Graz

On the hill the hands are reversed, so the long one points to the hour. The larger hand went on first, meant to be read from a distance.

A blob clad in blue acrylic earned the nickname of the friendly alien. Its skin holds 900 light units, and patterns move across it after dark.

A steel shell floats in mid river and footbridges tie it to both banks. A cafe and a small amphitheatre share the inside of it.

More than 32000 pieces of seventeenth century weaponry remain here, the largest such store anywhere. Nothing was arranged for display, so the armour still hangs rack above rack.

Prisoners cut 260 steps into the cliff in 1918 and they climb in a zigzag. A lift runs alongside, but the windows partway up the stair give a different view.

Four towers, 365 doors and 52 windows turn a calendar into a building. Peacocks roam the garden loose, so an encounter can happen anywhere.

Two stone flights wind around each other and meet again at every floor. Cut from granite and fitted together, they have not shifted in 500 years.

Sausage stands keep their place in front of the town hall and six tram lines pass through. The site of the old well is marked in the paving with a ring of stone.

An emperor's tomb and a chapel were built into a single early baroque structure. A young architect left the ceiling painting as the last work of his life.

Farmers bring their own vegetables and pumpkin seed oil and set them out each morning. It stays shut on Sunday and most stalls fold once one in the afternoon comes round.

A Gothic church right beside the emperor's mausoleum. On its outer south wall, the Plague Picture of about 1485 shows locusts, the Black Death and Turkish raids in a single scene. The paint has faded, so stand close to read it.

The 16th-century state parliament by an Italian architect, its courtyard ringed by three tiers of arcades. It ranks among the finest Renaissance courtyards north of the Alps. The armoury door is right next to it, so a glance in comes with buying tickets.

An underground slide spiralling down through the rock of the castle hill, opened in 2017. A lift inside the rock takes you up, then you sit on a mat and ride to the bottom in one go. Adults ride too, so the queue is not all children.

A yellow Baroque pilgrims' church crowning a rise on the city's eastern side, its twin towers visible from afar. From the end of tram line 1 you climb the long stone pilgrim stair. The ceiling frescoes inside glow pink and gold.

Nearly a hundred old farmhouses and barns from across Austria were moved into one valley north of Graz. You walk them in regional order, from the western Alps to the eastern plains. The valley is long, and a full visit fills half a day.

The farm that breeds the Lipizzaners for the Spanish Riding School in Vienna. Foals are born black or brown and turn white over several years. It lies under an hour west of Graz by car, and the stables can be seen on your own or on a guided tour.

A house on Herrengasse whose whole facade carries mid-18th-century frescoes. Gods from mythology are painted between the windows. The main square is just steps away, so you can look up at it while waiting for a tram.

A castle perched on an old volcanic rock east of Graz, said never to have been taken. Besides the steep stone path, a slanting lift rides up the rock face. Inside, an exhibition covers the region's witch trials.

Steep vineyard hills run along the Slovenian border, earning the name Styrian Tuscany. Wooden windmills called Klapotetz clatter in the vines to scare off birds. People follow the hill roads by car or bike, stopping at farm taverns.