WHAT DO YOU look for most when you’re away on a city break? Cultural highlights? Beautiful architecture? Delicious food? The southern Austrian beauty of Graz has all three, and here, everybody’s invited to the table.

From the Old Town of Graz – a Unesco World Heritage Site where you can feast your eyes on striking modern architecture, soak up music and dive into the city’s unique joie de vivre – to the city’s year-round calendar of enticing culinary events, there really is something for every kind of traveller.

For food lovers, everything kicks off at the end of May, when the city celebrates CHEFDAY: Austria’s biggest food symposium, and the perfect place to try dishes from the country’s finest up-and-coming chefs. Later in the year comes Aufsteirern, which takes place in September, and is the principal celebration of Styrian culture, taking in everything from food to music, dance, fashion design and the world-famous lederhosen.

Beyond the food, Graz is a city with a warm Mediterranean climate and a laidback lifestyle

The ultimate event in the foodie calendar, though, is August’s ‘Long Table of Graz’, a spectacular evening which sees 27 top chefs set a unique table for 700 guests right in the centre of the city. It’s the perfect way to round off a culture-packed trip.

As well as the action-packed events roster, you can immerse yourself in the city’s food scene whenever you visit. From the farmers markets and cafés of Lendplatz and Kaiser-Josef-Platz to Wednesday afternoon walking culinary tours of the city’s trendy Lend district, this is the perfect place to get off your feet and let your stomach do the travelling.

Beyond the food on your plate, Graz is a city with a warm Mediterranean climate and a laidback southern lifestyle to boot. So whether your dream getaway involves soaking up street performances, art galleries and evenings at the opera or just lounging around while the sun is shining, Graz has it all. Now it’s about time you went and saw it.

For more information on holidays to Graz, Austria, head to visitgraz.com