Graz is the capital of Styria and second-largest city in Austria after Vienna, with the population of 320,000.

Graz has a long tradition as a "university town": its six universities have more than 44,000 students. Its "Old Town" is one of the best-preserved city centres in Central Europe.

Symbols of Graz, which are indispensable on all postcards, are:

• The Schloßberg or Schlossberg, a tree-clad hill, and the site of a fortress, in the centre of the Graz. The hill is now a public park and enjoys extensive views of the city. It is the site of several entertainment venues, cafés and restaurants, and is managed by Holding Graz, the city owned utility company.
• Innere Stadt is the first district of Graz. It is the part of the Old Town containing the Schloßberg and the city park (Stadtpark). The district borders are formed by the Mur river between Radetzkybrücke and Keplerbrücke, the Wickenburggasse, the Glacis, Jakominiplatz and the Radetzkystraße. In 1999, the Old Town was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
• Kunsthaus Graz, or Graz Art Museum was built as part of the European Capital of Culture celebrations in 2003 and has since become an architectural landmark in Graz, Austria. Its exhibition program specializes in contemporary art of the last four decades.
• Landeszeughaus, is the world's largest historic armoury and attracts visitors from all over the world. It holds approximately 32,000 pieces of weaponry, tools, suits of armour for battle and ones for parades.
• Pubs, that increasingly resemble those in Ireland and England, are concentrated around the historic core of the city.

Bratislava is the capital of Slovakia, and with a population of about 450,000, the country's largest city. Bratislava is in southwestern Slovakia, occupying both banks of the River Danube and the left bank of the River Morava. Bordering Austria and Hungary, it is the only national capital that borders two sovereign states. Vienna and Bratislava, the nearest capital cities in Europe (only 60 km) were once connected to an electric tram.

The city received its contemporary name in 1919. Beforehand it was mostly known in English by its German name, Pressburg, as it was long dominated by Austrians and other German-speakers.

Bratislava lies in the north temperate zone and has a moderately continental climate. During the summer the temperature can rise to 30 C, sometimes even more. During the winter, the temperature is about 0 C, but at night, and they can go lower than -10 C. If it snows, the snow cover will not last longer than a few days.

On the eastern bank of the Danube is the old historic part of the city, while in the west the new modern part. Bratislava has always been one of the main cultural centers of Central Europe.

What to see in Bratislava:

Bratislava Castle is one of the most prominent structures in the city. The castle hill site has been inhabited since the transitional period between the Stone and Bronze ages and has been the acropolis of a Celtic town, part of the Roman Limes Romanus, a huge Slavic fortified settlement, and a political, military and religious centre for Great Moravia. A stone castle was not constructed until the 10th century, when the area was part of the Kingdom of Hungary.

Devín Castle is the ruined and recently renovated castle in the borough of Devín, on top of a rock where the Morava River, which forms the border between Austria and Slovakia, enters the Danube. It is one of the most important Slovak archaeological sites and contains a museum dedicated to its history. Due to its strategic location, Devín Castle was a very important frontier castle of Great Moravia and the early Hungarian state. It was destroyed by Napoleon's troops in 1809. It is an important symbol of Slovak and Slavic history.

Rusovce mansion, with its English park, is in the Rusovce borough. The house was originally built in the 17th century and was turned into an English neo-Gothic-style mansion in 1841–1844. The borough is also known for the ruins of the Roman military camp Gerulata, part of Limes Romanus, a border defence system. Gerulata was built and used between the 1st and 4th centuries AD.

Parks and lakes. Due to its location in the foothills of the Little Carpathians and its riparian vegetation on the Danubian floodplains, Bratislava has forests close to the city centre. The largest city park is Horský park (literally, Mountainous Park), in the Old Town. Bratislavský lesný park (Bratislava Forest Park) is located in the Little Carpathians and includes many locales popular among visitors, such as Železná studienka and Koliba.

Bratislava's zoological park is located in Mlynská dolina, near the headquarters of Slovak Television. The zoo, founded in 1960, currently houses 152 species of animals, including the rare white lion and white tiger. The Botanical Gardens, which belong to Comenius University, can be found on the Danube riverfront and house more than 120 species of domestic and foreign origin.