Starting the advent in Graz, Austria

In November, when the Christmas markets were just opening, we travelled to Austria for a weekend. It was actually the birthday gift for my mom, and we wanted to celebrate here there. I travelled to Graz together with my partner and my parents. None of us had been to Graz before.

The journey was quite long, it took us about six hours from Budapest to Graz, although we kept a longer lunch break and some short stops. It was already late afternoon when we arrived, but we still had time to settle down in our apartment that we had rented for one night, and to walk into downtown to enjoy the Christmas vibes of this beautiful Austrian city (although, I would rather say town, maximum small city). The lights were beautiful, we enjoyed walking in the streets, and then we spent a bit of time in the Christmas market that had just opened before our trip. As I could see and hear, the majority of the visitors were locals, there were hardly any tourists. It was so different than in the crowded Vienna at that time of the year. Although the market was small, we drank a hot punch and walked around a bit. It even started to snow for a few minutes, and I had the feeling that it was the perfect Christmas atmosphere we could enjoy right then. But it was also cold, and it was getting late, so we started to walk towards the restaurant where we wanted to have some pizza for dinner. Somehow, I wasn’t surprised when the waiter switched into Hungarian as he heard us speaking that language. There are so many Hungarians living and working in Austria. After dinner, we walked slowly back to our apartment, because we still wanted to enjoy that special Christmasy atmosphere that is always the best at night with all the illuminations of the city. Well, we got tired by the time we got into bed.

The next day was a sunny winter one, perfect for sightseeing. We walked around downtown and searched for the most famous places such as the Cathedral where there was a holy mess that time, with a choir singing. We listened to it for a few minutes and then continued our sightseeing. There are little Christmas markets all over the city center and although they weren’t as special in daylight as in the evening, we still enjoyed the atmosphere. Graz was also nice in the sunshine. We could listen to a carillon of nice Christmas songs such as Silent Night. And then we headed towards the castle, which was on the top of a hill, and it’s possible to either walk up, to go up by cable car or by elevator. We chose the option of the cable car, as it’s always fun, and bought our tickets at the entrance. Luckily, the same tickets were valid for the way down (you only have to buy a new one, if you spend more than an hour up the hill). It was a nice view from there down to the city and we walked around a bit. There was both a restaurant and a Christmas market up there, but we didn’t have so much time, as we had a reservation for a restaurant for lunch. It was already time to go down again.

It was actually hard to find a restaurant as most of the places are closed on Sunday. After having lived in Germany for a while and having travelled to Austria many times, I was not surprised that shops and supermarkets won’t be opened on Sunday, but it was new even to me that many restaurants close on that day (in the center!). But we were lucky to be able to get a table in a traditional Austrian restaurant where we enjoyed delicious food such as the famous Schnitzel. Even though we had to wait a lot for the food, it was worth it, and the atmosphere was also nice with waiters and waitresses wearing traditional clothes and using the local language.

Although we were full after such a delicious lunch, we still had the plan to go to an Austrian pastry shop (in German Konditorei) to celebrate my mom’s birthday. Instead of a birthday cake, this year she got some pieces of Mozart cake and got her candles on that, too. We had prepared and it was nice to see her being surprised and happy. As we already got all the coffee and cakes, the waitress took some photos of us, the family. It was a very nice ending of our short trip in Austria. From the pastry shop, we headed directly towards home, and I was driving for about two hours (which is already satisfying for me). My mom continued then for the rest of the journey.

All in all, we really liked Graz. It’s definitely a smaller and less crowded town than the capital city, Vienna. There were hardly any tourists. And even if there are more of them later in the Advent period or at other times of the year, it’s still a calm and quite place. We were also a bit surprised how clean it was, even downtown. I would say that it’s a perfect destination in Advent or for a weekend trip. I can highly recommend it. 😊