Graz, Austria

Graz is Austria’s third largest city, it’s centre was largely unaffected by bombing during the war (although 15% of residential buildings were destroyed) it still has some beautiful architecture, the oldest known house below the Schlossberg (fort) dates back to 1136.

We stopped over in Graz as a way of breaking down the journey from Vienna, via Slovenia to Zagreb. We didn’t expect much but were very pleasantly surprised. Our camp site (Reisemobil Stellplatz Graz) was on a direct 20 min bus route into the centre.

We had two days to explore and thanks to a very well designed Tourist Information Leaflet which suggested 3 different walking routes around the old town, we had something to follow (some would say that my ocd streak comes out when I have a list to stick to!!!) 😜 (We WILL visit everything🤯

We thought we’d start with the upper Schlossberg /fort area. Not much has survived of the original 12th century fort but it’s now a very pleasant park to walk through. Thankfully it could be accessed via a sleek verniciatura (funicular railway) the cost of which was included in the €6.80 24hr local transport ticket.

At the top is the bell tower, part of the Renaissance style refurbishment carried out in 1544. The fortifications were so strong that it defeated Napoleon who having taken Vienna threatened to carry out more destruction on the Vienna and it’s people if Graz didn’t capitulate. That is the photo only way he could gain Graz.

Anyway, the tower’s bell, called Liesl, weighs nearly 5 tonnes. The tower was used as a prison back in the day but didn’t have the bell.

Further along is a new musem which had some interesting art work in the yard.

We carried on walking down the paths under the shade of the trees, bordered by gardens and stopped at one of the cafes. And had some Austrian treats.

Then we found ourselves at the Chinese Pavilion, built in 1890.

Further down is the 28-metre high Clock Tower, which is visible across the old town.

The clock has struck on the hour precisely since 1560. It originally only had an hour hand (the large hand/bunch of grapes)

Later, in 1712, a minute hand was added (the smaller one) which makes it very confusing.

We also came across these gardens, known as the hanging gardens.

You can either walk down to the town via these steps

Or down via a glass lift or on the Schlossberg Slide. I wasn’t brave enough but I would have loved to have done it. It’s 64m heigh and the rapid route is 175 metres long, travelling at speeds of 25km per hour through alternating bends for a mere 40 seconds!!! 😲 My vertigo would have been completely shaken up for weeks after that 😵‍💫

After that excitement we walked around the central street, Herrengasse, where we stopped at the Landhaus (Parliament Assembly Hall) built in 1878

The small city parish church, Stadtpfarrkirche, has a chequered history. It was once a Dominican monastery, was renovated in the Baroque style and then neo-Gothic (not to mention the renovations after the damaged caused by WWII bombs).

Inside it’s a little gem.

We carried on walking down to the large open square with a fountain where the Hauptplatz (Town Hall) is.

We were there only 2 days after a young gunman had gone to his old school and killed 7 pupils and a teacher before ending his own life. It’s so sad seeing all the candles and flowers which had been left as tributes to those who lost their lives. There were black mourning flags on the Hall and other buildings as well as the Herrengasse trams.

We then moved on to the Luegghaus which has particularly striking elaborate stucco fruit and flower garlands. The guide book said that ‘attentive beholders will not fail to see the mouths and noses hidden among the garlands’. We obviously weren’t attentive enough!

Day 2 saw us crossing the river Mur to an area which is renown for art and culture. Constructed in 2003 (ready for when Graz was the City of Culture) is a floating island which also doubles as a phography exhibition space and cafe.

Further up the road is the Mariahilferkircke church, which acts as the cultural centre of the Minorities

And the most interesting design I’ve seen for an art gallery is the Kunsthaus Graz, which houses temporary exhibitions all year round.

Can you see the protuberances or Nozzles sticking out from the top of the Kunsthaus gallery in the photo I took from the fort? The nozzles serve as a source of natural light.

Now we were back in the old town and were making our way to find the Cathedral (I can’t believe we left it till last)

As cathedrals go it’s not very inspiring, inside is better. Built in 1464 by Kaiser Friedrich III.

Next to it is a Mausoleum for Kaiser Ferdinand II

I ticked things off the list as we went and I’m happy to say we’ve seen the large majority of what there was of interest (given we only had 2 days and I had washing and food shopping to do).

So as a little celebration we stopped for lunch at the top of Herrengasse and I had a cocktail 👍

Our next stop is 15km outside of Zagreb. We stayed there last year but only as a one night stopover so it will be nice to get a chance to see Zagreb itself this time.

We will have to drive through Slovenia and stop to buy a vignette on the border. It seems wrong to drive straight through a country and not stop. (We said that to some Slovenians we were camped next to last year in Croatia and they said we’d done the right thing!! 😜