Eating Your Way Around Innsbruck: Swarovski Crystal Worlds

Swarovski's Giant welcomes visitors

Swarovski Crystal Worlds' beautiful Crystal Dome can be hired for private events

CAFÉ-terra, a fine place for lunch, crystal style

Culinary Is Not the Only Art In Wattens

Looming in the outer Innsbruck district of Wattens is the face of green giant spouting a waterfall from his mouth as his eyes change colour. 

Though the first glimpse of Swarovski Kristallwelten is impressive, its interior is much more so.  This is not a walk through a crystal workshop with little factory workers happily spinning glass into a goldmine.  What Swarovski has created is an art installation unique in the world, and it is well worth a visit.  Swarovski Crystal Worlds, as it is known in English, is one of Austria's biggest tourist attractions.

It is not easy to describe Swarovski Crystal Worlds.  Part funhouse, part museum, and very much a sensory experience, with intentional variations in aromas and temperatures for each display adding to the visual and aural stimulation, it is a presentation of light and colour as seen nowhere else.  From Brian Eno to Alexander McQueen, all fourteen of the artists contributing to the installation have created memorable experiences in the appropriately named Chambers of Wonder.

All that art can make a visitor hungry.  Swarovski Crystal Worlds' CAFÉ-terra, designed by Conran & Partners, is a great place for a nice meal while surrounded by works of art created by such famed artists as Picasso, Lichtenstein, Haring, and Hockney.  It's indoor space flows outdoors in summer; the high quality of the food served is supposed to be the focus of a meal, but the mind wanders with so much creativity in place.  For VIP guests and Swarovski Crystal Society members, the VIP Lounge serves luscious cakes and refreshing drinks in an ambience of refinement, including a special array of limited-edition crystal items available exclusively to Swarovski Crystal Society members.

In addition to free entry to Swarovski Crystal World, an Innsbruck Card also provides a free ride from Innsbruck city centre to Swarovski Crystal World on the company's private shuttle bus.