Trip to Graz/Gradec, Austria

The second biggest Austrian city

Click the photo below to see the map of our Slovenia tour 2010.

Graz (Slovenian Gradec, with around 260.000 inhabitants) is the second biggest Austrian town and the last destination of our Slovenia tour 2010. I thought it would be great, if my girlfriend, who saw towns like Piran, Trieste, Bled and Maribor, also sees another medieval gem in this part of Europe. Graz is not only the hometown of the actor and soon to be former governator Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger, it's also one of the European cities with the best preserved medieval centers, which is even protected by the UNESCO. From the 12th to the early 20th century Graz used to be the capital city of Styria, a duchy within the Austrian monarchy (German Steiermark, Slovenian Štajerska), which included big parts of today's northeastern Slovenia, including my hometown Maribor. For a long time Graz was the economic and cultural center of this part of the world. It also had one of the first universities in the area and many famous Slovenians in the past (and even today) got their education in Graz, that's why the city is also important for the history of Slovenians (more info about Graz here).

FUN FACT: The name "Graz" originates from Old Slovenian "Gradec" (pronounced Grah·dets), which means "Small castle". Interestingly, "Maribor" (my hometown) originates from Old German "Marchburg", which means "Castle in the border region". We should've swapped the names or something. Well, this just proves that in the past Slovenians and Germans used to live on the both sides of the border.

Now you know, why I had to bring my girlfriend there. I'm sorry, this post is photo intensive, but I really like Graz's old town and want to show you all the beautiful spots. See my 4o photos of Graz, Austria's second biggest city:

Our trip started near Maribor and lead us over the border to Austria.

We needed about 35min and we reached the suburbs.

We were lucky to find an empty parking spot. A bit far from the center, but still ok.

We had to walk like 15min along this road, where many immigrants live.

On a Bosnian restaurant. She's a singer and she surely has a lot to offer.

The river Mur that flows through Graz also flows through Slovenia, we call it Mura.

The Franciscan church originates from the 13th/14th century.

That's where we enter the center of Graz.

I knew where I wanted to bring my girlfriend: To the Town hall building.

But we got hungry and wanted to try a hot dog. The lady was very slow, but really friendly. It felt like my grandmother made the dog for me. And it tasted really good.

And this is one of the most impressive buildings in Graz: The Town hall or Rathaus.

My girlfriend and her cute skirt waving in the morning breeze.

The Hauptplatz or Main square in Graz.

The famous Herrengasse, which is the most popular street in the center if Graz.

That's how the tram looks like in Graz.

And then we went to have a nice dessert. It was getting hot and we saw a big queue of people in front of an ice cream shop called Charly Temmel. The common sense says, if there are many people around a certain shop, it has to be good. So we gave it a try.

The ice cream was really yummy! I highly recommend.

A view on the Herrengasse (literally Gentleman street).

The Mariensäule (Mary column) with a fountain.

The Stadtpfarrkirche church from the 18th century looks nice.

We left the Herrengasse and explored some other parts.

This part had a Mediterranean atmosphere.

I love cities, where people hang out and fill up the restaurants on the streets.

She's Taiwanese, yes. But I was the one who incited her to do this :P

Walking to the northern part of Graz, I wanted us to go atop the castle hill.

This part is lovely as well, but we went the wrong way.

Ehm... do you love yours? :P

Judging by the accent, this girl with the gnarly hairdo was American.

And we finally reached the stairways to the Schloßberg (Castle hill).

I had fears that my (usually) clumsy girlfriend will trip, that's why I had to escort her up like a bodyguard. I'm not really comfortable climbing such stairs, but it was really worth it.

The view was getting better and better.

And then: Ta-dah! The Town hall building.

And finally we were above the Graz old town.

She totally owned Graz, woohoo!

This is the Urhturm (Clock tower) located atop of Schloßberg (Castle hill).

The name Castle hill indicates a castle, which doesn't stand here for over 2 centuries. When Napoleon's army came to Graz in the early 19th century, they destroyed the old castle, but the citizens offered money in exchange to keep the Clock tower and Glockenturm (Bell tower) intact. The French invaders agreed and today the two towers are famous landmarks of the city.

A nice garden on top of the hill.

The whole area was lovely, however we couldn't stay here too long, the sky was getting gray and I suggested that we leave the top and go back down and home. I feared a storm.

It's gotten really gray, but luckily we weren't caught in the rain.

We passed by the Murinsel (Mur island), a floating platform, built in 2003.

The view on the Castle hill.

And then we came back and most of the cars were gone. Luckily ours wasn't.

Graz is definitely worth a visit. Even if your main destination is Slovenia, go for a day trip to Austria and visit this city. It's clean and very beautiful. Compared to Maribor, it attracts a lot of foreign immigrants, be it from ex Yugoslavia, Turkey, Africa or Asia. It will give you the feeling of being in a big cosmopolitan city, but with a small town atmosphere. However, compared to Vienna, Graz is a small town, so don't expect too much. Compared to Maribor, Graz is a big city.

My rating of Graz:

Great place for photos ✰✰✰✰✰

Well preserved and clean ✰✰✰✰✰

Toilets, parking, souvenirs ✰✰✰✰✰

Friendly to tourists ✰✰✰✰✰

Maribor: City of towers :Before [Slovenia Tour 2010] The tour ends here.

[My MARIBOR page][All photos by MKL, 2010]