Have you heard of Graz? This beautiful, walkable city is the second largest in Austria. There are so many reasons to visit Graz, an overlooked city in Austria with lots of things to do. Graz belongs on the tourist radar, and see why with these 7 best things to do in Graz, Austria.
While overshadowed by its near neighbors, Vienna and Ljubljana, Graz is less expensive, and its friendly people welcome visitors.
Things to do in Graz, Austria
1. Schlossberg hill
2. Graz coffee culture
3. Eggenberg Palace
4. Outdoor cafes
5. The Opera House
6. Architecture
7. The nearby wine region.
While there are many things to do in Graz, Austria, I’ve got 7 reasons to include this Austrian city on your next vacation.
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1. Schlossberg hill
It is 260 seriously steep steps to the top of the Schlossberg hill, a UNESCO landmark. But it’s worth every step. On our way up, my husband, college-aged daughter and I enjoyed the view of the city’s red rooftops, the winding Mur River, and the mountains beyond.
Near the top of the Schlossberg hill is the city’s landmark, the medieval Clock Tower. Also, there is a performance space, many lookouts, and the ruins of its medieval fort. We rested with a drink at one of several hilltop outdoor cafés and again enjoyed the view.
In a lazier mood, my husband and I didn’t walk. Instead, we got dressed up, took the funicular to the top, and sampled a tasting menu at the elegant restaurant built into the side of the hill, the Starcke Haus.
2. Enjoy Coffee Culture
I loved the coffee culture in Graz. Baristas take care with each cup, always served with water on the side, and never to-go. Instead, Graz invites lingering in cafes. Austrian pastries have cream, chocolate, nuts – delicious.
3. Furnished 17th Century Eggenberg Palace
My husband and I took the excellent guided tour of the 24 sumptuously furnished rooms of Schloss Eggenberg, a Baroque and Rococo palace. Everything is decorated in bright colors: the walls, ceilings, and floors. It’s dizzying. The palace was built by a leader of the Hapsburg empire’s movement to suppress Protestants. Also, the palace has acres of gardens that are fun to explore, even if you don’t tour the palace.
Nightingales wander Schloss Eggenberg’s grounds. I learned nightingales don’t like photographers getting too close. This one showed his plumes and then charged at me, screeching. I was so startled I fell backwards on my butt, laughing.
4. Outdoor Cafes
Austrians love being outside. Me too. Graz is filled with walkers, bikers, and people eating outside. My family ate most lunches and dinners at sidewalk cafes nearby the main square of old city Graz, Hauptplatz, enjoying people watching.
In addition, in the outdoor rooftop café of the Kastner & Ohler department store, we sipped wine while enjoying a great view of the main square of the old city.
Also, Graz has many outdoor courtyard restaurants, tucked away from the noise of the street. For example, Laufke restaurant’s courtyard is a quiet green oasis in the middle of the city. Outside of the old city, the Hilmteichschlossl outdoor café is in back of a garden shop, fronting a pond that in winter is used for ice skating.
And here’s a Traveling Mom tip: Graz families spend Sundays together, and almost nothing is open, including restaurants.
5. Opera House
The gorgeous Opera House in Graz is also a theater. Graz is a college town, and students can sit in orchestra seats for about $30. We didn’t take the tour of the Opera House. Instead, we went to a performance. It was West Side Story. And it was fun to see an Austrian take on 1950’s New York City.
6. Architecture
Graz is filled with varied architecture. I love the beautiful 17th, 18th, and 19th century stone churches, houses, and other buildings that glow in the late afternoon sun. But I also loved the modern buildings in Graz. Like the glass café shaped like a shell that floats on the river.
7. Exploring the wine region outside Graz, Austria
The wine growing region of Austria near Graz is beautiful. The vineyards and cypress trees in the countryside near Graz reminded me of Tuscany. We spent a day exploring three different winemakers to taste their white wines or rose, a Baroque church, a Bishop’s palace, and wooded pathways. Luckily, local friends drove us. While the Tourist Office in Graz offered a very good walking tour of the city, I hope one day the Tourist Office also will offer a guided tour of nearby wine country.
Graz, Austria may be the most beautiful European city you’ve never heard of. And if you get to combine a visit, be sure to check out tips for visiting Vienna, Austria and Ljubljana, Slovenia. For more about a magical lakefront town near Salzburg, Austria, click here.
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Very informative article about this – as you say – still not very well known city.
Regarding your recommendation to visit the nearby wine regions I’d like to share a small tip with you: Even though still a relatively unknown place, the wine growing areas to the south of Graz became a little bit touristy over the last few years. Instead, I’d recommend going to the wine region which lies to the EAST of the city. It’s even less well known so you will share this experience only with the locals. The homemade food and the wine are great and prices are a little bit cheaper.
Very good suggestion! While we found only Austrians at the wine stops we visited, it’s helpful to know there is an additional wine region also. Such beautiful scenery and driving – a pleasure to explore.
I’m pretty sure you mean peacocks, not nightingales. Peacocks have huge, showy, iridescent tails. There is a large flock of them at Schloss Eggenberg, and they expect tourists to feed them – you can buy bird food with your entrance ticket.
Yes, you’re absolutely right – peacocks. Even though their voices are squawky, it’s a pleasure to see the males show off their dramatic tails. An enjoyable part of visiting Schloss Eggenberg.
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I must admit I have never heard of Gra but it looks really pretty. I love that style of architecture and I love Austria so think I would like to visit Graz at some point.
It is not yet on the tourist map! Beautiful place, I do hope you get to visit.
What a gorgeous city to explore. Great tip about Sundays! It makes sense to plan around that.
Yes, part of the charm of Graz is that it does not cater to tourists, but is a city for locals. It was easy to plan around Sundays, once we realized that we’d have to hunt for an open restaurant!
This certainly does look like an undiscovered gem! Beautiful! After loving in New zealand for 8 yeears it is so lovely to see typical European charm! I would love to visit the opera house and drink coffee in those cafes all day!
It’s amazing to me that such a big gorgeous city is not yet on the tourist radar. We’d return in a heartbeat. Hope you get to visit!
Anyplace with good coffee shops is good with me, but I do like a nicely decorated stately home as well. Never heard a nightingale. Were they as beautifully sounding as they are supposed to be, when not chasing away impertinent photographers? 😉
Yes, the palace is extraordinary – Schloss Eggenberg has enough of the original decor that we really got a sense of how they must have lived. Nightingales sound awful! Even when happy, they screech. 🙂 Seems fair, to even out the stunning beauty of the male’s feathers.
We almost did a day trip from Cesky Krumlov to Graz, and then we ended up choosing Hallstatt. But I love what I see in your post. The city is so typically Austrian, from the coffee shops to the palace to the statues in the squares. Maybe next time..
I’m slightly embarrassed to say that I have not heard of Graz, considering that I am visiting Austria in 2 weeks! The architecture does look pretty interesting but I’ve already finalised my itinerary and will have to give it a miss this time 🙁 Maybe next time!
Exactly – Graz is an undiscovered gem. It is the overlooked city in a country filled with beautiful places. Check here for posts about Vienna, Hallstatt, and (soon) Salzburg, all gorgeous Austrian destinations.