It feels like you cycle along water for 50 per cent of this route. Either along one of Carinthia's ten lakes - or along the banks of the Gail or Drau rivers with plenty of opportunities for swimming. If you want to experience the five Carinthian lake regions up close on the saddle of a bike over 340 kilometres, you should allow at least four days, preferably a week. As the tour resembles a figure of eight, you can also complete the western or eastern loop individually.
GPS data
You can find the GPX track for this tour in the MYBIKE Collection on komoot
The tour
The start and finish of the Great Carinthia Tour is Villach, the geographical centre of Carinthia. First of all, you cycle round Lake Ossiach in an anti-clockwise direction. The route then leads along the Afritzer See and Feldsee lakes up to the northern shore of the Millstätter See. Via Millstatt and Seeboden, you roll into the Drau Valley at Spittal and follow the famous Drau Cycle Path for a few kilometres downstream. Then you turn westwards and reach the eastern shore of picturesque Lake Weissensee via Stockenboi.
By bike and boat across Lake Weissensee
The only way to continue here is by boat. The bikes are loaded onto the ferry and unloaded at the Ronacherfels landing stage. On the western shore of Lake Weissensee, a short, steep climb to 1,074 metres awaits in the Gailtal Alps. As a reward, however, the route then continues downhill for around 60 kilometres. The route leads through Hermagor along the Gailtal cycle path to Lake Pressegger See and then along the foot of the mighty Dobratsch towards Villach. Via Finkenstein you reach Lake Faak, on the eastern shore of which the route leads via Egg to Velden am Wörthersee.
On the north side of the lake, the route leads to the provincial capital of Klagenfurt and continues eastwards to Sankt Kanzian am Klopeiner See. The last 80 kilometres run mainly along the Drau. On the Drau cycle path, you can enjoy a relaxed ride through the pretty Rosental valley, past rocks, castles and reservoirs back to Villach.
Arrival
The striking red Friedensbrücke bridge over the Drau in Villach marks the start and end point of the tour. The bridge is around four kilometres from the train station. It is best to simply follow the Drau cycle path eastwards. If you are travelling by car, you can park your vehicle free of charge in the Draubodenweg car park in SEZ-Straße. From there, you can also walk along the Drau to the Friedensbrücke bridge.
You can find even more pleasure tours in Carinthia in the Travel special "The most beautiful cycle routes in Carinthia"
