Surroundings, Graz

18km/11mi northeast of Graz lies the health resort of St Radegund (714m/2,343ft; medicinal springs). From here there is a cableway to the summit of the Schöckl (1,446m/4,744ft), from where there are extensive views over Graz and the surrounding terrain. Johannes Kepler, who lived in Graz from 1594-1600 and taught mathematics there, studied nature from the Schöckl.

35km/22mi west of Graz lies the little mining and industrial town of Voitsberg (394m/1,293ft; pop. 10,000) with its ruined castle above and the charming Kainachtal to the northwest. 6km/4mi further west is Köflach (449m/1,473ft; pop. 13,000), and a good 3km/2mi northeast of Köflach the Piber Stud Farm, where the famous Lipizzaner horses are bred for the Spanish Riding School in Vienna (conducted tours daily in summer). The horses originally came from Spain and were later bred in Lipica in Slovenia; hence their name. The Schloss (1696-1728) has a beautifully arcaded courtyard, and the adjoining Romanesque church is first mentioned in the records in 1066.

The little town of Deutschlandsberg (372m/1,221ft; pop. 7,600) is dominated by a castle (Burg Landsberg; 517m/1696ft), which houses a museum of folk and early history (including Roman finds). Deutschlandsberg lies on what is known as the Schilcherstrasse, a road 50km/30mi long passing through vine-growing country, from Ligist in the north via Stainz (on a nearby hill stands a former Augustinian monastery) to Eibiswald near the Yugoslavian frontier.

Outstanding among the natural features of Styria are the Lurgrotten at Peggau and Semriach - beautiful stalactite caves equipped with electric lighting and paths for the convenience of visitors, and with a passage driven through the rock to link up two cave systems. In the Peggauer Wand and the rock faces of the Röthelstein are other caves in which traces of prehistoric occupation have been found. Smaller stalactite caves are the Grasslhöhle and Katerloch near Weiz and the Rettenwandhöhle near Kapfenberg. Also of interest is the Frauenmauerhöhle between Eisenerz and Tragöss, but this should be visited only with a knowledgeable guide. There are other caves, some not yet fully explored, in the limestone mountains, particularly in the Hochschwab area.