Located mid-way between Bologna, Venice, Klagenfurt and Budapest, Milan and Krakow, Vienna, Ljubljana and Trieste, Munich, Salzburg , and Zagreb, Prague and Belgrade or Sarajevo, Zurich, Innsbruck and Bratislava, this one-time imperial residence offers a blend of Austrian charm and Mediterranean ambience.

Graz boasts the largest preserved historic city centre in Europe, which - alongside Schloss Eggenberg - has been officially added to UNESCO´s World Heritage List. The city offers its visitors cultural delights ranging from the classical to the avant-garde: theatre and opera, off-theatres like TIB-Theater im Bahnhof, Mezzanin Theater , and others, modern art festival steirischer herbst, visual art festival Galerientage , the electronic art and music springfestival and the festival V:NM , the music, arts and political discourse festivals elevate and Lendwirbel, FORUM STADTPARK - a venue for production and presentation of contemporary art, and for Crossroads, the festival for documentary film and discourse - the classical music festival Styriarte, the Festival of Austrian Film DIAGONALE with independent cinemas like KIZ-Royal Kino, the Graz international Festival of Puppet and Street Theatre La Strada, the pop culture projects ppc, Explosiv and Postgarage, museums like Kunsthaus Graz, Universalmuseum Joanneum , GrazMuseum, the children´s museum FRida und freD, and MUWA. These are some of the reasons why Graz was the Cultural Capital of Europe in the year 2003 and why, in 2011, Graz was awarded the accolade of City of Design by UNESCO, recognising the activities within the network Creative Industries Styria. and calls itself a City of Jazz (Stockwerkjazz, Milesjazz, Grazjazz) . For current cultural events please visit the Graz Cultural Calendar.

Graz is surrounded by areas for recreation, ranging from the Alpine mountains in the north - ideal for hiking and skiing - to the gentle rolling hills of the Styrian wine region in the south - perfect for exploring regional culinary specialities. As a central-european town Graz is integrated in well a developed motorway- and railway-network, and is also easily accessible by plane. If possible, we recommend travelling climate friendly.