The Alps remain Europe's most beautiful mountain backdrop, and of all the cities trying to present themselves as „a city in the mountains", Innsbruck is the one that pulls it off without theatrics. The capital of the Austrian region of Tyrol is living proof that city and nature can live side by side - without the mountains swallowing the city, and without the city overwhelming every pedestrian in the clean Alpine air.

The Inn river separates houses with pastel facades that look straight out of a cartoon - pale pink, green, terracotta - with the wall of the Northern Alps behind them. The medieval centre can be covered in a day. The „Golden Roof" is the first thing every tourist photographs - 2,657 gilded tiles ordered by Emperor Maximilian I, purely to show off power in the 15th century. The old city tower has 150 steps. The Santiago sanctuary is reasonably free of charge. And the Whispering Arch - a Gothic portal where two people on opposite sides can hear each other in a whisper - is the kind of thing you don't forget once you've tried it.

For a weekend with friends, the city offers at least five things you don't want to miss. First - „Made in Austria" shopping. Not designer brands, but craftsmen right here. Norz has been making jewellery since 1764. Gössl has been producing traditional Tyrolean clothing for more than 70 years. Acqua Alpes makes perfumes from Alpine water. Vera Wiedermann's ceramics workshop works by hand, piece by piece.

Second - yoga on top of Patscherkofel at 2,000 metres above sea level. A 75-minute session in the open, with the valley under your feet and pines that may be 200 years old. Not for weak nerves. But for anyone who wants an entirely different sense of „centring" - it's a story you can't buy anywhere in the Balkans.

Third - Swarovski Crystal Worlds, 20 minutes from the city. An art installation by more than 30 artists, with crystal sculptures, a labyrinth in nature, and interactive rooms unlike any other museum. Even those who don't care for the Swarovski business remember this museum.

Fourth - a drink with a view. 360° Cafe is a circular bar with glass walls overlooking the whole city. Hotel Adlers has a sophisticated cocktail bar with DJs on weekends and a Caribbean-style terrace - above the Alps. Contradictory, but that's exactly the charm.

Fifth - interactive museums. Tirol Experience is virtual reality, holograms and 360-degree projections of Tyrol's history. Audioversum is a museum of medicine, technology and art, with a section where you train specific parts of your brain yourself. It doesn't sound like „a classic painter's museum" - and that's exactly why it works.

For a Balkan visitor going by car, Innsbruck is 7-8 hours from Zagreb, 10 from Belgrade, 14 from Skopje. For a weekend - tough. For five days - perfect. And unlike Vienna, there aren't huge crowds here. The Tyroleans keep their rhythms and tourism levels under control. When you whisper before the Whispering Arch, it will really smell of the 21st century without the noise of the 21st century.