning or later in the afternoon offers better light. The location is surrounded by tall mountains, so it doesn’t get a true sunrise or sunset.
Privacy & seclusion: The location is popular with locals but isn’t as well-known with tourists. Weekends and during school vacations in the summer can be busier, but it’s rarely crowded.
Ease of access: 1-hour drive from Innsbruck plus 30-minute uphill hike.
Peaceful Lakeside location in a remote valley
It’s no secret that this location is one of my personal favourites. I’ve been hiking here for over 10 years and every time it takes my breath away.
Reaching the location is simple, but you do need a car, as it’s 1-hour from Innsbruck. There’s a large parking area, where the trailhead to the lake begins.
Hiking up to the lake takes around 20-30 minutes and is possible via two routes – a shorter but steeper hiking path through alpine meadows or a slightly longer gravel road that’s less steep.
The location is perfect in all seasons and all weather. In the summer months, the meadows are filled with wildflowers and grazing animals.
The locations is just as beautiful in bad weather as when it’s sunny. While other locations lose all views when the clouds come in, at the lake you’ve still got stunning nature all around you, even when the mountains are in the clouds.
Getting Here & Around
Obernberg is a pretty remote valley near the Italian border with very little infrastructure. If you want to feel really disconnected from the outside world, there are a small number of places to stay in the valley. But for those who want to enjoy the quiet beauty here but stay somewhere less remote, I recommend staying in/around Innsbruck or the Stubai Valley. On the elopement day, it may be possible to carpool together (depending on where you are staying).
Patscherkofel
Combine the architecture of historical Innsbruck with the lush green mountain pastures of the Patscherkofel.
Best time of year: The mountain lift on the Patscherkofel runs from mid-May to mid October.
Best time of day: The cable car on the Patscherkofel runs late on Thursday nights in summer, meaning that we could go up in the afternoon, stay for sunset, and then get the cable car back down. You could even book a table in the restaurant at the top for dinner.
Privacy & seclusion: Sunset is popular on the mountain when the lift is running, so I would recommend that we hike to a location further away from the lift station. On the mountain, it’s possible that you will enjoy moments with nobody else around, but there will likely be people passing you on the trails regularly.
Ease of access: Patscherkofel is a short bus ride or drive from the city.
Patscherkofel
The Patscherkofel mountain is close to Innsbruck, in the pretty village of Igls. Unlike the Nordkette, with its rugged mountain terrain, the Patscherkofel is a very green and lush mountain.
From June to August, the pink flowers of the alpenrose bloom on the mountainsides. In the lower meadows you may also pass grazing cows.
It’s possible to combine the Patscherkofel with Innsbruck city centre in a half-day shoot, or to spend the whole 5 hours just around the Patscherkofel and in the alpine meadows around the foot of the mountain in Patsch (lower photos).
Example Half-day Timeline
3 pm – Meet at the lift station for the Patscherkofel & take lift up
3:30 am – Explore the Patscherkofel. Hike and find some quiet spots along the Zirbenweg.
6 pm – Exchange vows & enjoy golden hour
7 pm – Sun sets. Hike back to cable car station.
7:30/8 pm – (optional) Dinner in Das Kofel restaurant. Coverage ends.
Alternatively, we could like the full Zirbenweg trail from Tulfes, taking the cable car up in the afternoon and finishing at the Patscherkofel at sunset.
Innsbruck City & Nordkette
Combine the architecture of historical Innsbruck with the rugged mountains of the Nordkette.
Best time of year: Innsbruck can be visited all-year.
Best time of day: Innsbruck old town is quieter in the early mornings. The Nordkette is also best to visit early morning or later in the afternoon (but don’t miss the last lift down).
Privacy & seclusion: Whilst you may get moments where you are alone, there will always be other people around. During peak times, it is likely to be busy. On the mountain, it’s possible to do a short hike to find a spot away from the crowds, but total privacy is unlikely.
Ease of access: Everything is walkable from the Innsbruck city centre.
Innsbruck Old Town & Nordkette Mountains
Innsbruck old town is small but perfectly formed! You can wander around the narrow cobbled streets and walk across to the marketplace to enjoy the views of the colorful houses along the river with the Nordkette mountains standing proudly behind them.
After wandering around the city, take the Nordkette funicular train and cable cars up to the Seegrube and Hafelekar, the highest point above Innsbruck, where you can enjoy a birds-eye view over the city on one side, and views across the stunning Karwendal mountain range on the other.
Example Half-day Timeline
8 am – Photos in Innsbruck Old Town
9 am – Take lift up the Nordkette to the Hafelekar (very top). Short hike to find spot for vows.
10:30 am – Take lift to Seegrube. More photos
1 pm – Lunch at the Seegrube Restaurant. Photo coverage ends.
Innsbruck
Vendors & General Recommendations
Below you’ll find a list of recommended vendors, accommodation and other travel tips and ideas for your trip to Innsbruck and the surrounding areas.
Hair & Makeup
These makeup artists are mobile, i.e. they come to you:
- Magdalena Weiler – Die Schminkerei (maternity leave in 2026)
- Andrea Lener
- Stephanie Sädtler
- Lisa Pendl
- Haarfein – Bernadette
- Tanja Winkler
Video
Flowers
I typically recommend visiting a florist the day before your shoot and asking them to create a bouquet of fresh flowers for you with whatever season flowers they have. Usually you can give them a budget and a colour-scheme and they will put something together. If you prefer to contact them in advance to pre-order, you can.
Innsbruck Hotels
Here are just a few ideas for hotels in Innsbruck city centre:
Surrounding Areas
Outside of Innsbruck, accessible with car or bus within 20 mins of Innsbruck city centre:
- Der WALZL (Lans)
- Sporthotel Igls
Stubai Valley
Should you opt for the Stubai Valley instead, here are some nice hotels:
Seefeld
Things To See & Do Around Innsbruck
Hofburg Imperial Palace – while not much to look at from the outside, the Hofburg Imperial Palace is lavishly decorated inside and well worth a visit.
Schloss Ambras – a beautiful historical building set on the hillside above Innsbruck. Walk around the gardens and enjoy the outside or if you are interested in the history of the area, the inside is well worth visiting too as there are some great exhibitions of art and artifacts from as far back at the late medieval period.
Volkskunstmuseum – The Tyrolean Folk Art Museum & Court Church celebrates the culture in this part of the world, much of which is still very much alive today. You’ll see examples of traditional dress and learn about folk customs.
Bergisel Ski Jump – The olympic ski jump stadium. There’s a cafe at the top of the tower with great views over the city. If you are interested in winter sports then you’ll find this interesting.
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The Innsbruck Card – the Innsbruck card can be a great way to visit many of the city attractions and save on entrance fees. It’s available as a 24, 48 or 72-hour card. If you want to visit the Nordkette and a couple of the other places, then it can pay for itself as the Nordkette alone is €56 return. One the website it lists the individual entry prices so you can calculate for yourself it it’s worth getting the card or paying individual entry tickets if you are only visiting 1-2 attractions.
Cafes & Bars
- Cafe Munding – The oldest cake bakery in Innsbruck (cash only)
- Strudel Cafe – As the name suggests, they specialize in different strudel flavours.
- aDLERS Hotel rooftop bar
Restaurants
- Ottoburg – Traditional Austrian dishes
- Stiftskeller – Traditional Austria food and beerhouse
- Lichtblick – Panoramic views
- Das Blum – Vegetarian restaurant
- Olive – Vegan Restaurant
- Buzihütte – Old mountain restaurant in the hills of Innsbruck (by taxi)
Not sure which to Choose?
Let me advise you
There’s only so much information I can put in a guide like this before it gets overwhelming.
I hope that this guide has given you a good overview of my top suggestions. The next step is for us to talk these through on a call.
On the call we’ll go the logistics of your preferred locations and I’ll try to answer any questions you might have.
Head back to the email to schedule a call with me.