Hotels in Linz

Linz: Danube Steel Town Turned Digital Arts Capital

Linz, Austria's third-largest city, sits on the Danube roughly 190 km west of Vienna. Founded as the Roman garrison Lentia, it spent centuries as an Upper Austrian trading hub before the 20th-century iron and steel industry reshaped its southern bank. Since the 1990s, Linz has reinvented itself around digital culture: the annual Ars Electronica Festival, held each September at the Ars Electronica Center on the Danube waterfront, draws 100,000+ visitors and is one of Europe's oldest media-art events, running since 1979.

Where to Stay

Most hotels cluster in the Innenstadt around Hauptplatz, the elongated baroque square anchored by the Trinity Column (1723). The Urfahr district, directly across the Nibelungen Bridge, places guests steps from the Ars Electronica Center and the Lentos Kunstmuseum. Budget options line the rail corridor near Linz Hauptbahnhof, a 15-minute walk or two tram stops south of Hauptplatz.

Practical Tips

• Getting there: Linz Hauptbahnhof serves direct ÖBB trains from Vienna (roughly 1 hr 15 min) and Salzburg (1 hr 20 min).
• Getting around: Tram lines 1 and 2 cover the main hotel belt and the Pöstlingberg rack railway.
• Linzer Torte: The almond-pastry tart, documented in recipes from 1653, is sold at most central bakeries — worth seeking out at Jindrak on Herrenstraße.