Around the upper valley, peaks of gneiss and granite rise above 3,000 metres (about 10,000 feet) to areas of permanent ice.

Neustift im Stubaital consists of the following sections and villages: Kampl, Neder, Dorf, Scheibe, Milders, Oberberg, Stackler, Lehner, Schaller, Krössbach, Neugasteig, Gasteig, Volderau, Ranalt, and Mutterberg.

By 1400, the district of Stubai was composed of five small communities: Telfes, Schönberg, Mieders, Fulpmes, and "im Tal" ("in the valley").

When Caesar Augustus and his legions pushed north in 15 BCE, the mountain people living here and their region were subjugated as the Roman province of Raetia.

Prehistoric finds from the early Bronze Age (c. 1800–1000 BCE) show that the valley was settled in ancient times.

These place names include the following: During World War II, the Schutzstaffel (SS) had a mountaineering training centre in Neustift, where prisoners from the Dachau concentration camp were put to work.

The "glacier pastor" and co-founder of the Alpine Club, Franz Senn, is buried in the attractive church cemetery.