Graz spreads its terracotta roofs beneath a green hill crowned by a lone clock tower, the city's stubborn old survivor.
Its old town is one of the best preserved in central Europe, but a big student population keeps it from ever feeling like a museum. A silver 'friendly alien' of an art museum floats by the river, and a man-made island sits midstream-old bones, modern flourishes.
This is Styria, green and agricultural, and the cooking leans hard on the region's dark, nutty pumpkin-seed oil.
Drizzle that oil over everything and drink the crisp local Schilcher wine.
Round trip from Prague, any dates in October 2026.