Instead of Vienna: Graz, Capital of Design and Styrian Cuisine

Why choose Graz over Vienna

Vienna is magnificent, but it is also one of Europe's most heavily touristed cities: queues at the Schönbrunn palace, crowds on the Kärntner Straße, carriage horses sweating in the summer traffic. Hotel prices in the historic centre are enough to discourage any modest budget. But Austria's second city, Graz, offers a completely different experience: cosmopolitan yet relaxed, historic yet innovative, and above all genuine.

Graz was designated a UNESCO City of Design in 2011, having previously been European Capital of Culture in 2003. Its historic centre, a UNESCO World Heritage site, is the largest and best-preserved in Central Europe. But unlike Vienna, here you can enjoy it without competing with millions of tourists.

The UNESCO historic centre

The Schlossberg, the rocky hill that dominates the centre, is reached by a lift bored through the rock or on foot through terraced gardens. At the top, the Clock Tower (Uhrturm) is the symbol of the city — with one quirk: the hands are reversed, the large one indicating the hours and the small one the minutes, a legacy of the age when people needed to read the time from a distance.

The historic centre is a succession of Renaissance courtyards hidden behind Baroque facades. The Herrengasse, the main street, is elegant yet liveable. The Hauptplatz hosts a daily market of local producers. The Landhaushof courtyards of the regional parliament are Italian Renaissance jewels on Austrian soil — the architect Domenico dell'Allio brought the Tuscan Renaissance here in the 16th century.

Contemporary architecture

Graz has grafted the future onto the past with a boldness Vienna has never quite matched:

- Kunsthaus — the contemporary art museum, nicknamed "the friendly alien", is a biomorphic blue structure rising among the medieval rooftops. At night its facade becomes a digital screen

- Murinsel — an artificial floating island on the River Mur, designed by Vito Acconci: a café-amphitheatre-playground that looks like something out of a science-fiction film

- Helmut List Halle — a former factory transformed into a concert hall with perfect acoustics

Styrian cuisine

Styria is Austria's garden, and Graz is its table. Styrian cooking is the most interesting in the country:

- Kürbiskernöl — Styrian pumpkin seed oil, thick and dark green with a hazelnut flavour: it goes on everything, from salad to ice cream

- Backhendl — golden fried chicken in a crispy crust, the city's signature dish

- Sterz — Styrian buckwheat polenta, served with bacon and eggs

- Verhackertes — spreadable lard cream with herbs, on rye bread

The Kaiser-Josef-Platz market is the best place to discover local produce: alpine cheeses, Styrian apples, fresh horseradish and the famous pumpkin seed oil.

The Styrian wine hills

Half an hour from Graz the Südsteiermark begins, the Styrian wine region: rolling hills covered in vineyards that recall Tuscany. The Südsteirische Weinstraße (wine road) links dozens of Buschenschänke — farmhouse taverns where the winemakers serve their own wine alongside platters of cured meats and cheeses. Styrian Sauvignon Blanc is considered among the finest in the world.

How to get there

Direct flights to Graz from several European cities. The train from Vienna takes 2 hours 35 minutes. From Venice, Graz is about 4 and a half hours by car via Villach. Graz airport is small and 15 minutes from the centre.

Where to eat

Der Steirer is the temple of Styrian cuisine: crispy Backhendl and pumpkin seed oil in abundance. Eckstein offers creative cooking with market produce. The Buschenschänke on the hills around Graz (such as Buschenschank Herbst) serve rustic snacks with vineyard views at €10–15. A dinner in the centre costs €20–30, half the price of Vienna.

Festivals and cultural life

Graz has a cultural scene that rivals cities many times its size. Steirischer Herbst (Styrian Autumn) is one of Europe's most important contemporary arts festivals, with performances, installations and debates that turn the city into a creative laboratory for a month. The La Strada street arts festival in July brings acrobats, musicians and performers from around the world.

The Graz Opera and the Schauspielhaus (theatre) offer rich seasons with accessible ticket prices — a stalls seat that costs €150 in Vienna costs €40 here. The Joanneumsviertel, a museum complex in the heart of the city, houses art galleries, a natural history museum and scientific collections in historic buildings connected by a modern underground atrium.

Nightlife revolves around the university quarter: 60,000 students guarantee an ever-active scene of bars, clubs and live music venues. The Univiertel (university quarter) has a concentration of venues that would be the envy of cities three times its size, at decidedly student-friendly prices. Lendplatz, the market square in the creative Lend quarter, is the evening gathering point with outdoor bars and international street food.

How much you save

Graz costs 35–40% less than Vienna. Hotels from €70 a night in the historic centre. The Graz Card (1 or 3 days) covers transport and museums at a modest price. But the priceless value is in the quality of daily life: human rhythms, no queues, and the feeling of being a welcome guest in a living city rather than an extra in a tourist production.