Linz

Linz, Austria

The Trinity Column on the Hauptplatz in Linz rises in warm evening light, framed by a café table in the foreground at golden hour.

Linz is an unshowy Danube city where Baroque squares, a riverside culture mile and a hilltop pilgrimage church fit into two or three easy days.

The place

Linz is the capital of Upper Austria, a river city on the Danube about halfway between Salzburg and Vienna, with roughly 212,000 residents and an elevation of 270 m. It has never drawn the crowds of its two famous neighbours, and that is part of its appeal: the old town is walkable, the cafés are full of locals, and nobody queues for a photograph. Steelworks and chemical plants still line parts of the river, a reminder that this is a working industrial city first and a postcard second. Look past the chimneys, though, and the picture changes. The centre is a set of Baroque façades around a large main square, the Danube embankment has been turned into a long park, and a pilgrimage church sits on a hill above the rooftops. Universities and research institutes keep the population young, and a strong arts scene, boosted by the city's year as a European Capital of Culture in 2009, gives the place more energy than its size suggests. Czechia lies not far to the north, and the Danube cycle route runs through town, so cyclists are a regular sight on the embankment. Summers are warm and winters properly cold. The best views are from the wooded hills on the north side of the river. Linz works well as a stop on a Vienna–Salzburg journey, or as a base for the Upper Austrian countryside.

Its story

Linz began in the first century as a Roman fort called Lentia, placed where the Danube bends. The Celtic root of the name is usually taken to mean something like 'bendable', which suits the river. The fort guarded an important transport route in the province of Noricum. The modern spelling first turns up in records from 799, the same year that documents both the castle and St Martin's Church. By 1236 Linz was being described as a fortified town, and in 1324 it received formal city rights, which helped it grow as a Danube trading point on the road towards Vienna and Hungary. Under the Habsburgs it became a commercial and administrative centre, with salt, iron, gunpowder and wool among its trades. The astronomer Johannes Kepler taught mathematics here for several years, and on 15 May 1618 he made a breakthrough in his work on planetary motion. The city's university carries his name today. The nineteenth and twentieth centuries brought heavy industry, above all steel and chemicals, which shaped the skyline along the river. Since then the economy has widened into services, teaching and research, and the old furnace-and-chimney identity has gradually made room for festivals, museums and a reputation for digital arts.

What to see

Culture

Linz has put real money into the arts, with support from both the city and the state of Upper Austria, and it shows. The stretch of Danube embankment between the Lentos Art Museum and the Brucknerhaus is known as the Kulturmeile, the culture mile. In summer it fills with students and families lying on the grass, and in June, July and August a music pavilion hosts free concerts from Thursday to Sunday. Early September belongs to the Ars Electronica Festival, which turns the city into a showcase for digital art and technology and makes accommodation harder to find. In July the Pflasterspektakel, an international street-art festival, takes over the main square and the long shopping street running from it, with acrobats, musicians and performers on the cobbles. Smaller venues such as the Posthof near the harbour and the Stadtwerkstatt by the river keep a more experimental scene going through the year. Alongside all this sits an older, quieter culture of Catholic feast days, coffee-house afternoons and brass bands, and the two coexist without fuss. Locals are polite, a little reserved at first and generally happy to help if asked. Keep your voice low in the Old Cathedral and the Pöstlingberg church, and step aside for worshippers before you start taking photographs.

What to wear

Linz has its own part in Austria's Tracht tradition, the regional costume worn at festivals, weddings, church holidays and village events. For women this means a dirndl, a bodice-and-skirt dress usually in cotton, linen or wool, with a silk or cotton apron. In Upper Austria the best-known piece is the Linzer Goldhaube, a gold-embroidered bonnet that appears at formal parades and celebrations. Men wear jackets of loden, a dense, water-shedding wool, often with felt hats and leather trousers. Everyday dress in the city is far simpler. People wear jeans, sensible coats and trainers, and the look is practical rather than showy, with plenty of cycling kit near the river. Smarter clothes appear for the opera, concerts and evenings out, but there is no strict dress code. A visitor should dress in layers, since the climate is mild in summer but cold in winter and rain can arrive at any time. Pack a waterproof jacket, a warm hat and gloves for winter, and light cotton for July and August. Comfortable shoes matter more than anything else, as old-town cobbles are uneven and the Pöstlingberg slope is steep. Churches ask for no special dress, but covered shoulders and knees are polite.

What to eat

Plan it

Best time. May–June and September for mild, usually pleasant weather, long evenings and the free summer concerts; early September also brings the Ars Electronica Festival, so book early. July is warm and lively with the street-art festival. Winters are cold, which suits Christmas markets but not long walks.

How long. 2–3

Getting there. Blue Danube Airport at Horsching, just outside Linz, has limited international routes, mainly to Vienna, Frankfurt, Düsseldorf and London Stansted. Most visitors fly to Vienna instead and take a direct fast train from the airport, a journey of under two hours. From Munich Airport, take the suburban train to Munich Hbf and change there for a long-distance train to Linz, which takes a good deal longer.

Budget. mid

Tips

Etiquette

Nearby

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