Austria · Styria & Carinthia · Travel guide
What a long weekend in Austria's second-largest city really costs, why you should arrive on the Nightjet and where the people of Graz buy their own pumpkin seed oil.
Photo: Alyona Nagel / Pexels
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Estimates for orientation, not booking prices. Getting there means train or car from Switzerland, return, per person. Hotels vary strongly by season: current prices are behind the links below.
Money & payment: You pay in euros (EUR). Cards work almost everywhere; mountain huts and sausage stands often want cash. Tipping is expected: 5 to 10 percent, by naming the rounded total when you pay. In ski resorts a visitor tax of EUR 2 to 4 per night is added to the hotel price. Getting there: By train (ÖBB Railjet), car or a flight to Vienna, 2 to 8 hours.
Nine options in three price ranges, each among the best-rated on Booking.com.
Budget
Large hostel hotel from the German chain right by the main station: dorm beds and simple double rooms with private bathroom, bar, breakfast buffet at extra cost. Eight minutes to the Hauptplatz by tram, ideal for Nightjet arrivals.
Design hotel in a 1960s building next to the station with small, clever rooms, an espresso bar, Vespa and bike hire. Cheap, stylish and for solo travellers and couples who spend little time in the room.
The chain's familiar formula: good bed, rain shower, lounge with bar, few frills. Stands on the Annenstrasse between the station and Lend, 15 minutes on foot to the Kunsthaus. Fair value for money.
Mid-range
Large traditional house on the banks of the Mur opposite the old town, family-owned since 1909, with rooms in various styles from the classic to the modern wing. Hauptplatz in five minutes on foot, plus the Café Weitzer with coffee house atmosphere.
Small art hotel with a contemporary collection in the corridors, indoor pool and a quiet location by the Augarten, ten minutes' walk south of the old town. For anyone who likes design without having to put up with noise.
Family-run house on the Jakominiplatz, the city's tram hub, with spacious rooms and a roof terrace looking onto the Schlossberg. Two minutes on foot into the old town, unfussy and very well run.
Luxury
Art nouveau house from 1909 right on the Mur with views of the Schlossberg and the old town, today run as a relaxed grand hotel: vintage furniture, record players in the rooms, a well-known breakfast and brunch address. The Kunsthaus and the Hauptbrücke are on the doorstep.
Family-owned traditional house on the Stadtpark, classic rooms with antiques, spa with pool and a garden where dinner is served in summer. Five minutes on foot to the Hauptplatz, for anyone who wants the old Graz.
Small design hotel built into the rock of the Schlossberg, with views across the Mur to the old town and rooms that open towards the river. Only a few rooms, quiet despite the central location, breakfast with regional produce.
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The city's home hill with the clock tower of 1560, whose long hand shows the hours. Free on foot via 260 steps, CHF 3 (about EUR 3) by Schlossbergbahn funicular, guided tour of the casemates CHF 5. Allow two hours for the climb, a walk around and the view, loveliest in the evening sun.
Two hours with a city guide through the Landhaus courtyard, the Gemaltes Haus, the Hofgasse and the courtyards that are locked without a key. The official tour by Graz Tourismus costs CHF 14 (about EUR 15); Sunday morning is the quietest.
The blue bubble of 2003 with changing exhibitions of contemporary art, admission CHF 10 (about EUR 11) or in the Joanneum 24-hour ticket for CHF 18. The architecture is the main reason to come, 60 to 90 minutes is enough, and the facade lights up in the evening.
Four floors packed with 32,000 suits of armour, helmets and muskets from the time of the Turkish wars, stored exactly as they were in the 17th century. Admission CHF 10 (about EUR 11), guided tour recommended, 90 minutes. One of the most impressive museums in Austria, and hardly anyone knows it.
A baroque palace built as a calendar: 365 windows, 24 state rooms with 600 ceiling paintings, peacocks in the park. State rooms by guided tour only, April to October, CHF 18 (about EUR 19) including park and museums. 20 minutes on tram 1, half a day.
Half-day or full-day tour from Graz to two or three wineries in Gamlitz and Ratsch, with tasting and a cold platter, CHF 70 to 90 (about EUR 75 to 96). The alternative without a tour: suburban train to Ehrenhausen and an e-bike. May, June and September are the best months.
Monday to Saturday from 6 am to 1 pm the largest farmers' market in the city, right next to the opera house: pumpkin seed oil, Käferbohnen beans, Verhackertes, fruit from eastern Styria. For breakfast, a slice of Leberkäse and a glass of cider at the stall, CHF 5 (about EUR 5). Free and the most authentic Graz there is.
Vito Acconci's steel shell has floated in the Mur since 2003 and links both banks, free, with a café. Afterwards across the Lendplatz with its market (Monday to Saturday) and into the bars of the Mariahilferstrasse. A good hour, best on a Saturday morning.
Make Backhendl, Käferbohnen salad and pumpkin seed oil dressing yourself, three to four hours including the meal, from CHF 90 (about EUR 96). A good alternative for a rainy day and the only souvenir that takes up no room in your suitcase.
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Graz calls itself the capital of good food, and that is less marketing than usual: the farmers of southern and eastern Styria deliver straight into the city, to the markets and the kitchens. Pumpkin seed oil, Käferbohnen beans, Backhendl, Schilcher and Sauvignon Blanc are the cornerstones, and the cooking is down to earth, not refined. The only expensive thing is staying put on the Hauptplatz.
Styrian fried chicken salad: crispy breaded chicken on leaf salad, Käferbohnen beans and potatoes, topped with dark green pumpkin seed oil and apple vinegar. The national dish of Graz and a full lunch. CHF 15 to 19 (about EUR 16 to 20).
Tip:The oil goes on generously; anyone who measures it out has not understood it. Afterwards do not rub a stain on your shirt with water, sunlight bleaches pumpkin seed oil stains out.
Salad of large, purple-speckled scarlet runner beans from Styria, served lukewarm with onions, vinegar and plenty of pumpkin seed oil. As a starter or side dish, CHF 6 to 9 (about EUR 6 to 10).
Tip:With egg and onion it is called "steirischer Wurzelsalat"; order it with a beer in the afternoon.
Boiled pork with root vegetables, horseradish and caraway, hearty and filling, the dish for cold days. CHF 16 to 20 (about EUR 17 to 21) with boiled potatoes.
Tip:Freshly grated horseradish burns in the nose, and that is how it should be. Have a glass of Welschriesling with it.
Small open sandwiches topped with egg, salmon, Verhackertes or cheese, a Graz institution since 1932. Eaten standing at the counter with a glass of sparkling wine, CHF 2 to 3 (about EUR 2 to 3) apiece.
Tip:On Saturday from 11 am half of Graz is standing there; that is part of the programme.
Wooden board with Verhackertes (spiced bacon spread), smoked meat, cheese, horseradish, bean salad and farmhouse bread, served with the farm's own wine. CHF 12 to 18 (about EUR 13 to 19) per person, usually enough for two.
Tip:A Buschenschank serves only cold food and only its own wine; that is laid down by law. Thursday to Sunday from 2 pm, often closed in winter.
Tender green butterhead lettuce with red-edged leaves, a protected Graz variety, on every menu from April to October. Dressed with pumpkin seed oil and vinegar CHF 5 to 7 (about EUR 5 to 7), usually as a side dish.
Tip:Only the Graz variety bears the name, and it is at its best in June.
Pumpkin seed oil ice cream: vanilla ice cream with a drizzle of seed oil on top, or as a flavour in its own right: nutty, dark green, surprisingly good. One scoop CHF 2 to 2.50 (about EUR 2 to 3).
Tip:Try a spoonful of oil on vanilla first before you order the whole scoop.
Schilcher is the sharp, acidic rosé of western Styria, served in autumn as Sturm, the half-fermented young wine, in every bar. Sauvignon Blanc from southern Styria is the serious wine of the region. An eighth of a litre CHF 3 to 5 (about EUR 3 to 5), Sturm CHF 3.
Tip:Sturm is only available from mid-September to the end of October; you do not clink glasses with it and you say "Mahlzeit" instead of "Prost".
Through markets and eateries with a guide, tastings included.
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Graz lies where the river Mur leaves the Alps and enters the hill country, and the name comes from the Slavic "gradec", small castle. That castle stood on the Schlossberg, the dolomite rock in the middle of the city that still towers over everything today. In the 15th century Emperor Frederick III made Graz his residence, and from 1564 to 1619 the city was the capital of Inner Austria, responsible for Styria, Carinthia, Carniola and the military frontier against the Ottomans. From this period comes the Landeszeughaus with around 32,000 weapons and suits of armour, the largest surviving historical armoury in the world, and from the same period come the Italian master builders who gave the old town its Renaissance courtyards, above all the Landhaus. Emperor Ferdinand II, who grew up in Graz, moved to Vienna in 1619, and Graz became a provincial town, which did the old town good: very little was demolished. In 1809 Napoleon's troops blew up the fortress on the Schlossberg; the citizens of Graz bought the clock tower and the bell tower free for 2,987 guilders. In the 19th century the Southern Railway arrived, the university grew, and Graz became the "Pensionopolis" where the officers and civil servants of the monarchy retired. In 1999 the old town became a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and Schloss Eggenberg was added in 2010. In 2003 Graz was European Capital of Culture, and from that year come the two buildings that are now on every postcard: the Kunsthaus by Peter Cook and Colin Fournier, the blue bubble on the Lendkai, and the Murinsel by Vito Acconci. Today Graz has around 300,000 inhabitants, four universities and, with 60,000 students, a reputation as the youngest city in Austria.
By Swiss standards Graz is a long way off, around 730 kilometres from Zurich, and there is no fast way. The best solution is the Nightjet: it leaves Zurich in the evening, one section of the train is uncoupled during the night and arrives in Graz at around 8 am. Couchettes from CHF 60 to 90 (about EUR 64 to 96) per person each way, sleeping car from CHF 120, and Sparschiene saver fares go on sale six months ahead. By day you take the Railjet from Zurich to Vienna (around 8 hours) and change there onto the Railjet to Graz (2 hours 35 over the Semmering), 10 to 11 hours in total, with a Half Fare Card to the border and an ÖBB Sparschiene fare together CHF 110 to 160 return. By car it is 7 to 8 hours via the Arlberg, Innsbruck, Salzburg and the A9 through the Bosruck and Gleinalm tunnels. Austria requires a vignette (10 days CHF 12), plus special tolls: Arlberg tunnel CHF 12, Bosruck and Gleinalm together around CHF 15, each one way. In Graz itself you leave the car parked: the old town is a pedestrian and tram zone, and multi-storey car parks cost CHF 20 to 30 a day. A 24-hour ticket for tram and bus costs CHF 6, and from the main station tram 1, 3, 6 or 7 takes you to the Hauptplatz in eight minutes.
Graz is a compact city, and almost everything lies within a two-kilometre circle around the Hauptplatz. The old town east of the Mur is the classic choice, quiet in the evening, with traditional houses such as the Parkhotel on the Stadtpark. West of the Mur lies the district of Lend around the Kunsthaus and the Lendplatz: once the wrong side of the river, today the quarter with the cafés, the Saturday market and the young hotels. From Lend you are in the old town in five minutes across the Hauptbrücke, and prices are 10 to 20 per cent lower. Around the main station are the chains, ten minutes by tram from the centre, functional and the cheapest option. Prices: a mid-range double room costs CHF 110 to 150 (about EUR 118 to 161), which is normal for Austrian cities and cheap by Swiss standards. It only gets expensive on two weekends: at Aufsteirern in mid-September, the big folk costume festival, and in Advent, when the Christmas markets fill the hotels. Then you book three months ahead or pay double. The local tax is around CHF 3 per person and night and is added at reception.
Graz is cheap, and the few traps are quickly explained. The Schlossberg is free if you walk: 260 steps from the Schlossbergplatz, 15 minutes, and you already have the best view on the way up. The Schlossbergbahn funicular costs CHF 3 (about EUR 3) per ride and is included in the 24-hour ticket, the lift inside the rock CHF 2.50. The clock tower costs nothing, the guided tour of the casemates CHF 5. Museums: the Universalmuseum Joanneum runs the Kunsthaus, the Landeszeughaus, the Neue Galerie, the natural history museum and Schloss Eggenberg, and the 24-hour ticket for all of them costs around CHF 18 instead of CHF 10 per house. See two and you are already ahead. Eggenberg with its state rooms and park costs CHF 18 separately, the park alone CHF 2. The Murinsel is freely accessible, and the café on it charges normal prices. The price trap is the restaurants right on the Hauptplatz and in the Sporgasse with menus in four languages: a schnitzel costs CHF 24 there instead of CHF 17 two lanes further on. And you buy pumpkin seed oil at the farmers' market for CHF 14 to 18 per half litre, not in the souvenir shop for CHF 25. Look for the green "g.g.A." seal, then it is genuine Styrian pumpkin seed oil.
Graz lies at 350 metres on the edge of the Alpine foothills and has the warmest urban climate in Austria. July and August regularly bring 32 to 35 degrees, the old town traps the heat, and the locals then sit by the Hilmteich or in the pavement gardens on the Lendplatz. The best month is September: warm, the grape harvest on the wine road begins, and on the third weekend there is Aufsteirern, the folk culture festival with 100,000 people in traditional dress in the old town, music on every square, free. October is Sturm season, when the young, still fermenting wine is served in the Buschenschank taverns, the Styriarte summer festival is over, but the Steirischer Herbst, the avant-garde festival, is running. From the end of November to 24 December there are 14 Advent markets in the city, the ice crib in the Landhaus courtyard and the giant Advent calendar on the town hall facade. That is lovely and crowded, so book hotels early. January and February are grey and quiet, with the lowest hotel prices, and from Easter the beer gardens wake up. May and June are ideal for the trip to the wine road, when the vineyards are green and the Buschenschank taverns are not yet full.
Everyone does the Schlossberg, the Kunsthaus and the Murinsel, and rightly so. Add to that three things that appear on fewer lists. First, the old town from the inside: the old town of Graz consists of hundreds of inner courtyards, and you only see the finest if you go in, for example the Landhaus with its arcades, the Gemaltes Haus (painted house) in the Herrengasse and the Hofgasse. On Saturdays the city offers old town tours for CHF 14 (about EUR 15) that get you into courtyards that are otherwise locked. Second, Schloss Eggenberg in the west, 20 minutes on tram 1: a baroque palace built as a calendar, 365 windows, 24 state rooms, 52 doors, with peacocks in the park. Most tourists never make it out there, and that is their mistake. Third, the Lendplatz on a Saturday morning, when the market is on and the people of Graz plan their week with a coffee in hand. The Mariahilferstrasse behind it has the shops and bars that could stand in Zurich West, at half the price. If you have time, take tram 7 to the botanical garden with its glasshouses by Volker Giencke, or stroll through the Stadtpark to the Hilmteich.
The South Styrian Wine Road is the reason many Viennese travel to Graz, and it lies 45 minutes south of the city on the Slovenian border: steep vineyards, Klapotetze (the wooden windmills that scare off the birds), Sauvignon Blanc and Buschenschank taverns, where the winemakers are allowed to serve their own wine and a cold platter, but nothing hot. By car you drive the route Ehrenhausen, Gamlitz, Ratsch, Glanz, Leutschach, around 30 kilometres of bends, and the problem is obvious: whoever drives does not drink. Solution one: the S5 suburban train takes you to Ehrenhausen or Leibnitz in 45 minutes for CHF 10 (about EUR 11), there are rental bikes there, and the wine road taxis run between the taverns at fixed prices. Solution two: a guided half-day tour from Graz with two or three wineries costs CHF 70 to 90 including tasting. A Brettljause platter with Verhackertes (spiced bacon spread), Käferbohnen bean salad and pumpkin seed oil costs CHF 12 to 18 in a Buschenschank, a quarter litre of wine CHF 3 to 4. The well-known names are Tement, Polz, Gross and Sattlerhof, tastings there by appointment. The taverns are usually open Thursday to Sunday from 2 pm and often close from November to March; in autumn they are full at weekends. A night in a wine inn in Gamlitz or Ratsch costs CHF 100 to 150 and is a nicer plan than the drive back.
Best on the Nightjet: board in Zurich in the evening, wake up in Graz in the morning, couchette from CHF 60 to 90 (about EUR 64 to 96) each way. By day you take the Railjet to Vienna and change there, 10 to 11 hours, CHF 110 to 160 return with a Half Fare Card and a Sparschiene fare. By car it is 7 to 8 hours and around 730 kilometres, vignette and tunnel tolls about CHF 40 each way. In Graz you do not need the car; everything is walkable or by tram.
Two full days for the city: one for the Schlossberg, the old town and the Landeszeughaus, one for Lend, the Kunsthaus, the Murinsel and Schloss Eggenberg. A third day for the South Styrian Wine Road is the real reason for the trip. With the long journey that makes four nights, ideally Thursday to Monday with the Nightjet in both directions.
Around a third less. A mid-range double room CHF 110 to 150 (about EUR 118 to 161), a lunch menu CHF 12 to 16, a schnitzel with salad CHF 17 to 20, a large beer CHF 4.50, a cappuccino CHF 3.80. The 24-hour public transport ticket costs CHF 6, museums CHF 10 to 18. With CHF 90 to 110 per person per day, excluding travel, you get by comfortably.
September: warm, grape harvest, Aufsteirern on the third weekend. May and June are the second choice, with green vineyards and empty Buschenschank taverns. July and August get hot at 32 to 35 degrees, and the old town barely cools down at night. Advent is atmospheric and crowded, January to March quiet and cheap, but many taverns are closed then.
Yes, with a little planning. The S5 suburban train runs hourly from Graz main station to Leibnitz and Ehrenhausen, 45 minutes, CHF 10 (about EUR 11). From there you have rental bikes and e-bikes as well as wine road taxis with fixed prices. The easiest option is a guided half-day tour from Graz for CHF 70 to 90 with tasting, then nobody has to drive. If you stay, spend the night in a wine inn in Gamlitz or Ratsch.
Only bottles with the green seal "Steirisches Kürbiskernöl g.g.A.", which guarantees Styrian seeds and Styrian pressing. Buy it directly from the farmers on the Kaiser-Josef-Platz or the Lendplatz, CHF 14 to 18 (about EUR 15 to 19) per half litre, and you can taste it there. Store it dark and cool; it keeps for around a year. Good oil is dark green, almost black, and smells of roasted seeds, not rancid.
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