Often foolishly overlooked

Advantages: Small yet lively, a variety of things to do and a great place to be based
Disadvantages: none

...Graz is Austria?s second city, with around 260,000 population, as well as 100,000 students which boost the population in term time. For a second city, that is not exactly massive, but nevertheless Graz has a certain je ne sais quoi. Having lived in Vienna for four and a half years, I have often headed down to Graz and have friends there, to revisit the city I first discovered in 1997-8 when I lived in Judenburg. Getting there: Graz is 2:30 direct by train (fahrplan.oebb.at has an online timetable) from Vienna (leaving from the Südbahnhof), with hourly trains, although every second hour you have to change in Brück an der Mur. The journey itself, over the Semmering pass, in particular the stretch between Semmering and Gloggnitz is well worth it. Unfortunately, when the Semmering tunnel is completed, some of this breathtaking journey...

Morgenhund 23.01.2005 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
Review of Graz (Austria)

Not just for shopping!

Advantages: People wear traditional dress, lots to see and do, very pretty
Disadvantages: Steep cobbled streets, smoking allowed in public places

...For the benefit of anyone who still doesn't know, my partner and I bought a little flat in Maribor in Slovenia at the end of last year. Over our last few visits we have been furnishing the flat and given the abundance of retail parks in the area you might be forgiven for thinking that this would be easy. The trouble is that although there are lots of retail parks in Slovenia they all have the same limited stores and so people tend to head over the border to shop. Depending on where they live, this might be to Italy (very stylish and very pricey), Hungary (cheap but not so stylish), Croatia (so-so, good quality but not much choice) or Austria (reasonable prices, good quality and lots of choice). People in Maribor tend to go to Austria and head for Graz, just fifty or so kilometres away. There's even a song that goes something like...

fizzytom 10.04.2008 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
Review of Graz (Austria)

Ibis Graz - where the smoke gets up your nose

Advantages: Useful location for transport; clean comfortable
Disadvantages: Smoky lobby; over-priced if no offer available

...also quite smoky at times when the lobby café was full of customers. Newspapers and free wi-fi internet access are available in the lobby. As far as our own requirements go we found no problems with this hotel. The room was clean and comfortable and the limited contact we had with the staff was positive. However, I would suggest that the special rate we paid was about the right mark for what we got and that the full price is a shade too much. Given its location I would think that most guests are business people whose companies are footing the bill. At this price the hotel was superior to the nearby Hotel Strasser for which we paid 70 Euro for a double room including breakfast earlier this year but I probably wouldn't pay the standard rate when the anniversary price ceases to apply. Ibis Graz Europaplatz 12 8020 Graz, Austria...

fizzytom 02.06.2008 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
Review of Ibis, Graz

More than the Clock Tower

Advantages: attractive scenery, nice people, lots to see
Disadvantages: no direct flights from the UK

...I have been to Graz for several days earlier this year and I can tell you that this town has much more to offer than just the famous Clock Tower (Uhrturm) for which it is known. Graz is the third-largest town in Austria, it is located about 200 km south of Vienna, it is the capital of Styria (one of the nine provinces of the Republic of Austria), and there is also a univeristy in Graz. Football fans might remember that one of the teams based here (Sturm Graz) played (and lost) against Manchester United in the Champions League. Other than that, Graz is not very well known in the UK. But it is certainly worth to spend a few days here to explore the attractions, to do some shopping or simply to enjoy the scenery and relax. If you drive to Graz by car, please bear in mind that - unlike in other Austrian towns - there is a very...

Michael-S 05.06.2001 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Review of Graz (Austria)

Subterranian fun in Austria

Advantages: Interesting, educational and fun
Disadvantages: 9 degrees and damp

...a blanket to wrap around your shoulders and keep the chill out. Austria and in particular Vienna, is a wonderful destination for any holiday maker, the Seegrotte was only one of the many sights we managed to take in on our week away, the people are very friendly, the scenery is amazing and Vienna in particular is just brilliant, we loved it so much we are already planning a return!...

jimblob 17.10.2004 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Review of Vienna (Austria)

Seefeld ( Austria )

Advantages: This is a very beautiful place to be. There are flowers on every balcony which makes it look like a fairy land
Disadvantages: I found none when I was there except if you like to cycle they do it differently

...I was there when I was young, I went on a bus tour and we stopped off in Germany for the night, in the morning after breakfast,the cases got loaded into the buses, unfortunatly mine went on its merry way to Switzerland andIand I was left for four days with only the clothes I had on 'till we arrived in in Austria . Seefeld is beautiful with every house and hotel with flowers on the It is so clean and you look up to the mountains and see the snow lying,yet it is not cold. I went up in the cable car to the top and stood looking down at the wooden chalets with flower laden balconys We went to the house where the "sound of music" was played. There was entertainment in the Hotel next door where the men danced typical tyroleon dances, with leather shorts and caps. and as my clothes had not arrived from Switzerland a very nice...

misty21 10.10.2003 (03.04.2004) · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Review of Seefeld (Austria)

The hotel that thinks it's an art gallery

Advantages: Clean, comfortable, relatively cheap and good location
Disadvantages: Garish decor, feeble looking breakfast

...than myself. We have decided that for the present we won't get a TV for our flat in Slovenia so I had not seen any TV news for almost a week when we arrived in Graz. I was delighted to find that in addition to a couple of German and Austrian channels, the hotel had Serbian TV and the breakfast news on that channel is compulsive viewing - itmakes Borat look like a consumate professional! I always make a point of watching TV from Belgrade whenever I am in the former Yugoslavia and I was thrilled to be able to catch it in Austria too! If you like luxury then Hotel Strasser is not the hotel for you; it is described as a two star hotel but I have been in plenty of three starred hotels that were no better than this. Hotel Strasser is a basic, clean and comfortable city hotel in a great location for travellers. In a city where accommodation can...

fizzytom 25.01.2008 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Review of Hotel Strasser, Graz

Arnie Schwarzenegger's home town uni

Advantages: Travel broadens the mind! :-)
Disadvantages: You miss home.

...A study period abroad can be a really worthwhile experience. Here is some information on my time in the Karl-Franzens University in Graz for anybody who might be thinking of going there. I studied Business and German in the University of Limerick and as part of this 4-year course I got to spend a 4 month semester in a foreign university under the Erasmus programme, an exchange programme between universities. I had a choice between two universities, one in Osnabrueck in Northern Germany, and one in Graz in Austria. As I had already spent a summer working in Munich, Germany, I decided I would go to Austria for the change. I would like to stress at this point that my opinon is written from the point of view of a foreign student studying in Graz, and I have no reason to believe that the Karl-Franzens university in Graz is anything...

free4susan 04.09.2001 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Review of Universität Graz

The top place for Culture and Classical Music

Advantages: Class, culture and music
Disadvantages: Could be quite expensive

...This is part of my travel diary on a tour from Contiki. Berlin/Prague/Vienna tour Day 7 By late afternoon/early evening, we arrived in Vienna, capital of Austria and classical music. What is the first thing that comes to your mind when you think of Austria? Sound of Music, Viennesse Waltz, Viennesse biscuit or Arnold Schwarzenegger? Well for me it?is definitely Music!! Austria is one of the most cultured countries in Europe and Vienna being its capital is also the capital for classical music. Threfore, there is no surprise that many well-known composers or musicians and some examples are Mozart, Johann Strauss, Hadyn and Schubert. Vienna is all about classical music and beauty with a amazing collection of buildings and architecture. The city lies in the Danube Valley and has been inhibited for thousands of years...

medgenie 17.05.2009 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Review of Vienna (Austria)

From the Slopes to the Springs?Bad Kleinkirchheim

Advantages: The Best-Kept Secret In The Alps...!
Disadvantages: None!

...here, it is part of a much broader experience. It is precisely this that makes skiing in Austria such a pleasure, and in my opinion, Bad Kleinkircheim is one resort that exemplifies all that is wonderful about Austrian skiing. LOCATED in the midst of the Carinthian Alps near Austria's southern border, the thermal baths at Bad Kleinkirchheim have a long history, even pre-dating roman times. Indeed, the earliest traces of human settlement in this part of Carinthia date from the Neolithic period (3500-1800BC). A Roman road (known locally as the "Römerweg") runs through the area. This is an ancient track cut deep into the rock and is one of the most important of the old routes leading from Italy into the eastern Alpine region. Whilst other thermal spas in Austria, such as that at Bad Ischgl, began to attract tourists as early as the 16th...

snowbunni 30.12.2005 (03.01.2006) · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
Review of Carynthia (Austria)