Leoben
Understand
Leoben is a town of about 25,000 inhabitants. It is the industrial and educational centre of Northern Styria. The University of Leoben with about 3,000 students is right in the centre, Leoben also hosts the headquarters of international companies and the brewery Gösser.
Get in
By plane
The closest international airport is in Graz (about 70km), from there per train, closest train station Flughafen Graz-Feldkirchen is just 500m away.
By train
Leoben is connected directly to several places in Austria and Central Europe, for example to Graz, Vienna, Villach, Klagenfurt, Salzburg, Innsbruck, Zurich, Hamburg, Berlin, Munich, Stuttgart, Warsaw, Rome, Milan or Florence. Tickets can be bought in all stations and online [1] {{dead link|October 2017|August 2018}}, more information can be found in the Austria-article.
By car
- From Vienna, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland or Hungary take the motorway A2 until Seebenstein and then the motorway S6 until Leoben.
- From Salzburg or Linz and Germany via the motorway A1 or A8 respectively until Voralpenkreuz and then on the motorway A9 until St. Michael, from there on the motorway S6 until Leoben.
- From Graz and the Balkans take the motorway A9 until St. Michael, from there on the motorway S6 until Leoben.
The motorway A9 is partly a toll road, coming from north (Linz, Salzburg, Germany) the tunnel Bosruck costs €4.50; coming from south (Graz, Balkans) the tunnel Gleinalm costs €8.00 (as of August 2013). The toll can be paid directly at a gate or online in advance. [1]
Get around
The centre is easily covered by foot. There are buses that run in Leoben and connect it with the towns around.
See
- Main Square. Features traditional town houses and:
Hacklhaus, which has a Baroque facade from around 1600 (red facade, on the southern end of the square, see photo above).
Altes Rathaus (Old City Hall), with structures that date back to 1485, the five-sided tower was erected in 1568. It was the city hall until the 1970s and now houses a congress centre.
Pestsäule (Plague Column), built in 1717 after the plague was eliminated (in the centre).
Engelsbrunnen (Angel's fountain) from 1794 (on the northern end of the square, in summer one of the fountains is fed with drinking water and marked with a sign).
Bergmannsbrunnen (Miner's fountain) from 1799 (on the southern end of the square). - Schwammerlturm. This tower (literally called mushroom tower) was originally erected as a toll gate in the town wall in 1512. It received its roundish roof in 1794, that is the reason for its name. Nowadays it is the town's landmark. There is a small café on top of it (see "Drink"-section).
Do
- Grab a coffee or a beer (Gösser, of course) at one of the many cafés on the Main Square and enjoy the scenery.
- Go hiking on one of the various mountains around Leoben, for example the Mugel, a pleasant hike of about 3.5 hours.
Buy
There are many shops at and around the main square, including the Leoben City Shopping-mall with about 80 shops.
Eat
Drink
- Cafe am Schwammerlturm, Homanngasse 11, 8700 Leoben, ☎ +43 3842 43600. Tue-Sun 11:00 - 20:00. The café offers a nice view over the roofs of Leoben and beyond. It offers the usual choice of drinks and cakes. When walking up one can see a small collection of medieval weapons.
Sleep
Connect
Go next
- Graz is just 45 minutes away.
- Eisenerz with the old iron mine in and on the Erzberg, a beautiful old town and the lake Leopoldsteinersee make a good day trip.
- Schladming is a small - former - mining town in the Enns valley, that is now a very popular large winter sports resort. It has a great view on the Dachstein mountains.
- Semmering the alpine pass between Graz and Vienna encompasses two ski areas and the railway UNESCO heritage.