How To Get In Graz
The Graz Airport (GRZ), well known for its contemporary facilities and great accessibility, serves Graz with convenience. European cities are a convenient choice for international travellers because major cities are connected by frequent flights. With the effective public transportation system, getting from the airport to the city center is quite simple.
For people who like taking picturesque train trips, Graz is a fantastic option because of its outstanding connection to Europe’s rail network. Known by many as the Hauptbahnhof, the main rail station, welcomes visitors with its magnificent architectural splendor. You may get to Graz from Vienna, Salzburg, and other places quite fast by high-speed train. Select from the comfortable, reasonably priced second-class seats or the tranquil first-class cabins.
Road travelers and self-drivers in Austria have a fantastic chance to maximize their trip thanks to the well-kept roadways. Connecting Graz and Vienna, the A2 Autobahn is an essential link for transit across the remainder of Austria. To prevent fines, please keep in mind that the autobahn vignette is a required toll sticker.
Long-distance bus services as FlixBus and Eurolines provide reasonably priced choices for tourists visiting Central Europe. Conveniently situated next to the major train station, the Graz Hauptbahnhof Bus Station facilitates easy and hassle-free transit between the two forms of transportation.
Going on a river trip down the picturesque Mur River is one unusual method. This less often utilized form of transportation offers a unique perspective of the city’s environs.
Get In - By Plane
Flughafen Graz Thalerhof, or Graz Airport (IATA: GRZ), is a small regional airport situated about 9 kilometers south of the city center. While summertime charters to various Mediterranean tourist destinations are available, scheduled flights to Graz depart from Berlin, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Munich, Stuttgart, Vienna, and Zurich, connecting to intercontinental hubs of Lufthansa, Austrian Airlines, AirBerlin, and Etihad Airways.
Several routes lead from the airport to the center:
- By taxi: the cost to the center is about €20–25.
- Bus: In front of the arrival area lies the bus station. Bus lines 630 and 631 travel to Jakominiplatz, the hub of public transport, every 20 minutes from around 05:20 until 23:45. One ticket costs € 2,10.
- By train: take a five-minute walk to the station (which is easily located; just follow the eastward path straight out of the airport). From 04:47 (Saturdays and Sundays: 05:17) to 22:47 (Sundays: 21:47), line S5 connects to the main station of Graz, Hauptbahnhof. It takes fifteen minutes to commute.
Further nearby airports include Vienna International Airport, Ljubljana, Zagreb, Maribor, Klagenfurt and Linz. Despite common opinion, there isn’t a simple direct public transportation link from Vienna’s Schwechat Airport to Graz (one has to take a bus to Wien-Meidling and then the RailJet train to Graz), hence flying straight to Graz could be a better choice to save time and stress.
Graz Airport
IATA code GRZ and ICAO code LOWG, Graz Airport is conveniently situated around 9 kilometers south of the city center.Holding Graz owns the airport, which supports civil aircraft. Austrian Aircraft Museum is also housed there.
With a short section in the cadastral community of Thalerhof in Kalsdorf, the airport is mostly located in the village of Abtissendorf in the Feldkirchen community.In Abtissendorf is the clearing hall.
Easy access to the airport is provided via the B67 federal road and the A2 and A9 roads.
Conveniently connecting the airport to the Austrian Federal Railways rail network is the Graz-Feldkirchen Airport railway station.Situated roughly 420 meters east of the terminal building is the train station.The airport is easily linked to Graz by the S5 S-Bahn line.About eleven minutes pass between the airport train station and the main railway station in Graz.A new railway line and a low-lying station will be built at the airport as part of the Koralmbahn extension.The station is further linked to the Styrian Transport Association’s public regional bus system.Graz is reached from the airport by line 630.Right in front of the departure hall is a handy bus stop.
Graz, Berlin, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Munich, and Stuttgart are among the German cities from where one may purchase flights to Vienna. Furthermore, there are internal flights from Zurich, Switzerland.The Mediterranean and North Africa provide other holiday destinations
Get In - By Bus
Graz lacks a designated bus terminal. Private and public operators all use different terminals:
- Eurolines departs from Hauptbahnhof. They provide reasonable low-cost tickets to several European destinations.
- Linie G1 – Dr. Richard provides bus service from Vienna to Graz.
- Regional buses serve various locations around Styria from terminals at Andreas-Hofer-Platz (City Bus 40, 67 or three minutes walk from Hauptplatz), Hauptbahnhof (Tram 3, 6 as well as 1, 7 nights and Sundays, City Buses 50, 52, 53, 58, 63, 85) and others. Many buses travel through Jakominiplatz.
Long-distance buses
Long-distance bus routes depart the main station in Graz several times a day, frequently in contemporary coaches equipped with WiFi and bathrooms.Westbus / Blaguss runs a 2:45 trip to Vienna that makes stops at Klagenfurt (3:00) and St. Michael. They also run a first-class interstate bus service (with a connection to Venice) to Klagenfurt and Wolfsberg (travel time 2:00).From Girardigasse 1 there are easy ways to get to places like Linz, Vienna, Trieste, Maribor, and Ljubljana with Flixbus.Dr. Richard / MeinFernbus.de has been offering quick and easy transportation from Jakominiplatz and Murpark to Vienna since November 26, 2014.The longest bus connections are found on the routes for foreign workers, but only on weekends. Blaguss/Eurolines/AP-Varadin offers the daily service to Zagreb (which arrives in 4:15 from Vienna). Just outside the main station, in front of the old post office, are departures for this service.Imperial Reisen and Bosfor (via Budapest, Belgrade, and Sofia) are the two ways that one can get from Vienna to Istanbul. 22 to 30 hour trips are available with both choices.
Get In - By Car
Mostly through the 6-mile Plabutsch tunnel, the A9 highway traverses Graz from north to south. About south of the city, the A2 runs from east to west. A2 leads 127 kilometers east to Vienna (Wien). The S6 passes via Bruck/Mur and is a faster and more picturesque way to Vienna. (Note that S6 has a lot of tunnels.) For some, the 5 mile (single lane) Gleinalm (Toll) tunnel on the A9, 15 miles north of Graz, may be unnerving. Caravans and trailers cost €9.95, automobiles and motorhomes up to 3.5 tons cost €7.95, while motorhomes beyond 3.5 tons cost €11.50. Steer clear of the tunnel by going the little longer route via Bruck a der Mur.
Get In - By Train
Near the end of Annenstrasse, on the western edge of the city center, is the main station, or Hauptbahnhof. Excellent rail connections exist between Graz and Vienna; direct trains leave every hour. There are regular flights to Salzburg and other Austrian destinations as well as Munich. There are two daily direct day trains to Zagreb in addition to night trains that go all the way to Zurich. Less often are Slovenia and Hungary served. Conveniently, tram lines 1, 3, 6, or 7 will transport you to old town. An alternative is to stroll along Annenstraße for a lovely twenty minutes and then cross the bridge. A map is available at Hauptbahnhof’s Tourist Information.
Direct services from Vienna to Graz use the Semmering Railway, an amazing UNESCO World Heritage monument distinguished by its unusual design of sixteen viaducts and fourteen tunnels. Alert! Seat on the left side if you’re going from Vienna to Graz. The right side is the better option, though, if you’re traveling from Graz to Vienna.
Rail traffic
Southern railway line is home to the major train station of Graz. It was named the most attractive rail station in Austria in VCÖ passenger surveys in 2003 and 2004 and won the Brunel Award for its practical interior design.Both the Köflacherbahn (GKB) and the Styrian Ostbahn start here.Both direct InterCity trains to Vienna, Linz, Salzburg, and Innsbruck as well as S-Bahn trains to all of Styria leave from this station.From Graz, EuroCity trains go directly to a number of places, including Frankfurt am Main and Saarbrücken in Germany, Brno and Prague in the Czech Republic, Zagreb in Croatia, and Marburg a der Drau and Ljubljana in Slovenia.Through cross-border IC links like EuroNight, Budapest, Hungary, can also be immediately connected to Zurich.In order to considerably improve Graz’s historically and physically restricted connection to the European railway network, the Koralmbahn is now being built. Its aim is to provide a direct link between Graz and Italy.
As of 2016, Graz had six train stations in addition to more stops for the S-Bahn service.Train stations abound in Graz, Austria. The main station is called Graz main station; it was devastated during World War II and then rebuilt. Two further noteworthy stations are Köflacherbahnhof and Ostbahnhof, a historic brick structure that was constructed in 1873 and is now a protected monument. In addition, three further stations—Don Bosco, Puntigam, and Straßgang—were erected as part of the Styrian S-Bahn expansion on the southern line and the Koralmbahn, which is now under construction. Important centers of the transportation network, these stations link many forms of transit including buses, trams, and trains.
One year following the Koralmbahn’s (including the Koralm tunnel) opening, the Semmering base tunnel is scheduled to be finished. Since 2016, the Semmering base tunnel has been under development, moving forward through every stage.Rail travel between Graz and Vienna may take as little as two hours starting in 2026, down from 2.5 hours.Only one hour will separate Graz from Klagenfurt in travel time.The operating limitations and challenges that the Semmering Railway had before on its current course for freight traffic have been removed with the construction of the Semmering Base Tunnel.
With six lines when it first opened in December 2007, S-Bahn Styria is now growing.This project started to be developed in 1998.Christmas Day, 2007, saw the partial commissioning. On December 11, 2016, two more lines of S-Bahn were opened.The S-Bahn system will be totally functional after the Koralmbahn and Koralm tunnel are put into service. Nine S-Bahn lines will now connect the broader Graz area, providing more regular and effective service.Right now, the S-Bahn offers several connections every hour.When everything is operational, the infrastructure should compress the clock intervals on every line.S-Bahn is a joint venture of GKB, STLB, and ÖBB.
The main station was finished being built and converted into a hub for local transportation in 2016.Improved are the transfer possibilities between urban transportation and railroads. An underpass in the Eggenberger belt connects the tram to the main station these days. There is also a lower level subterranean route with two stops.
