Where to Stay in Graz — Best Hotels & Neighbourhoods
Curated by Our Guild Explorers · Updated August 2026
Graz is the Austrian city Americans have most often never heard of, and the one our readers come back praising. It is the country’s second city, with a red-roofed old town so intact that UNESCO listed it, a wooded hill in the middle crowned by a clock tower, and a student population that keeps the cafes lively and the prices well below Vienna’s. Best of all for a traveller who no longer wants to fight a city: the centre is flat as a table, compact enough to cross in twenty minutes, and served by trams that are free to ride within the old town. The choice of where to sleep is simple — the old town around the Hauptplatz for atmosphere, the Mur riverbank a few minutes west for the grand old houses, or the station quarter for value and an easy arrival. Everything below is by style, with an honest word on lifts, and a Book Me link straight to Trip.com.
Good to know before you book
Five plain facts that decide where an older traveller should sleep in Graz.
Flat ground, and free trams in the middle
Graz is one of the kindest historic cities in Europe to walk. The old town is level, the squares are broad, and the whole of it — Hauptplatz, the cathedral, the Landhaus courtyard, the Kunsthaus and the island in the river — sits within a twenty-minute stroll. When you have had enough, the trams through the centre are free of charge within the old-town zone, so you can ride a stop or two back to your hotel without so much as buying a ticket. Beyond that zone an ordinary ticket applies, and the machines take cards.
You do not have to climb the Schlossberg
The wooded hill in the middle of the city, with its famous clock tower, looks like a serious climb and need not be one. A funicular railway runs up one side, and a lift built inside the rock rises from the Schlossbergplatz to the terrace at the top, both for the price of a transport ticket. There are stairs for those who want them — some four hundred of them — but nobody is obliged to use them. The view over the red roofs from the top is the best twenty minutes in Graz.
The railway that changed the map
On 14 December 2025 the Koralm railway opened after twenty-seven years of building, and it quietly rearranged southern Austria. Graz to Klagenfurt fell from about three hours to about forty minutes, and Vienna to Klagenfurt to a little over three. For a visitor this means Carinthia and its warm lakes are now a comfortable day trip or an easy onward leg rather than a separate expedition, and it makes Graz a far better base than it was two years ago. Vienna is about two and a half hours away by Railjet.
Lifts, cobbles and where the noise is
The old-town houses are baroque palaces and burgher houses, handsome and old, and their lifts vary: some are modern, some are small later additions, and a few upper floors are reached by a short flight. Ask before booking. The squares are paved in setts that are uneven in places, though far less punishing than Salzburg’s. For quiet, the streets to ask about are the bar lanes around the Mehlplatz and Farbergasse, which are cheerful and loud at weekends; a courtyard room settles it.
The top end — and an honest note on stars
Graz has no five-star hotel. What it has are handsome four-star-superior houses at prices that would buy a small room in Vienna — and we would rather say so than dress it up.
Grand Hôtel Wiesler
The grand old house of Graz, an art nouveau landmark on the Grieskai facing the river, with a gold-mosaic facade, high-ceilinged rooms and a famously good breakfast that runs late into the morning. It has been renovated with a light, slightly bohemian hand rather than stripped of its character. Position is excellent and entirely flat: over the bridge and you are in the Hauptplatz in about five minutes, with the Kunsthaus — the blue glass “friendly alien” — right beside you. Proper lifts, and staff used to looking after older guests well.
Book Me on Trip.com ›Schlossberghotel – Das Kunsthotel
Built against the rock at the foot of the Schlossberg, with an owner’s art collection through the public rooms, a small roof terrace and pool looking over the old town, and a quiet courtyard that feels a long way from a city centre it is actually in the middle of. The lift inside the cliff to the Schlossberg terrace is a minute away, which for anyone who would rather not tackle four hundred steps is the practical reason to stay here. Rooms vary in size and shape; say what you need when you book.
Book Me on Trip.com ›Boutique
One modern design house with a pool, one baroque palace beside the cathedral — opposite ends of the same idea.
Augarten Art Hotel
A calm modern hotel with a serious contemporary art collection, an indoor pool and a sauna — unusual at this price, and welcome at the end of a day on your feet. It sits just south of the historic core by the Augarten park, which means about ten or twelve flat minutes on foot to the Hauptplatz, or a tram stop or two. Being a modern building, the lifts are proper ones and the bathrooms are sensibly planned. A good choice for a stay of several nights when comfort matters more than a picture-book address.
Book Me on Trip.com ›Boutique Hotel Dom (Palais Inzaghi)
A baroque town palace on Bürgergasse, quite literally beside the cathedral and the mausoleum, with rooms individually done — some with roll-top baths in the room, some under painted ceilings, no two the same. It is as central as Graz gets, three or four minutes from the Hauptplatz on level ground, and the street is quiet at night. The honest caution is the one that applies to every palais hotel: the building is old and the lift may not reach every floor, so ask about that and about the room you are being given before you commit.
Book Me on Trip.com ›Budget & Value
Graz is already cheap by Austrian standards; these two make it cheaper still, and both are modern buildings with lifts.
Motel One Graz
New, central and genuinely good value: a modern building on the ring by the Joanneum museum quarter, three or four flat minutes from the Hauptplatz, with the reliable Motel One formula of a small well-made room, a handsome lobby-bar and a lift that works. Breakfast is charged separately and is worth taking. Rooms have showers rather than baths and are compact by American standards; everything else about staying here is easy, and the location is as good as anything twice the price.
Book Me on Trip.com ›ibis budget Graz City
The plainest bed we will recommend in Graz, and we recommend it honestly: a clean, modern, no-frills room at a price that leaves money for dinner and a concert. There is a lift and a level entrance. What there is not is space, storage or much charm — the rooms are small and functional, with a compact bathroom pod. Perfectly sensible for a night or two when you are out all day; we would not choose it for a week. If the budget stretches at all, the Motel One above is a considerable step up.
Book Me on Trip.com ›Family-friendly
One that grandchildren will talk about for years, one that keeps the bill sensible — both with lifts and family rooms.
NOVAPARK Flugzeughotel Graz
There is a retired jet airliner on the roof, converted into suites, and children remember it for the rest of their lives. Beneath the novelty it is a substantial, comfortable hotel with a pool, a spa and large family rooms, at a price that would not buy a single room in central Vienna. The plain caution is position: it stands out on the Fischeraustrasse, so the old town means a tram ride or a short drive rather than a walk. For a family with a few days and a sense of humour, that trade is easy.
Book Me on Trip.com ›JUFA Hotel Graz City
JUFA is the Austrian chain built for families and school groups, which means multi-bed rooms as standard, half-board available, plain modern comfort and prices that make a family holiday possible rather than theoretical. There are lifts and level access. It sits south of the centre near the fair grounds, so the old town is a tram ride or a walk of twenty-odd minutes. Nobody will call it charming; everybody appreciates the bill and the room to spread out.
Book Me on Trip.com ›Quiet & couples — and an honest word on “adults-only”
There is no genuinely adults-only hotel in Graz, and we will not invent one. These two are small, calm and grown-up in feel — children are permitted at both.
Palais-Hotel Erzherzog Johann
A palace of 1852 on Sackstrasse, two minutes from the Hauptplatz and close to the foot of the Schlossberg funicular, with a glass-roofed courtyard lounge that is the pleasantest place in Graz to sit out a wet afternoon over coffee. The atmosphere is traditional and hushed, the service old-fashioned in the best sense, and the position could hardly be better for anyone who wants everything within a short flat walk. There is a lift. It is not an adults-only hotel; it is simply a quiet, grown-up one.
Book Me on Trip.com ›Hotel Gollner
A small family-run house on a calm street near the opera and the Stadtpark, a few flat minutes from the centre — the sort of hotel where the same person checks you in, recommends the restaurant and remembers your name the next morning. Rooms are traditional and comfortable rather than fashionable, and the quiet at night is real. There is a lift. Again, to be plain about it: not adults-only, simply peaceful, and a good deal for what it is.
Book Me on Trip.com ›Pet-friendly
Two hotels that publish a dog policy. Confirm the size limit and the nightly charge with the hotel directly — both change.
Hotel Daniel Graz
A clean-lined design hotel directly across from the main station, which makes it the least effortful arrival in the city — off the train, across the forecourt, and you are checked in. The style is deliberately spare and modern, the beds are good, and there is a lift and level access throughout. Dogs are accepted; ask about the charge. The old town is about eight minutes by tram from the door, or a twenty-minute flat walk if the weather is good.
Book Me on Trip.com ›Hotel Weitzer Graz
A large, long-established four-star on the Grieskai beside the Wiesler, with the river path outside the door for a morning walk and the Hauptplatz about five flat minutes away over the bridge. It is a comfortable working hotel rather than a fashionable one: proper lifts, a decent breakfast, rooms of a sensible size, and staff who take luggage and dogs in their stride. Confirm the dog charge and any size limit directly when you reserve.
Book Me on Trip.com ›Graz Hotels — common questions
Where is the best area to stay in Graz?
The old town around the Hauptplatz and Sackstrasse if you want to step out of the door into the picture; the Mur riverbank around the Grieskai for the grand old houses and the Kunsthaus, five flat minutes across the bridge; and the main station quarter for value and the easiest arrival by train. Graz is small and level enough that all three are genuinely walkable to each other. The free tram zone through the centre means you can ride back when your legs have had enough.
Is Graz walkable for older travellers?
It is one of the easiest historic cities in Austria to walk. The centre is flat, the distances are short, the squares are broad and there are benches and cafes everywhere. The paving is old setts in places, uneven but not punishing. And the one real hill, the Schlossberg, is served both by a funicular railway and by a lift built inside the rock, so the famous view costs you a ticket rather than four hundred steps.
How do I get to Graz, and what did the new railway change?
By train from Vienna in about two and a half hours on frequent Railjet services. The change worth knowing is the Koralm railway, which opened on 14 December 2025 and cut Graz to Klagenfurt from roughly three hours to about forty minutes. That puts Carinthia and its warm lakes within an easy day trip, and makes Graz a far more useful base for southern Austria than it was before. Graz has its own small airport, but most visitors arrive by train, and the station is a short tram ride from the centre.
When is the best time to visit Graz?
May and June, or September and October. Graz sits in the warmest corner of Austria, so its summers are hotter than Vienna’s and August can be genuinely sticky; the shoulder months give you warm days, cool evenings and the Styrian countryside at its best — the wine roads south of the city are lovely in early autumn. December brings a cluster of Christmas markets through the squares, among the prettiest in the country. January and February are cold and quiet, and prices fall accordingly.
How many days do you need in Graz?
Two nights covers the old town, the Schlossberg, the Kunsthaus and a proper Styrian dinner without rushing. Three lets you add the armoury — the largest historic arsenal in the world, and more impressive than it sounds — or a half-day out to Schloss Eggenberg with its peacocks. With the new railway, a fourth day now buys you Klagenfurt and the Wörthersee lake and back, which was not practical before.
Is Graz a good alternative to Vienna?
Not a replacement, but an excellent companion — and for some travellers the more restful half of the trip. Vienna has the palaces, the great museums and the music. Graz has an intact old town you can cross in twenty minutes, noticeably lower prices, a warmer climate, better everyday food, and far fewer visitors. Two and a half hours of comfortable railway separates them. If you have a week in Austria, three nights in each is a better trip than six in one.
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