Things to do in Linz

Linz is the capital of Upper Austria, a steel and media-arts city on the Danube. Vienna and Salzburg are each 75 minutes by train.

The Danube front

The old town sits on the south bank. Lentos and the Ars Electronica Center face each other across the water.

• Hauptplatz. The main square of the old town, with a Baroque Trinity Column at its centre.
• Schloss Linz. The castle above the river now houses a regional museum.
• Lentos. An art museum on the south bank, opened in 2003.
• Ars Electronica Center. Technology and media art, directly across the river on the north bank.
• Pöstlingberg. A hill above the north bank with a twin-towered pilgrimage church, reached by a tram line from 1898.

Media arts and the Linzer Torte

Linz was European Capital of Culture in 2009. UNESCO named it a City of Media Arts in 2014, and the Ars Electronica festival fills the city every September. The Linzer Torte, an almond-and-jam lattice tart, is named after the city.

Out of town

Trips from Linz are private days out by car. Hallstatt is about an hour and three-quarters each way, with four hours on the ground. Český Krumlov, in Bohemia, is just over an hour each way.

Transfers also run to Munich, with or without a two-hour sightseeing stop, and to Frankfurt Airport. Nearer home is the Mauthausen Memorial, on the site of the former concentration camp. It lies about 20 km east.

Practical

• Weather. Summer afternoons average about 25C, and heat above 30C is not unusual. January highs stay near 2C, with sub-zero nights and fog over the river.
• Getting here. Linz Airport is small. Most visitors fly into Vienna or Salzburg and take the train.
• Getting around. The old town is walkable. Trams and buses cover the rest.
• Cycling. The Danube cycle path runs through the city.