Oberwolz

Oberwölz has fewer than a thousand inhabitants and holds town rights from the thirteenth century, making it the smallest town in Styria, and it kept its walls because there was never enough money or pressure to pull them down - the enceinte survives essentially complete with three gate towers, the Hintere, Vordere and Schwarze Tor, standing in a compact oval you can walk round in twenty minutes. Inside are the parish church, a hospital chapel with medieval frescoes, and narrow lanes of low houses. The town has a museum of wind instruments, reflecting a local trade in making them, and a folk museum. The Wölzer Tal above is quiet farming country running up to the Schladminger Tauern, with walking and cross-country skiing.

What you actually see

• A complete town wall - the medieval enceinte with three surviving gate towers.
• Styria's smallest town - fewer than a thousand people with town rights since the 1200s.
• Medieval frescoes - in the hospital chapel inside the walls.
• A wind instrument museum - the local making trade collected and shown.

When to go

May to October. Half a day.

Honest expectations

Very small - an hour or two covers the town. Museums keep short seasonal hours. The valley is remote with limited public transport and few places to eat outside season.

Nearby

Murau is south; the Schladminger Tauern rise at the head of the valley.