Drava from Lake Silbersee to Villach

Level of difficulty 3 |  Gastronomy 3 |  Length 8.2 km |  Time 2.5 - 3.5 hours

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A slightly different paddling tour can be experienced on the river Drava in the area of Villach. You start in no man's land, paddle through the entire town and take in many different impressions along the way. In the urban-rural interplay, every paddler is guaranteed to get their money's worth.

General information

• Carinthia Card 
• Silbersee Wikipedia 
• Villach Wikipedia
• Villach tourist information
• Paddle Town Villach
• Tour Video
• Climate
• Wind, waves, weather

Navigation rules

You won't see any swimmers here on the Drava, but you may rarely come across paddlers, especially in the Villach area. In such cases, get out of the way early enough! No passenger ships have been sailing along this route since 2020, so this potential source of danger no longer exists.

Do not enter or disturb breeding and spawning grounds along the banks!

Dangers and risks

Always observe the water (water level, flow rate) in advance and only go on the water when the weather conditions are good enough. Increased caution is required in the area of the dam wall at the end of the route and in the area of the bridges. That means keeping a sufficient distance from pillars and the weir. Depending on the water level, the landing on the bank under the dam wall can be high, steep and rocky. It is best to have two people pull the boards out of the water.

If you paddle on the Drava in spring, expect very cold meltwater. The snowmelt can also cause a more turbulent flow due to the additional water up to the power plant in Paternion, west of Villach.

Directions

Coming from the center of Villach by car, take the St. Magdalener Straße at the state hospital LKH Villach, drive east (out of town) in the direction of St. Magdalen and after 1.5 km take the 2nd exit at the roundabout (at the red bridge). After another 650 m, turn a sharp left into Chemiestrasse. This street becomes Ulricher Straße and you drive straight ahead for 1.7 km until you reach the junction to Lake Silbersee (on the right). There is a parking lot by the access road (Silberseestraße) and at its end.

Parking

There are two parking lots at Lake Silbersee (the start of this tour), which are chargeable during the bathing season. One of them is at the beginning of the access road on the western shore of the lake (about 630 m to the ship dock on the Drava). The other is at the end of the access road in front of the Silbersee Ranch (about 150 m to the ship dock). Please do not park on the side of the road!

Swimming

Lake Silbersee is one of the most popular bathing lakes in Villach and it is accessible free of charge. In addition to extensive sunbathing areas and two beach bars (Silbersee Lido, Silbersee Ranch), you will also find beach volleyball and tennis courts, a callisthenics park, table football and trampolines.
The artificial gravel pond covers an area of 8.4 hectares and has a maximum depth of 7 m. Of course, it is also ideal for making your first SUP attempts.

Tour

From the ship dock by the Silbersee Ranch to the Rennstein power plant. 

Length

8.2 km

Time

2 - 3 hours

Start and landing

Start at the ship dock near the Silbersee Ranch.
Land in the area of the Rennstein power plant, preferably on the right under the bridge.

SUP rental

Fels & Wasser
Flurweg 20, 9524 Villach
Phone +43 (0)650 6161327

Kayak Center Faak     
Am Sonnhügel 1, 9583 Faak am See
Phone +43 (0)650 41 022 71  

Drau Paddelweg
Dahlienweg 14, 9161 Maria Rain
Phone +43 (0)463 2032 30100

FreizeitBASE
Drauterrassen at Lagana am Fluss
Phone +43 (0)463 203230100

Traveling in countercurrent country

Rivers are usually paddled in the direction of flow. However, after the Drava reveals its extremely low water level and flow rate on this fall day, the idea of paddling upstream through Villach on the Carinthian water vein is born.

Of course, we benefit from the fact that almost the entire Drava is dammed in Carinthia and the water between the countless power plants usually runs leisurely towards Slovenia anyway. A good starting point for this counter-current tour is, for example, the ship dock opposite the beach volleyball courts at Lake Silbersee in the east of Villach. In summer you pay a small parking fee from early in the morning, but parking spaces are free outside the bathing season.

If you want to get the most out of this route, we recommend that you pay particular attention to the water quality, because if you find crystal clear water, you can see everything in great detail down to the bottom, which in turn increases the experience of nature enormously. In the area around Lake Silbersee, the water is between two and four meters deep, in the urban area of Villach you can see rock formations under the boards that are up to an estimated five meters deep. Even for locals, this results in a completely new view of their usual living space.

Those who paddle on the Drava are usually alone, and so we start the first day of winter at Lake Silbersee in absolute silence. The early morning mist has just dissipated, and we set off on our GloryBoards into the mirror-smooth water. The autumn-colored trees naturally shed their leaves onto the water, as we paddle through the rising mist towards the highway bridge. It doesn't matter whether you paddle in the middle or at the edge, as the water seems to be motionless anyway.

Right at the beginning we pass a horse pasture, whereby the animals seem to be just as amazed at our sight as we are delighted at their sight. The area around Lake Silbersee is a local recreation area and therefore a cycle path leads from here into town. It becomes visible again and again between the trees and bushes, and leads along the entire Drava River through the whole of Carinthia. What we residents have always known from land, looks completely different from the water and gives us the feeling of being in an unknown place.

After about 1.3 km we pass the motorway bridge and see a fork in the water in front of us - the so-called Gailspitz. The Gail River flows into the Drava from the left and both rivers form a picturesque photo motif with Mt. Dobratsch in the background - Villach's local mountain. At first, we are still mostly in the natural area, until the area of the University of Applied Sciences can be seen behind the trees on the right-hand side. We are quickly getting closer to the town center and can already see the red bridge (Friendensbrücke, aka Freedom Bridge), which has now become a symbol of Villach and connects the districts of Magdalen (right) and Perau (left).

Before 2003 there was no bridge here, and you had to make a big detour to get from St. Magdalen to the opposite side, unless you already had a SUP back then. Here too, in the estuary of the Seebach Stream, fishermen hold their fishing rods in the water and patiently wait for their brown trout. Incidentally, the Seebach is the outflow of Lake Ossiach and has its source about four kilometers from here on the lake's eastern shore. While we can still see fields and bank plants on the left, urban space is already beginning on the right as we paddle past the central cemetery and the extensive Wasenboden with its diverse sports facilities (soccer, basketball, skate, table tennis, dog park, etc.).

Since the current is now definitely present in the town center, we strike our paddles more intensely as we paddle as close to the shore as possible. The crystal-clear, partly greenish water reveals wonderful insights into the underworld of the river. Boulders alternate with sedimentary soils, and all at a depth of barely five meters. However, thanks to the low water level and the clarity, you can also see the ugly: discarded bicycles and car tires. 

The bridge over Ossiacher Zeile Street then forms the end of the Wasenboden and we now find ourselves in the town center. On both sides we see walkers, runners and cyclists along the so-called Draubermen - Villach's riverside promenade.

As we paddle towards the Congress Center Bridge, we can't hide our grin anymore, especially since people suddenly turn around and look down at us in groups. As is well known, people don't paddle very much on the Drava and even less upstream. In the meantime, the tour has become a decent workout and we head north past the many onlookers. If you need a break, you will find plenty of mooring options here in town.

By the time we pass the railroad bridge, we have left the center behind us and are heading for the quiet neighborhoods of St. Martin and Fellach. The banks are greener again and the water is deeper in some places. It is probably five meters deep and you can still see the bottom. However, this is not always the case, as the water can often appear too murky due to swirling sediments.

The autumn sun is now warming us and giving us good vibes on the last few kilometers to the Rennstein power plant in western Villach. Luckily, the flow rate of the Drava remains constant and we are making good progress despite the challenge. The bridge over Drautal Straße Street is the ninth and last one on this route and more or less the finish line, because the power plant is 400 m behind it.

Exhausted but in a good mood, we paddle a little towards the dam wall and seal our trip with a high-five. Whoever arrives here now has two options: either let someone pick you up or paddle the entire route back. You can read what the latter is like in the SUP Guide Carinthia.

Alternatives: As said, you can either paddle the entire route back or go ashore at one of the many boat docks and concrete river accesses in the center of Villach.