Level of difficulty 2 paddles |  Gastronomy 2 pitchers |  Length 7.3 km |  Time 1.5 - 2 hours

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Against the breathtaking backdrop of the Karawanken Mountains, the manageable but not small Lake Faak reveals its seductive face. The SUP hotspot, which is heavily frequented in midsummer, is a dreamy paradise in spring.

General information

• KärntenCard
• Lake Faak Wikipedia 
• Lake Faak tourist information
• Carinthia tourist information
• The Lake Rocks SUP Festival
• Climate
• Wind, Wellen, Wette

Navigation rules

The lake is very popular in summer, which is why there are a lot of swimmers, paddlers, electric boats and rowing boats sharing the water. It's best to always paddle on your knees near the shore; away from it, it's best to always give others priority and paddle on sight.

Even in the middle of the lake it often happens that fishermen cast their lines. In such cases, paddle away from the fishing boats!

Dangers and risks

In the reed meander you can expect a lot of traffic on the water during the warm season. SUPs, kayaks and rowing boats are in high season and traffic jams can quickly build up on the narrow curves of the waterway. Even small collisions are not uncommon because there are always people without paddling experience. It is best to paddle through the reeds either in the morning or in the evening - or in spring, autumn and winter.

The waterway is quite narrow in some places and your board can easily get caught in the reeds if you take evasive maneuvers. .

In summer there is also a lot of traffic on the rest of the lake because there are many boats circulating in addition to the paddlers and swimmers.

The public bathing beach in the village of Faak, which is the starting point of this tour, is very popular with families due to the shallow water depth. So pay particular attention to splashing children!

Sometimes there can be stronger winds on the lake, especially around midday, which make paddling much more difficult, at least while standing.

The lake is privately owned by the Landskron Estate Administration, which charges a fee for water sports equipment every year from May til October. Payment of such could sometimes be randomly checked on the water. For stand-up paddlers, the following usage rates apply for 2024:

Price per day: € 1,5
Price per week: € 7,7
Price per month: € 33
Whole season: € 121,33

These prices can change from year to year and are set by the estate management before the summer season. You can pay the fees before paddling at the Faak tourist office, the Villach tourist office as well as the Drobollach tourist office or at the Pump Track Drobollach.

When paying the usage fee, the paddler receives a control bracelet. This is available to tourists free of charge at the accommodation if they use the so-called Erlebnis Card of the region Villach – Faaker See – Ossiacher See Region.

Directions

Coming from Villach, you can either drive east out of the city on Maria-Gailer-Straße Sreet and follow the signs to Faaker See, or you take Ossiacher Zeile Street in a southerly direction and go through the municipality of Finkenstein to the start of the tour in Faak. If you come from the north or south via the A2 southern motorway, take the Villach – Faaker See motorway exit and follow the signs to Drobolach or Faak am See.

You can quickly get to Faak from the main train station in Villach by public transport. For example, the bus line Postbus 5196 travels to the lake within 30 minutes. By train - for example the S 5 line - it takes just as long, but it takes a little longer to walk the rest of the way down to the lake.

National and international bus, train and flight connections can be found via the comparison portals Omio, Busbud as well as RailEurope. If you arrive by plane, you will either land in Klagenfurt or Ljubljana - these are the two closest airports in the region.

Parking

Parking on the side of the road is prohibited around the pond in Faak am See where the tour starts. An alternative is available at the beginning of Bachstrasse Street, where there are ten free parking lots. From there you walk 250 m to the start of this tour.

Swimming

The lake and its surroundings are a true holiday paradise, water temperatures up to 28°C and turquoise coastal strips are guaranteed to give you a Caribbean feeling. In winter the lake usually cools down to 2°C. If you don't go ice swimming, you can at least paddle when there is no ice.

Although the lake is heavily developed, in addition to the paid beaches. there are still plenty of free accesses to the lake.

Tour

From the pond in Faak am See through the reed belt to the lake, right around the island and circumnavigating th lake until you return through the reed belt.

Length

7.3 km

Time

1.5 - 2 hours

Start and landing

Pond in Faak am See.

SUP rental

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

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

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

Strandcamping Gruber
Strand Nord 3, 9583 Faak
Phone +43 (0)4254 51555

Click&Paddle Faak
Self-service machine at the reed meander
Discount code “SUPAtlas” for 20% discount
Bachstraße, 9583 Faak

SUP2GETHER
Mobile SUP rental
Am Birkengrund 26, 9073 Klagenfurt
Phone +43 (0)463 20323020

Paddling through Carinthia's most beautiful place

That's no joke, because the reed meander on the western bank of Lake Faak was actually named the most beautiful place in Carinthia in 2019. The lake, which is privately owned by the Landskron Estate Administration, is probably one of the most romantic lakes in Austria, but we stand-up paddlers are only allowed to go on the water for a fee.

However, this fact does not detract from the fun of paddling through the reeds and across the lake, and spring is particularly suitable for a circumnavigation of the lake due to the still low number of SUPs. The lake is heavily developed, but the properties and private houses fit harmoniously into the overall picture. There are no architectural sins or characterless functional buildings on the lakeshore. The entire ambience can probably be described with the sometimes contradictory characteristics of alpine to southern and modern to rustic.

The pond in Faak am See, which is located directly on the Faakerseebach Stream, offers a relaxed start of this tour. The stream is the lake's outflow to the river Gail, a bit further to the west. A sufficiently large lawn for sunbathing and a comfortable, shallow access to the water are advantages not all of the free lake accesses can offer. You also start the paddling tour with a highlight - the waterway through the reed belt on the west bank of the lake.

Some people even call the reed and swamp landscape through which we are about to paddle the Everglades of Carinthia. Although this spot is no longer an insider tip, those seeking peace and quiet will find ideal conditions to relax on their paddleboards, especially in the morning and evening. You can definitely relax here all day in spring and autumn, when the large number of tourists is not an issue. Even in winter, the reed belt and lake cut an incredibly romantic figure.

However, things look different in spring than in summer. The reeds are not meters high above our heads because they were weighed down by snow in the winter. This is a very interesting change of scenery, especially if you already know the route from summer, but haven't been able to get an overview of the meander labyrinth due to its reed walls. The flattened brown reeds now resemble a steppe landscape, and you can see the photogenic Mt. Mittagskogel from everywhere. It has probably been a dominant landmark in the region for thousands of years.

We meander through this reed steppe and orientate ourselves towards the Gerlitzen, a popular mountain rising north of Villach. After just under a kilometer we find ourselves in a small Bay in the north basin of the lake. The lake is divided into a northern and southern basin by a threshold with a west-east orientation. Part of this threshold is the Faaker See Island, which houses Austria's only island hotel. Needless to say that it is a very popular location for weddings and other festivities.

We paddle to the right towards the island and glide over bright, turquoise water, look down the few decimetres through clear water to the bottom and enjoy the lively schools of fish and the rising aquatic plants. There is only 25 m of water between the mainland and the island and that's where we turn right again to paddle head-on to the snow-covered Mt. Mittagskogel. The color spectrum ranges from turquoise-blue to green-brown and further on to snow-white and sky blue - no one paints more beautifully than Mother Nature.

The Karawanks in front of us are also the area from which the main tributaries of the lake originate. The fine lime particles from some of these tributaries are responsible for the color of the lake. These float in the water for a long time before sinking and reflect the sunlight turquoise blue while floating.

In a large arc we paddle over the empty southern basin to the left towards the sandbank, where the Worounitzabach Stream, the main tributary of Lake Faak, flows in and brings with it the finest sediment. The sediment is deposited on the lakeshore as a sandbank, the stream itself rises about six kilometers uphill at the Seufzerquelle Spring, not far from the popular mountain hut Bertahütte.

We also recommend a mountain tour to the Mittagskogel or the Ferlacher Spitz in spring or autumn, followed by a refreshing swim in the cool lake. On your way up and down you will also pass the rustic Bertahütte.

Meanwhile, we paddle past the free beach Siedlerstrand and the Strandcamping Gruber. Since 2022, the start of the SUP Alps Trophy has taken place every year at the latter as part of The Lake Rocks Festival. The event was immediately awarded two stars by SUP World Ranking placing it among the top 25 SUP events worldwide.

Since we are neither doing a long distance nor a sprint race, we continue comfortably along the east bank into the north basin of the lake. Here, the shady trees of the campsites reach right down to the water, while dreamy private properties can be admired in between. From the northern basin you also have a wonderful view of the 2166 m high Mt. Dobratsch, the local mountain of the city of Villach with the two highest pilgrimage churches in the Alps. Of course, the contrast between the awakening spring vegetation on the lake and the still snow-covered mountains in the surrounding area is particularly beautiful.

If you want, you can paddle directly towards the Dobratsch and into a secluded bay near Panorama Beach in Drobollach. Meanwhile, we head back towards the island and the Finkenstein Castle rising above it, only to be swallowed up by the reeds again in the next bay. With the Karawanks in view, which represent the natural border to Slovenia, we cruise relaxed through the water curves in the reeds again and let the outflow of Lake Faak slowly pull us back to our starting point - without any crowds or waiting times.

Even though there is a lot more traffic here in summer and the reed meander is no longer an insider tip, we also recommend a SUP tour this time of year. Then the scenery is a little different, but still just as beautiful.

You can find this and many other SUP tours on Carinthian lakes in the SUP Guide Carinthia.