Linz Overview

Linz offers picturesque architecture, shopping, and views of the Danube, and is the home of Kepler, Hitler, and the world renowned Linzer torte.

Transportation And Practical Information.  Trains leave from the Linz Main Station, Bahnhofplatz 8 (☎0732 93000 3170), to Vienna (2hr., 2 per hr., €29), Salzburg (1½hr., 2 per hr., €21), and Munich (3½hr., 2 per hr., €56). An Intercity Tram is also available. Pay for a 24hr. pass (€3.40). The fine for not stamping your pass is €50. The tourist office is located at 1 Hauptplatz. (☎0732 7070 1777; www.linz.at/tourismus). English-speaking. Pick up maps and an incredibly helpful brochure with a self-tour of the city.

Accommodations And Food.  Youth Hotel Linz , 16 Hauptplatz, located outside in the main square, specializes in Greek food. (☎0732 79 15 98. Entrees €8-14, vegetarian dishes €7-9, salads €3-7. Open M-Th and Sa 11am-11pm, F and Su 11am-10pm. MC/V.) Biobistro/Reformhaus, Hauptplatz 2, is a grocery store that is perfect for eco-friendly, organic, or vegetarian cravings. (Open 8:30am-6:30pm M-Sa. MC/V.)

Sights. You can’t miss the 20m tall Trinity Column, Hauptplatz, in the center of the main square, built to protect the city from war, fire, and plague. Mariedom, at the corner of Stiftersrasse and Herrenstrasse, is Austria’s largest church and can hold 20,000 people. (☎0732 7778 850. Open M-Sa 7:30am-7:15pm, Su 8am-7:15pm. Free.) Kepler’s House, Rathaugasse 5, is located right off Hauptplatz. Although it is currently closed for renovation, visitors can look at the exterior of the house where Johannes Kepler lived from 1612 to 1626 and formulated his famous Laws of Planetary Motion (☎0732 7070 177). The Mauthausen-Gusen Concentration Camp, Erinnerungsstrasse 1, in Mauthausen, lies 20km east of Linz. To get there, take the train from Linz to St. Valentin, and then switch trains to Mauthausen. In 1945, the camp contained about 85,000 inmates. After the end of the war, the complex fell within the Soviet sector during the Austrian occupation. Today, visitors can pay tribute at the camp’s memorial and museum. (☎072 382 2690. €3. Open 9am-5:30pm.)