Bus from GRAZ to VERONA

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.

Verona is a city on the Adige river in Veneto, Italy, with approximately 265,000 inhabitants and one of the seven provincial capitals of the region. It is the second largest city municipality in the region and the third largest in northeast Italy.

The precise details of Verona's early history remain a mystery. One theory is it was a city of the Euganei, who were obliged to give it up to the Cenomani (550 BC). With the conquest of the Valley of the Po the Veronese territory became Roman (about 300 BC). Verona became a Roman colonia in 89 BC, and then a municipium in 49 BC when its citizens were ascribed to the Roman tribe Poblilia or Publicia.

Because of the value and importance of its many historical buildings, Verona has been named a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Verona preserved many ancient Roman monuments, no longer in use, in the early Middle Ages, but much of this and much of its early medieval edifices were destroyed or heavily damaged by the earthquake of 3 January 1117, which led to a massive Romanesque rebuilding. The Carolingian period Versus de Verona contains an important description of Verona in the early medieval era.

Three of Shakespeare's plays are set in Verona: Romeo and Juliet, The Two Gentlemen of Verona, and The Taming of the Shrew. It is unknown if Shakespeare ever visited Verona or Italy at all, but his plays have lured many visitors to Verona and surrounding cities many times over.