Level of difficulty 3 paddles |  Gastronomy 3 pitchers |  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 Drau in the area of the town of Villach. You start in no man's land, paddle through the entire city 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
• Paddling Town
• Climate
• Wind, waves, weather

Navigation rules

You won't find bathers here on the Drau (Drave), but you will find passenger ships, which have priority. Likewise, nesting and spawning grounds should not be disturbed.

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 exit 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 Drau in spring, you have to 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 aka the Friedensbrücke). After another 650 m, turn sharp left into Chemiestrasse. This 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 the lake, 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 entrance). The other is at the end of the access road in front of the Silbersee Ranch (about 150 m to the entrance). 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 shipping pier by the Silbersee Ranch to the Rennstein power plant. 

Length

8.2 km

Time

2 - 3 hours

Start and landing

Boarding at the ship dock at the Silbersee Ranch.
Exit in the area of the Rennstein power plant, preferably on the south bank 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 Drau revealed to us its extremely low water level coupled with an equally low flow rate on this autumn day, the idea arose of paddling upstream through Villach on Carinthia's water vein.

Of course, we benefit from the fact that almost the entire Drau is dammed in Carinthia and the water between the countless power plants usually runs leisurely towards Slovenia anyway. A good starting point for the counter-current tour is, for example, the ship landing stage opposite the beach volleyball courts on the 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 of 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 the 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 seven meters deep. Even for locals, this results in a completely new view of their usual living space.

Anyone who paddles on the Drau is usually alone and so we start the first day of winter at lake Silbersee in absolute silence. The morning fog has just cleared and we pierce the mirror-smooth water with our GloryBoards. Of course, the autumn-colored trees also shed their leaves into the water and we paddle through the rising haze towards the A2 motorway bridge. Here it doesn't matter whether you paddle in the middle or on the edge, as the water seems to be motionless anyway.

Right at the beginning we pass a horse pasture, whereby the animals seemed 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 the city. This becomes visible again and again between the trees and bushes and leads along the entire Drau 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 Gail flows into the Drau 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 city and can already see the Friedensbrücke 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 outriver of Lake Ossiacher See, which has its source about four kilometers from here on its eastern shore. While we can still see fields and bank plants on the left, urban space is already beginning on the right and 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 city area, 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 of Ossiach Zeile Street then forms the end of the Wasenboden and you are now in the city center. On both sides we see walkers, runners and cyclists along the river promenades of Villach, called the Draubermen which run through the city.

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 Drau 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 the city.

At the latest after the railway bridge we have left the city center behind us and are heading towards the quiet districts of St. Martin and Fellach. The banks are greener again and the water is significantly deeper in some places. It probably six to seven meters deep and you can still see the bottom. However, this is not always the case, because often the water is simply too cloudy 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 Drau 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 weir 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 here 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.