Linz: Not as expected | railtour Travel blog
Linz is a city where you can just go with the flow. Here, something unexpected awaits around every corner. That’s why you shouldn’t just stubbornly follow your sat-nav, but simply follow your instincts. Because detours in Linz are well worth it. Once you accept that you’ve strayed from the path, you can relax and put your feet up.
Change, but with style
Linz is steeped in history. From the Baroque main square through the old town to Austria’s largest church. Yet the city is not afraid of change. And that is precisely what makes it so appealing. Because here, not only has the old castle been preserved and the ruined walls restored, but something new has been created. Historic buildings are by no means being demolished; rather, a fusion of the past and the future is taking shape.
In the same way, the old halls of the tobacco factory were not simply demolished. Although they had to make way for new buildings, the core of the former cigarette factory was preserved and filled with a vision for the future. Start-ups, restaurants and art spaces are breathing new life into the site and turning it into a hub for the creative industries.
Green Steel City
Linz is known as the ‘Steel City’. You can find out why at the voestalpine Steel World, which reopens in the middle of the year. On a factory tour, visitors get an insight into the production process.
A glance at the map shows that Linz is by no means a grey industrial city. Voestalpine is surrounded by nature in almost every direction — whether it’s the Traunauen, the Wasserwald or the Danube — the whole city is full of green recreational areas. Some even offer views, such as the Freinberg with the Franz-Josef-Warte. When it comes to views, however, the Pöstlingberg is the clear number one. Not only are the basilica and the Grottenbahn worth seeing, but from the top you can look out over the whole city.
From street art to pipe dreams
The city centre is transformed into a festival venue time and again throughout the year. Whether it’s the Pflasterspektakel, where street performers take over the city, the Crossing Europe Film Festival, or music at the Stream Festival, AhoiPop! and Krone-Fest. Because music isn’t just played at the Musiktheater, Posthof and Brucknerhaus – though it certainly is there too.
And when the Ars Electronica Festival takes place, you can catch a glimpse of the future in Linz. The Brucknerfest marks the musical finale of the festival summer and draws classical music enthusiasts to the city.
Genuine rather than artificial
In Linz, there isn’t a distinct ‘tourist area’ and a separate set of locals’ insider tips. You don’t sit in a tourist bar, but rather in the very places where locals drink their coffee, have lunch or spend their evenings. That’s exactly what makes it so easy to feel at home.
Linz doesn’t feel like a stage set. More like a city that doesn’t constantly remind you that you’re just visiting. Here, curiosity is rewarded. Not with artificial highlights, but with the freedom to find your own way: through the old town and into the future, over bridges, along the Danube, up to vantage points, or simply to wherever life is happening right now.
