Graz Old Town
UNESCO World Heritage Site: City Of Graz, Historic Centre And Schloss Eggenberg (1999, Extended 2010). One Of The Best Preserved Old Towns In Central Europe, Blending Gothic, Renaissance And Baroque Styles, With The Schlossberg Clock Tower, The Landeszeughaus Armoury (The World'S Largest), The Kunsthaus Graz 'Friendly Alien' And A Famous Food Scene. · Graz, Styria
Graz is Austria's second-largest city, about 300,000 people, on the Mur river in Styria, and its old town is a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1999, extended in 2010 to include Schloss Eggenberg. The centre is a compact mix of Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque, around the Hauptplatz with its Rathaus and the pedestrian Herrengasse. The Landeszeughaus holds the world's largest preserved armoury, about 30,000 pieces kept for defence against the Ottomans. The Schlossberg hill rises 123 m above the lanes with the Clock Tower, and across the river the Kunsthaus, nicknamed the Friendly Alien, sits beside the Murinsel. It is a university city of about 60,000 students, known for food, and far less touristy than Vienna or Salzburg. Trains from Vienna take about 2.5 hours and from Salzburg about 3 hours. Graz calls itself Austria's City of Culinary Delights, with Styrian pumpkin seed oil, Backhendl fried chicken and wine taverns to the south. One day covers the centre; two days add Eggenberg and the wine road. Summers are hot and winters misty.
Historic centre of Austria's second-largest city on the Mur river, around the Hauptplatz, the Schlossberg hill with its Clock Tower and Eggenberg Palace to the west, Graz, Styria, Austria
The old town streets are open all day and FREE to walk. Museums, the Landeszeughaus and Eggenberg keep set hours and are often CLOSED on Mondays or in winter, and the Eggenberg State Rooms open by guided tour in summer only. Shops close on Sundays; check each sight before you go.