.png)
About Graz
Graz is Austria's second city, and if Vienna is the country looking backward at its own imperial grandeur, Graz is Austria looking sideways at itself and finding something more livable. The Altstadt (old town), a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is compact enough to walk entirely in an afternoon and dense enough in late-Renaissance and Baroque architecture to reward doing so slowly. The Schlossberg, the forested hill rising directly from the center with a clock tower visible from most of the city, is Graz''s organizing landmark: everything orients toward it.
For digital nomads, Graz is an affordable Austrian base. One-bedroom furnished apartments in the Innere Stadt or the Lend neighborhood run 800 to 1,300 EUR per month, substantially below Vienna. The University of Technology and the Karl-Franzens-Universität generate a student population that keeps the café and coworking culture active. Internet infrastructure is excellent. The tech and design cluster around Smart City Graz and the Holding Graz incubator has developed a community of startups and remote workers.
The city''s position in the southeastern corner of Austria, 45 minutes from Slovenia by road and two hours from Zagreb, makes it a practical gateway to the Balkans for those using Austria as a Schengen anchor.
Best months are April through October; the city's Christmas market from late November through December is among Austria's most genuine rather than most photographed. The food culture, centered on Styrian cuisine with its pumpkin seed oil, sturdy soups, and serious wine tradition from the southern Styrian hills and the Südsteiermark wine road, gives the city a culinary identity that is distinctly its own rather than a Vienna satellite version. The thermal spa region around Bad Radkersburg, an hour south, is the local answer to winter and its demands.
Cost of living
Cost-of-living calculator
See how your budget stretches in Graz.
Estimates use approximate exchange rates and typical monthly costs. Your actual costs will vary.
- Coffee
- $4
- Cheap meal
- $11
- Coworking (day)
- $20
- Mid-range meal for 2
- $48
- Rent (1BR, center)
- $1,000
- Transit (monthly)
- $45
- Internet (monthly)
- $30
- Rent (1BR, outside)
- $750
EnRoute Jobs AI tool
Real Value Calculator
See what a salary actually leaves you in the country you want to live in.
Neighborhoods
Altstadt
Culture, dining
Baroque UNESCO centre with Schlossberg fortress and Kunsthaus art museum.
Lend and Grieskai
Young professionals, creatives
Hipster neighbourhood with street art and multicultural restaurants.
Geidorf
Students, academics
Elegant university district north of Altstadt.
Getting around
- overview
- Excellent tram network. Very walkable historic centre. Trains to Vienna in 2.5 hours.
Culture
Graz''s Murinsel, an artificial floating island in the Mur River designed by Vito Acconci for the 2003 European Capital of Culture year, is the most visible marker of the city''s contemporary design ambition alongside its historical setting. The Kunsthaus Graz (the "Friendly Alien"), a blob-like biomorphic building housing contemporary art that stands in deliberate contrast to the Altstadt roofline, is the more permanent expression: Graz committing to the coexistence of centuries.
The city''s design culture, concentrated in the Lend neighborhood''s studios and the Designmonat festival in May, has developed a vocabulary that draws on both the technical and the decorative Austrian traditions. The result is a city with more active design production than its size would suggest.
Top 5 things to do in Graz
Graz is Austria's second city, and its UNESCO-listed old town is small enough to walk in an afternoon. The Murinsel, a floating island in the Mur River, is the quirky landmark most people end up photographing.
Sponsored · Tour listings come from GetYourGuide. If you book through them, we earn a small commission at no cost to you.
Graz old town walking tour
The UNESCO-listed center is small enough to walk in an afternoon, with Renaissance courtyards, Baroque facades and red roofs. A guide helps you find the details.
Powered by GetYourGuideSchlossberg and Clock Tower
A forested hill rises straight out of the center, topped by the clock tower you can see from across the city. Walk up or ride the funicular for the views.
Powered by GetYourGuideEggenberg Palace visit
A grand Baroque palace on the edge of the city, with state rooms, gardens and peacocks wandering the lawns. It's part of the same UNESCO listing as the old town.
Powered by GetYourGuideStyrian wine country tour
South of Graz, steep vineyards run along the Slovenian border. Tastings of local whites, pumpkin seed oil and hearty snacks make for a relaxed day in the hills.
Powered by GetYourGuideRiegersburg Castle day trip
A medieval fortress sits on a volcanic rock above the Styrian hills. It makes a good day trip from Graz when you want castle walls, a museum and long views.
Powered by GetYourGuide
Sponsored
More tours and tickets in Graz
If you book through this link, we earn a small commission. It costs you nothing extra.
See all tours on GetYourGuideSponsored
Learn the language before you land
Babbel makes it easy to pick up the basics before you move to Graz.
Sponsored
Insurance built for life on the move
SafetyWing covers your health and travel wherever work takes you next.
Climate & best time to visit
Continental Alpine with Pannonian influence: warm summers (July 22–28°C) and cold winters (January −3 to 3°C). The Schlossberg provides a microclimate advantage; spring and autumn are beautiful with mountain backdrop. May–September is the active outdoor season.
Best months: May, June, September, October
Tips & safety
- •Excellent tram network. Very walkable historic centre. Trains to Vienna in 2.5 hours.
- •More affordable than Vienna. One-bed rent €700–1,200/month.
- •Graz is consistently ranked among the safest cities in Austria; standard European urban precautions apply.
- •Cyclists are active on many city streets; pedestrians should stay in designated walking areas and check before stepping off curbs.
- •Tram pickpocketing is rare but possible on crowded routes; keep bags in front of you.
- •The Schlossberg hill stairs are unlit in sections after dark; use the elevator or funicular for the evening descent.
Areas to avoid: Graz is a safe city overall. The area around the main train station (Hauptbahnhof) has the typical station dynamics — slightly elevated petty theft risk late at night., The Gürtel area west of the station is lower-income and worth extra awareness after midnight, though incidents are rare.