Christmas in Graz

---

Every season has its own beauty but travelling before Christmas always means unforgettable experiences for me. During the season the cities and towns tend to show their different faces, the decorated houses and streets bring warmness and happiness into our hearts, not to mention the fact that everyone becomes friendlier and take care of the others.
Visiting christmas markets is the part of preparation, when everyone gets together, drink mulled wine and listen to christmas carols. In the wonderful city where I live, Budapest has many charmful Christmas fairs all over the city where you can enjoy the Christmas spirit.Now I would rather tell you about our visit in Graz, a wonderful city in Austria.

Why Graz?

Few weeks before Christmas with my husband we started planning our trip. The most important aspect was to choose a place nearby which has great places to visit, christmas markets, not too expensive (before Christmas it matters) and we haven't been there before.
Thanks God We found a good travel agency (it was also new for us - but we like testing😊) and with them on the last saturday of November we had a great trip in Graz.Half of the day the guide showed us the most important and interesting places of the city and we discovered together the Advent markets. Good news for those who likes walking, all the christmas markets are within easy walking distance. What we enjoyed most:

Schlossberg

It is strongly recommended for everyone, the Schlossberg hill with the clocktower is the symbol of Graz, the place that attracts people every season. No worries, it will not be difficult to find, almost everywhere in the city you can notice that. And how can you get to the top of it? Two ways, your either walk or go by funicular - at weekends it is free of charge. It doesn't take more than 2 minutes but a great experience - furthermore the view is impressive. At Christmas time there are charming Advent markets inside and outside the building.

Kunsthaus Graz

Next to traditional urban buildings there is a very strange, huge architecutre. The Kunsthaus floats like a mysterious blue balloon between the roofs of the historic city centre. Named friendly alien by its creators that attracts many visitors. The Museum of contemporarily art is located in this place. We didn't go into it but we saw it from Schlossbert. It was strange indeed but we liked its shape very much.

Townhall

We had freetime after the organised walk, and didn't miss to go back to this wonderful place. The buildings were beautiful and the christmas market was great. The best experience was to hear the christmas songs like Last Christmas or All I want for Christmas. People were very kind - they were walking slowly in the market and enjoying the atmosphere of a wonderful season.

What to eat and drink?

We ate sausage with mulled wine and punch. I really loved the mug where they filled them - it was decorated with pictures of christmas and Graz. It's a perfect souvenir, believe me! 😊

What to buy?

Choccolate - we tried really delicious choccolates. Moreover it worth visiting to the Bakery Hofbackerei Edegge, it is situated in the old town of Graz. The family business opened in 1569. Unfortunately it was closed on Saturday afternoon but worth seeing it at least from outside. This bakery made the cakes and breads to the royal family as well in Austria. So it is a very special place. 😊

On the whole I can say that we really enjoyed this trip, we got to know a new city, tried new things and met new people. It can be useful information that in the city centre there is an information office where you can buy postcards, souvenirs and the toilet is free. We strated and finished our trip there. 😊 So I absolutely recommend you to visit Graz, and not just for a day - it worth more.

---