Graz travel guide

Do you know about Graz? Why not? It’s a world-heritage city beautiful enough to marvel at and unusual enough to be mysterious.

This travel guide has all you need to know about visiting Graz.

A plague-era mural paid for by fearful residents stands almost side by side with a vast ceiling reshaped into a propaganda document by the Habsburgs, the rulers who dominated Graz for centuries.

Citizens and rulers were sometimes at odds. A city that was once led by Protestants was turned upside-down in the Counter-Reformation by a determined imperial family that invited the Jesuits to take over its educational institutions and banished all religious opposition.

Graz has striking features. A giant rock that today provides a vantage point over the old town once was the site of powerful fortress complex. But when that fortress held out against Napoleon, the vengeful ruler blew it up in an effort to banish its memory from history. Graz’s leading art museum is a work of art in itself, but different enough to be called ‘the friendly alien’ by locals. Visitors to both can see each other.

A Renaissance armoury that was one of the secrets of the city’s strength remains today with more than 30,000 weapons, suits of armour and other pieces of war gear, the most remarkable arsenal of its type in Europe. Take the tour or just wander its floors with an audio guide.

Graz’s biggest palace was created by the Eggenbergs, a powerful family second only to the Habsburgs. Today Schloß Eggenberg maintains its allure with vast painted ceilings, an extraordinary arcaded courtyard and delicate Rococo touches. This was the playground of powerful statesmen and their guests, the people who reshaped Europe.

But city palaces only a little less impressive have been turned into museums that explain the story of this unusual city.

Enjoy a rich Graz travel experience affordably. The 15-page, 2025 Raven Travel Guides Europe Graz guide is your pass to a travel experience you won’t forget.