Linz & Upper Austria Sightseeing Guide

“In Linz beginnt’s” (Everything starts in Linz) is the slogan of this refreshingly modern city. The Upper Austrian’s came up with this slogan in order to get rid of the line “In Linz, da stinkt’s” (It stinks in Linz) – for decades, this referred to the city’s industrial heritage and the concerned pollution. Wool, iron and wood industries, later oil, steel and transportation (Linz is a railway hub) caused a not-so-nice reputation and it was only through the economic rise of the past one or two decades that tourists discover Upper Austria’s capital.

The few “old” sightseeing highlights (Pestsäule, Schlossberg, the protestant Landhaus and the obligatory baroque palazzos and monasteries) would not be sufficient to attract tourists. Many come, though – for the sake of the modern face of Austria that is visible in Linz. The ARS Electronica centre is a “museum” and festival dedicated to information, technology and art and the “Linzer Klangwolke” attracts ten thousands of people.

Some pretty Propaganda on Upper Austria

The modern Brucknerhaus Concert Hall is regarded to be one of Austria’s best places for classical music. And the Lentos museum of modern art makes other places in Austria struggle in their endeavours to catch up in this area. When Salzburg opened a museum for modern art a few years ago, Linz started a poster campaign with the brilliant slogan: “Salzburg has a new museum. Lentos.”

What to see in the Rest of Upper Austria

For more on Upper Austria, you will probably need a car. The most charming spots of the province are the many market towns on a variety of corners. Part of the Salzkammergut is also in Upper Austria (including the towns of Mondsee, Bad Ischl, Hallstatt, Gmunden, Gosau, Traunkirchen, Altmünster, St Wolfgang by Lake Wolfgangsee, Bad Goisern and Schloss Scharnstein Castle), but I will deal with this region separately.

Mauthausen is a village near Linz and was the site of Austria’s biggest concentration camp during the Third Reich and is now a memorial site, it hosts an exhibition and is open to the public. The abbeys of St. Florian and Kremsmünster are among the molst elaborate of Austria's baroque monasteries.

The county itself has preserved much of its rural atmosphere and there are plenty of small, historic towns that are worth being explored. These include Braunau, Schärding, Steyr, Wels, Freistadt, my birthplace Ried and Enns. Many native speakers of English enjoy Fucking in Austria, a village with a name easy to remember. For other towns and villages, see my list of muncipalities in Upper Austria.
 

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Sightseeing in other Provinces

Bregenz and Vorarlberg - Innsbruck and Tyrol - Salzburg - Linz & Upper Austria - Salzkammergut - Graz and Styria - Klagenfurt and Carinthia - Wachau and Lower Austria - Vienna - Burgenland

Further Reading

Official website of the Local Tourism Council

Official Website of the Austrian Tourism Council

Upper Austria's share of the Salzkammergut