We are traveling to Hofkirchen near Graz in September for a hot air balloon competition. We have visited Vienna, Salzburg , Halstatt,and Melk on previous visits. We will have a few days either before or after to spend more time in Austria. We would appreciate any advice.
We%26#39;d also appreciate any recommendations for things to do , places to eat, while we spend time in Hofkirchen. We are staying at the Balloon Hotel so we don%26#39;t need lodging info. Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks
Rayslane
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First I would like to ask you about the days in advance or after you balloon race - would you like to spend them in Styria as well or maybe also go a little bit further. And from which airport will you fly back to the US - so that I could maybe give you recommendations about a roundtrip?
But about Styria....
...this area of Austria is very beautiful and especially Graz and the southern wine country attract a lot of tourists as the winecountry is also called %26quot;Styrian Tuscany%26quot;, with hills, small villages, castles, excellent wineries (especially the white wine is very famous).
Hofkirchen is located in the Eastern part of Styria and I will start with my recommendations on this part of this area:
styrianwine.com/mgwein/Southeast_Styria.144.…
- a famous winery in that area is:
www.neumeister.cc/home/front_content.php
(sorry, but it only available in German) - it is located in straden, a nice small village on a hill and they have not only the winery, but also a very good restaurant called Saziani
I f you will go there inbetween - on your way from Hofkirchen - you will find:
- Old fortress Riegersburg
http://www.riegersburg.com/
tiscover.at/at/…home.html
There are many other castles in that area as well, because there you will find the %26quot;castle road%26quot;::
www.schloesserstrasse.com/html/karte.html
-Zotter (famous hand-scooped chocolate manufactur - you can buy extraordinary types of chocolate) - its near Riegersburg:
http://www.zotter.at/4.html?%26amp;no_cache=1
and the castle of Kapfenstein, which is a hotel and restaurant, located on a former vulcanic hill, it is absolutely awesome and the food is excellent - you can sit outside in the garden, have lunch or dinner and enjoy this absolutely stunning view over the wine country - they have a winery themseves, too:
http://www.schloss-kapfenstein.at/
www.schlosshotels.co.at/index.php…
- if you like spa places - there are some well known thermal spas (waters) in that area:
blumau.com/22931_EN-Blumau-Wellness-Hundertw…
- Bad Walterdorf:
www.badwaltersdorf.com/index.php…
and
- Bad Radkersburg:
it is also a nice little town at the slovenian border
bad-radkersburg-online.at/english/index.htm
- of course you should visit Graz, which is a really beautiful and historic city:
http://www.graztourism.at/
Then about the Western and Southern Styrian wine country:
styrianwine.com/mgwein/Western_Styria.145.0.…
styrianwine.com/mgwein/Southern_Styria.143.0…
You could visit the home of the falus Lipizzan horses in Piber:
http://www.piber.com/index.php?id=306
Famous wineries (unfortunately some homepages are also only in German - but for the pictures and names - just to know which ones to visit...):
http://www.skoff.com/vinery/index.cfm
http://www.gross.at/
www.polz.co.at/cms/cms.php…
http://www.sabathi.com/index_flash.htm
This is just an overview, so tell me what are your prefernces and I can give you more recommendations!
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I forgot this link:
thermenland.at/2161_EN-Steirisches-Thermenla…
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Thanks you for your prompt response.
We have not made our flight plans. I think we will fly into Graz but it%26#39;s possible we could choose Vienna. We visited Bad Waltersdorf in 1999 for a balloon event also. It is a beautiful area.
It%26#39;s great to have so many options of areas to visit. That%26#39;s what makes it difficult to decide.
Rayslane
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Hey! I%26#39;m going to the balloon championships in Graz, too! This is my first time on trip advisor, and thanks for saving me the trouble of posting my first question!
Thanks to the poster for all the great ideas. I%26#39;ll be back for more when details start to firm up.
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A million thanks for all the great info, Ulrike73. I am just starting to plan a trip next May and have always wanted to visit the Graz area. For anyone else reading this topic: don%26#39;t miss St Wolfgang! It%26#39;s magic and I can hardly wait to go back.
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