Austria / Carinthia / Villach Region:

Winter Magic in the Heart of Carinthia

Hardly a winter sports region has as much to offer as Villach: ski areas on Gerlitzen Alpe and Dreiländereck, perfect conditions for ski touring and cross-country skiing in the Dobratsch nature park, urban experience in Villach and, as the icing on the cake, the KärntenTherme water park and spa in Warmbad-Villach.

Once round the mountain on Gerlitzen Alpe

Gerlitzen Alpe boasts 25 perfectly groomed ski runs for all levels of ability totalling 42 kilometres in length and 15 kilometres of natural ski routes. Even more fun is now to be had cruising down the new Wörthersee family run and the classic Wörthersee run avoiding the steeper slope. Thanks to the cutting-edge six-seater chairlift, long queues are a thing of the past. Incidentally, the best way to explore the mountain is to follow the signs for the Stella Ronda, a combination of lifts and downhill runs that covers most of the ski area. If you want to, you can register your time for the Stella Ronda and take part in the Snow Challenge. A local celebrity will also do the circuit and the registered time closest to it at the end of the season will win. There are great prizes up for grabs, including a car.

Snow machines ensure reliable conditions on all the slopes. In addition, cooling towers chill the water so that they can start making snow as early as possible. Ensuring you won’t have any problem parking, there is a total of 3,600 spaces available at the access points to the ski area – in Annenheim, Klösterle and up on the mountain. Another bonus: the Gerlitzen cable car starts operating at 8.15am.

Special quality seal for beginners. Gerlitzen Alpe has an excellent reputation for the standard of its runs, which led the operators to apply for the Welcome Beginners seal of quality. Experts from the Cable Car Association then checked whether the ski area is actually suitable for novices and returners to the sport. Gerlitzen Alpe was Carinthia’s only ski area to meet the stringent audit requirements.

Hotels and restaurants. What would a ski day be without stopping for refreshments? Gerlitzen has a choice of fourteen chalet restaurants and skibars. Unlike many of the very large ski areas, they do not cater for the masses but attach importance to serving good food. Here you will find local specialities prepared in the kitchens and not ready-cooked meals from wholesale suppliers.

You are also spoiled for choice when it comes to accommodation with modern hotels located right on the mountain.

Skiing beyond borders: Dreiländereck

The first impression counts. And it is extremely good here. Snow-capped peaks, family runs, traditional chalets. Ski down the lovely slopes and enjoy the sun – as long as it does you good. On the border between Austria, Italy and Slovenia near Arnoldstein, what counts is not how far you ski but how much fun you have. And that’s not difficult as it’s a small, family-friendly ski area in the Karawanken Range, easy to find your way around, with 17 kilometres of runs, a three-seater chairlift and seven T-bars. Ideal for families, learners, returners and recreational skiers. Benefits: personal touch, very family-friendly.

And if you want to enjoy the freedom of the slopes without the kids for once: the facilities for young skiers include special nursery lifts, a magic carpet, child-friendly runs and a kid’s park with caring instructors.

If alpine skiing is not for you, alternatives include an 8.4-km-long natural toboggan run, free snow shoe walks organised once a week, ski touring nights, snow bike evenings and cross-country ski trails covering over ten kilometres.

Relax in Austria’s most modern water park, the KärntenTherme in Warmbad-Villach.

An unforgettable experience for relaxation and revitalisation. In the spectacularly designed KärntenTherme. The focus is on fit, fun and spa at the water park where the wow factor starts with the architecture. You can look forward to a unique combination of adventure pool, saunas, spa and beauty treatments.

If you can’t bear to lie back for long, try the amazing water slides and Crazy River. Not to be missed: the 25-metre sports pool, extensive gym facilities (700sqm) and spa with saunas (2,000sqm) that takes wellbeing to a whole new level. The youngest water babies? Splash away in their own area. Only a walk in your bathrobe away: four-star Hotel Karawankenhof.

Tip: if you have a valid lift pass for Gerlitzen Alpe or Dreiländereck, show it to get 20% discount at KärntenTherme after 5pm.

Healing with water: Warmbad-Villach Spa Resort

Here you can recharge your batteries where the water is most beneficial. In the legendary thermal spring pool at the Warmbad-Villach spa resort. The water has been bubbling up through the stones for centuries. Warm, stimulating and revitalising. For relieving pain and inflammation in the muscles and bones. What thermal water from the hot springs feels like? Soothing and stimulating, making your skin tingle.

What else to expect here? Top hotels, award-winning cuisine, a first-class health and therapy centre, luxury beauty treatments, spa for pampering from top to toe, etc.

Thermal spa resort for centuries.

The Warmbad-Villach spa resort looks back on a long history: the Celts soothed away their aches and pains in the hot springs, as did the Romans who conquered the Celts around 15 BC. It was not until about 1,000 years later that Warmbad springs first appeared in records under the name of Fontes Salinarum. The next mention dates back to the end of the Middle Ages when a pool was built to contain the water from the springs. At that time there was also a house for giving visitors food and lodging. In the 18th century Napoleon himself heard about the Warmbad springs and even planned to turn them into international baths.

Bad Bleiberg: valley of thermal springs

Ready for a new you? Welcome to Bad Bleiberg. Back in the 1950s what was then a small mining village was turned into a renowned spa resort. Since then the valley with the hot springs has enjoyed an excellent reputation for health and is now famous for relieving stress, rheumatic complaints and respiratory diseases. It is also popular among Carinthians with its comfortable therapy centre, the famous Bleibergerhof spa hotel and many other well-run hotels and varied accommodation. More health treatments? A relief to breathe freely – two underground health galleries open to the public. The air there is a constant 8 degrees Celsius at 99 per cent relative humidity.

Dobratsch nature park: great outdoors

If anything, Dobratsch is almost more attractive in the cold weather. With a backdrop straight out of a nature film, vast swathes of mountains stretching out in front of you, steep slopes, rocky crags, mysterious animal tracks and snow crunching underfoot.

Many years ago, Carinthia’s oldest nature park decided to focus solely on eco-tourism. And here it’s not just a buzzword but a commitment to sustainability. Because Villacher Alpe has something very valuable to preserve: unspoilt countryside with all its flora and fauna worth protecting. Absolute paradise for ski touring, cross-country skiing and winter walking. The best starting points for these sports are Rosstratte at the end of the Villach Alpine Road and the alpine rock garden. If you are fit, you can set off on a ski tour from Heiligengeist. At the summit there is a welcome sight – a restaurant for mulled wine and delicious Carinthian specialities. Interesting: the lodge is an ultramodern, energy self-sufficient passive house with 40 beds. And when night falls, there’s nothing quite like snowshoeing by full moon. Great fun: sledging on the groomed tobogganing hill at Rosstratte. There’s a snow playground here too. Not just for the kids… A special tip: the five-kilometre cross-country ski trail near the alpine rock garden. Incidentally, the Rosstrattenstüberl and Aichingerhütte are also renowned for regional specialities. Worth tasting are the Carinthian-style ravioli.

Ski jumping centre. At the foot of Dobratsch there is Villach’s Alpen Arena ( The Nordic ski centre with its 90, 60, 30 and 15 metre jumps is open all year round. Local ski jumping heroes and other athletes also come here on a regular basis to train.

The Nordic facilities at the Alpen Arena include a 5km cross-country ski trail. Of it, 3km are a race track homologated by FIS that can be served by snow machines and floodlit.

Snowshoeing – step by step

Snowshoeing is fast becoming a new trend in winter. Because you can go at your own pace: it doesn’t matter whether you take it sedately, stride out or walk briskly. Whatever your speed, you feel almost weightless gliding over the snow and exploring the white winter landscape. Snowshoeing is not only a whole lot of fun – it is also a gentle way to keep fit and really easy to learn. On Dreiländereck, Gerlitzen Alpe and in the Dobratsch nature park you can even explore the area with guides and rangers. Take your pick: from a short trial walk to a longer trek to a summit.

Ski touring – glide uphill and ski down

The attraction of ski touring: ascending a mountain by yourself away from the crowds and then skiing back down again off-piste. Discovering the best peaks and ridges in the Villach Region. Yet hardly a winter sport makes you feel so in touch with nature as ski touring. On with those skins! Ski up to the region’s best vantage points under your own steam. The sun slowly rises conjuring light shadows and distinctive silhouettes onto the glittering white slopes. While climbing up the mountain, you can see the soft snow cover promises finest powder for the descent.

Where can you go ski touring in the Villach Region? On Gerlitzen Alpe, in the Dobratsch nature park, on Verditz, Mittagskogel and Dreiländereck. Step by step the rhythm of walking helps you to forget the world around you.

Urban experience: Villach bathed in light

Winter in Villach. It means skating in front of the town hall, warming your hands around a mug of mulled wine, spending time in the cafés or browsing in the local shops. During Advent the historic town centre turns into a wonderful world of Christmas sights and scents. Year after year... This year Villach’s Christmas market, which is located throughout the historic centre, will open on 25 November. The traditional part of the market with its wooden huts forms a circle around the main parish church, the stalls selling food and drinks are located on the main square (Hauptplatz) and the craft market is in the grounds of the Parkhotel. Pets’ corner, pony rides and puppet shows round off the programme for children. The run-up to Christmas would not be complete without the parade of masked devils and demons on 2 December.

Great news for Advent: The ship MS Landskron will be running for the first time during the Advent season on the river Drau! (every Saturday and Sunday between 26th November and 18th December 2016 at 3.30 pm and at 5.30 pm / landing stage in front of the Holiday Inn Villach). Visit the Christmas market in Villach and then enjoy a charming river-tour on the Drau. The newly built glass ceiling on the top deck allows you to experience Villach´s old town from a completely new point of view. Enjoy drinking homemade mulled cider and wine while tasting Carinthian delicacies (typical Carinthian snack, the so called Brettljause can be booked in advance). For more information visit

Christ Child brings gifts. On the fourth Sunday in Advent (18 December), Villach’s Bauerngman (a charitable organisation run by local businessmen) will stage an Advent event for the fifth time. Arriving on a River Drau cruise boat, the Christ Child together with the Three Wise Men and a host of angels will land in Villach. The shepherds (local children) will then escort the Baby Jesus in a festive procession to the square beside the town hall. There it will hand over presents to the Bauerngman who will give them to needy children.

Traditional. You will find Christmas markets and Advent atmosphere throughout the region: for families, foodies, arts and crafts lovers. Then there are countless Advent and Christmas concerts, nativity scenes, St Nicholas, masked devil and demon parades.

Bright lights. There is no question of hibernating here in winter. However cold it may be, Carinthia’s second largest town is bathed in warm light. It makes Villach full of magic, full of sparkle, full of surprises. With the Alps-Adriatic atmosphere, cultural interest, good food, attractive shops and the southern sun. In short: a unique synthesis of local colour and lifestyle.

If you prefer a roof over your head when browsing, you can head for the ATRIO shopping centre a few kilometres south of the town centre. It covers an area of 28,000sqm with over 80 shops, cafés and restaurants and 2,000 parking spaces catering for even the largest crowds. Perfect for parents: the Lollipop play area, 600sqm in size, where time passes quickly for the little ones while the grown-ups do their shopping in peace.

“Lei lei” is the local Carnival Guild’s traditional greeting and often heard during their cabaret shows staged at Villach congress centre. The highlights of the shows are televised throughout Austria on Shrove Tuesday. If you want to see how the locals celebrate the period before Lent, the best time is Carnival Saturday (25 February 2017) where everyone no matter what age is out on the streets in fancy dress for Villach’s colourful parade. The Sunday after is reportedly one of the quietest days in Villach...

Winter camping

If you are a serious camper, you are hardly likely to be put off by sub-zero temperatures. Many campsite operators are responding to increased demand here and remaining open all year round.

Camping- & Strandbad Annenheim on Lake Ossiach, for example, has been welcoming winter campers for a few years now and is pleased with results. (This winter seasonthe campsite will be open from 23 December to 08 January.) Catering, toilet and shower blocks are naturally suitable for winter. Amenities include heated ski boot racks, a drier for ski suits and lockable ski racks. The free ski shuttle to the Gerlitzen cable car stops at the door.

In addition, three other campsites - Camping Gerli, Fischerhof Glinzner, Seecamping Kölbl (on demand) - in the region are open at least for part of the winter season.

Getting to the ski area without a car

The Gerlitzen Alpe ski bus service operates between the resorts on Lake Ossiach (Ossiach, Steindorf, Bodensdorf, Sattendorf and Annenheim), the Villach area, Lake Faak and the Kanzelbahn lift station. What's more, it's free of charge! Another free ski bus service takes holidaymakers from Lake Faak to the Dreiländereck ski area. And then there are the post buses (tickets required) that take ski touring freaks, cross-country skiers and winter walkers up to Dobratsch.

For your diary (dates subject to change)

  • 18 Nov 2016, 16 Dec 2016, 13 Jan 2017, 10 Feb 2017, 10 Mar 2017, 07 Apr 2017: full moon sauna night at KärntenTherme (5pm to midnight)
  • 25 Nov - 24 Dec 2016: Villach Christmas market
  • 02 Dec 2016: masked devil parade in Villach (from 6.30pm)
  • 02Dec 2016: Gerlitzen ski season opening
  • 08 Dec 2016: Dreiländereck ski season opening (depending on snow conditions)
  • 18 Dec 2016: ski school’s free ski test on Gerlitzen
  • 18 Dec 2016: Bauerngman Advent in Villach (from 5pm)
  • 23 Dec 2016: start of the Stella Ronda Snow Challenge on Gerlitzen Alpe
  • 24 Dec 2016: Christmas Eve ski day on Gerlitzen Alpe – children (born in 2002-2010) go free
  • 27-31 Dec 2016: New Year’s market in Villach’s historic centre
  • 31 Dec 2016: various New Year’s Eve parties in Villach and the region
  • 5-8 Jan 2017: 28th Int’l Lake Ossiach Ice Hockey Cup at Ossiach indoor rink
  • 7 Jan – 28 Feb 2017: Villach Carnival Guild’s cabaret shows
  • 09 Jan 2017: Epiphany market in Villach
  • 15 Feb 2017: Gerlitzen Alpe ski school’s ski show
  • 25 Feb 2017: carnival parade in Villach
  • 12 Mar 2017: ski season closes on Dreiländereck (depending on snow conditions)
  • 2 Apr 2017: Goodbye winter, Gerlitzen season finale
  • 06-14 Mar 2017: Villach Easter market

Information and bookings:

Region Villach Tourismus GmbH

Töbringer Str. 1 • 9523 Villach-Landskron •Austria

Tel: +43 4242 42000 56 • Fax ext: 42

E-mail: •

You can find our digital picture archive at

2016/2017 Winter Season

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