Around the Parkhotel

The best is close by! The Restaurant Florian has a great reputation not only with locals but with holiday guests too, and from far beyond the borders of the town. Enjoy the Styrian, Austrian and international specialties, created with care and creativity by our longstanding master chef Kurt Mörth and his team. Enjoy culinary highlights at the Restaurant Florian in Graz. As a hotel guest you can enjoy the convenience of our Restaurant Florian and the high-quality regional cuisine directly on site.

One of the oldest inns of the city. Under the direction of two young winemakers, the legendary pub in nearby Elisabethstraße has been reawakened recently. With a great wine list and a deep love for native products, Laufke is one of the top addresses of the town, yet still down-to-earth. Enjoy the Styrian cuisine in cozy atmosphere.

Virtually across the street from the Parkhotel, you can find the famous Latino-American Cohibar. Home to the best cuba libre in town! Enjoy authentic Cuban flair with Latino-American music.

The Karl-Franzens-University is the largest and oldest university of Styria and has been shaping Graz as a center of science since 1585. The university is divided into 6 faculties:

• Catholic Theology
• Law
• Social and Economic Sciences
• Humanities
• Natural Sciences
• Environmental, Regional and Educational Sciences

The Medical University Graz was founded in 1863 and was part of the Karl-Franzens-University KFU Graz till 2004. Since the 1^st of January 2004 it has been an independent university with more than 2,300 employees in scientific and non-scientific fields and more than 4,300 students in the fields of study of human medicine, dental medicine, nursing studies and medical science, the PhD program and numerous post-graduate university level courses. It is a center of innovative state-of-the-art medicine in the south of Austria.

The University of Music and Performing Arts (KUG) is our direct neighbor across the street. In 1815, the ‘Musikverein für Steiermark’ as it is known today, was founded as “Akademischer Musikverein” by 30 budding middle class graduates studying at the University of Graz which was run as a lyceum at that time. In 1816, the association announced the opening of its own vocal school: the vocal school of the “Akademischer Musikverein” in Graz began with education and, therefore, it is considered Austria’s oldest institute of musical education and nucleus of today’s University of Music and Performing Arts Graz.
With more than 2,400 students, the University of Music and Performing Arts Graz (KUG) is an internationally renowned place of education - 17 institutes and 2 doctoral schools and a center for gender research offer highly-qualified training for artistic and scientific professions. Owing to its geographic location, it perfectly combines Austrian tradition in music and performing arts with the creative potential of Eastern and Southeastern Europe.

Founded by Archduke Johann in 1811, TU Graz can look back on more than 200 years of full development, change and progress. TU Graz is the research and education institution of technical and natural sciences with the longest tradition in Austria. TU Graz has five internationally-recognized scientific “Fields of Expertise”. TU Austria - an association of the three Austrian Universities of Technology: the Vienna University of Technology, the Graz University of Technology, and the University of Coal and Steel Leoben - has more than 47,000 students and 9,000 staff members. In international student competitions, the students of TU Graz have already achieved astonishing success in the most diverse disciplines on multiple occasions.

The City Park, in close proximity to the Parkhotel Graz, is a green island in the very middle of Graz with 22 ha. The park is a historical site of the 19^th century unifying nature with culture in a special manner. It is the urban green space for recreation. Since 1987, the Stadtpark has been a nature conservation area and has had landmark status since 2002. The City Park provides a large playground for the younger guests and numerous greens that invite you to get away from the hustle and bustle of the city.  

The Meran Park is located directly opposite the entrance to the Parkhotel. Once the park served as a recreational area to the archduke Johann, and was then neglected for many years. The Park was revitalized in 2019 and is thriving once again. The greater part of the 11,000 m² park constitutes an intact forest, untouched during the revitalizing work. The historic entrance portal nearby the Parkhotel, bricked up in 1980, has been restored and invites people to come in nowadays. The rondeau in front of the splendid Palais Meran has been reconstructed so that the park is now as it was at the time of the archduke.

Just 5 minutes from the Parkhotel and directly besides the famous Café Promenade on the east side of the castle gate of the Erzherzog Johann Allee, you can find the entrance to the romantic castle garden. From here above, you have a wonderful view down to the Stadtpark. The garden is located on the former bastion and was created as a garden of pleasure under Archduke Karl in 1568. In 1842, a classical elongated glass house was built, called the Orangerie, initially to keep tropical plants during the winter months. But already in the 19^th century, the Orangerie was equipped with temporary assembled event tents. Refurbished in 2005 by the state of Styria and adapted as a building for events. This ambiance is used today for parties, presentations, concerts and expositions.