Schlossberg: the four ways up compared

The real question is not whether to go up but how. There are four usable ways, they differ a great deal, and the standard advice to take the lift is simply wrong for a good part of the visitors.

The four ways up

Schlossbergbahn — the one with the view

The lower station is on the Kaiser-Franz-Josef-Kai, on the river bank north-west of the old town. The funicular has been running for over a hundred years, climbs a gradient of 61 per cent, and the ride takes less than two minutes. The cars have had glazed roofs since 2004 — on the way up you see the city, not a tunnel wall.

Who it suits: anyone who wants the ascent itself to be part of the visit. Anyone with children. Anyone already on the northern bank of the Mur. The catch: the lower station is not where most visitors are standing. From the Hauptplatz it is a few minutes on foot to the north-west first.

Schlossberglift — the quickest

The entrance is on the Schlossbergplatz itself, in the middle of the old town. The lift was fitted into existing tunnels in 2000 and runs vertically up through the rock: around a minute, about fifteen people to a cabin, built step-free.

Who it suits: short visits, pushchairs, wheelchairs, bad weather, tired knees. The catch: you see nothing. The lift is a means of transport, not an experience — which is entirely fine as long as you know it beforehand.

Kriegssteig — the stairway

260 steps, climbing the slope in switchbacks from the Schlossbergplatz. Built between 1914 and 1918, cut into the rock at the time by army engineers and Russian prisoners of war. It is the classic way up and it costs nothing.

Who it suits: anyone in average condition who wants to feel the hill. The views half way up are better than the ones from the top, because the city is still close. The catch: 260 steps are 260 steps. In the heat it is a climb, and in the wet the stone treads are slippery.

The way from the north — the underrated one

From the Karmeliterplatz and the Paulustor, paths with far fewer steps lead up the hill. They are longer and less spectacular, but steadier and shadier, and they arrive in the quiet part of the hill — where the Stallbastei, the Kanonenhütte and the Türkenbrunnen stand and hardly anybody is about.

Who it suits: anyone who does not just want to get up but to walk. Anyone who wants to avoid the crush at the Uhrturm. The catch: you do not start on the Hauptplatz; you have to get up into the upper quarter first.

What is up there

The Uhrturm is the emblem, but it is not the only thing:

• Uhrturm (Schloßberg 3) — the viewing terrace in front of it is the most photographed spot in the city.
• Glockenturm (Schloßberg 6) — the bell tower at the opposite end of the plateau, quieter.
• Graz Museum Schlossberg (Schloßberg 5) — explains why almost nothing of the fortress is left: it was razed after 1809, and the citizens of Graz bought the clock tower and the bell tower free.
• Stallbastei and Kanonenhütte, Türkenbrunnen, Fernberger Bastei, Bürgerbastei — what remains of the fortifications, spread across the site.
• Schlossbergrutsche — a slide inside the hill that runs from the plateau back down into the city. For children it is the actual reason to go up at all.
• Grazer Märchenbahn at the Schlossbergplatz — a ride through the tunnels, not up the hill. The two are regularly confused.

The honest comparison

| Route | Time | Steps | Pushchair | Charge | |—|—|—|—|—| | Schlossberglift | ~1 min | none | yes | yes | | Schlossbergbahn | <2 min | none | yes | yes | | Kriegssteig | 10–20 min | 260 | no | no | | Northern path (Karmeliterplatz) | 15–25 min | a few | limited | no |

Fares and operating times are deliberately not in that table. They change, the funicular and the lift have maintenance windows, and different hours apply in winter. The current position is published by Holding Graz — a quick look costs less than a wasted journey.

One suggestion that nearly always works: up by funicular or lift, down by the Kriegssteig or the northern path. Going down, steps are cheap, and on the way back you notice things that did not register on the way up.

The hill is a park, not an attraction

This is regularly underestimated from outside. The Schlossberg is not a sight with opening hours but a public green space in the middle of the city, where people from Graz walk, run and take their dogs out. The paths are partly surfaced, partly gravel, and the ground is hilly — the top is not flat, only higher.

What follows from that in practice:

• You need no ticket to be up there. Only for the funicular, the lift and individual attractions.
• The best time is early or late. In the morning it is empty, and in the late afternoon the sun sits right for the view across the roofs. In between, the Uhrturm is a photo queue.
• Avoid the steps in the wet. The stone treads of the Kriegssteig turn slippery.

Inside the hill run tunnels that were dug as air-raid shelters in the Second World War. Part of that system is in use today — for the lift, for the slide and for events. What is running and whether it is open changes; the current position is with whoever operates it.

Staying with the hill on the doorstep

The Schlossberg lies between the Innere Stadt and Lend. A few houses stand close enough to it that the climb becomes the morning walk:

For a wider comparison: Innere Stadt lists every house in the historic centre, and What “centre” really means in Graz sorts out which locations can fairly call themselves that.

The Schlossberg is part of the walk through the Graz old town; where it sits in relation to everything else is shown on the map with 1,249 places. One caveat there: our walking-time model works in straight lines and knows nothing about height. On the Schlossberg it is therefore systematically wrong — nowhere in Graz is the straight line worth as little as here.

Frequently asked questions