Wood is such a versatile material and available in such abundance in places like Tirol that it is sometimes hard to fathom why not all building are made from it. After all, it is renewable, carbon-friendly and 100% sustainable. Wooden houses and buildings are naturally warm and often have a wonderful aroma, especially if they are made of pine. And, last but certainly not least, wood is so adaptable that many architects choose it for their most ambitious projects. Here are five of the coolest wooden buildings in Tirol.

White and glistening, mountains can be both enchanting and foreboding in the winter months. Yet in both summer and winter there is no feeling quite like standing atop a peak and looking down at the world below. Here are five mountains you can climb in winter without having to be a super-fit professional mountaineer with an oxygen mask and ice pick. Don’t forget to snap a quick selfie at the top to prove to friends at home that you really made it all the way up.

More farmers, better vegetables – is that true? Tanja Westfall-Greiter runs a market garden at Hattingerberg in Tirol. She is convinced that society should pay more tribute to the cultivation of land.

When it comes to Tirol’s contemporary architecture landscape, Innsbruck-based Christian Hammerl and Elias Walch are at the forefront, creating spaces and designs that age with grace, relying on a style that is rooted in tradition but with contemporary elements in all the right places.

Protecting the planet and looking after the environment are hot topics at the moment, but sometimes it's hard to know where to start. We have put together a few useful tips on how you can do your bit to preserve the beautiful nature of Tirol for future generations.

Take a walk around the Alpine Zoo at Innsbruck while scouting animals that roam large-acreage, natural habitats. With its distinctive hillside setting above town, the zoo is a must-see for animal and plant lovers. You can even discover endangered species that were protected by the Alpine Zoo’s conservation programs. Meet some of the mountain animals that are native to Tirol.

What will the snow be like this year? This is the question on everyone’s lips in Tirol as winter approaches. Finding an answer is often complicated. We set out in search of clues –indoors and outdoors.

Is the ski instructor uniform really a chick magnet and do they actually party all the time? Does the envious or negative imagery that the job title conjures-up have any grounding in reality? We conducted methodical fieldwork to debunk some of the most common myths.

Winter is dark, right? Wrong! The cold months of the year actually offer a wonderful contrast of sunshine and shade, light and dark. Here in the mountains nothing shines more brightly than the sun's rays dancing and reflecting on a fresh coat of snow. Join us on a journey through Tirol's light and landscape in winter.

“Getting a Tirolean eagle tattoo on your arm doesn’t show the love for your country,” says Gabriel Castañeda. The cabaret artist from Grins bei Landeck relies on “a mixture of Austrian easygoingness and Mexican passion”.