Level of difficulty 2 paddles |  Gastronomy 3 pitchers |  Length 5.5 km |  Time 60 - 80 minutes

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Lake Wörthersee is a true SUP paradise. But not only the lake itself promises beautiful paddling moments, its drainage channels also make our hearts beat faster. The Sattnitz Stream and the Lend Canal are worth a trip.

General information Wörthersee

• Woerthersee Plus Card
• Lake Wörthersee Wikipedia
• Klagenfurt tourist information
• Carinthia tourist information
• Lake Wörthersee SUP Info
• Climate
• Wind, waves, weather
  

Navigation rules

The area around the lido in Klagenfurt must be bypassed (watch out for buoys). The lake is heavily trafficked - motorized and non-motorized watercraft are plentiful. Therefore keep enough distance to bathers and watercrafts.

Before you paddle into the Sattnitz Stream, there are reed belts marked with wooden posts and information boards, which may not be paddled on (European protection area Lendspitz - Maiernigg, Lendspitz Natura 2000 area).

Don't damage the water lilies on the Sattnitz and paddle past them!

Dangers and risks

You can always be surprised by waves when motor boats go out onto the lake in your immediate vicinity. The boat traffic should generally always be kept in mind, because on nice days there is a lot going on on the water starting early in the morning.

The Sattnitz is very popular among paddlers who often come in groups. It can always get narrow on the water, especially since the waterway is a maximum of 20 m wide. Here, too, always keep your eyes open and think of oncoming traffic, but at the same time be careful not to bang your paddle on stones on the shallow bank.

Directions

Coming from the city center of Klagenfurt, take Villacher Straße in a westerly direction and turn left at the large park called Europapark (left in the direction of travel) into Metnitzstrand (signposted: Maria Loretto, Strandbad, Camping). After about 300 m turn left and drive between Europapark and Metnitzstrand Park (little park by the waterfront) to the lido and the spacious car park in front of it.

Coming from Villach take the A 2 motorway to the Klagenfurt West/Messe/Wörthersee exit and about 2.5 km later take the first right to Klagenfurt. At the next crossroads, turn right onto Villacher Straße and at Europapark (on the left in the direction of travel) turn left into Metnitzstrand (signposted: Maria Loretto, Strandbad, Camping). After about 300 m, turn left and drive between Europapark and Metnitzstrand Park to the lido and the spacious car park in front of it.

Thanks to its airport, Klagenfurt can be reached not only by train or bus, but also by plane. Transport connections to Klagenfurt can be found on Omio.

Parking

There is a large free car park in front of the lido. On nice days, however, you should look for a parking space outside of the rush hours (10 a.m. to 4 p.m.).

Swimming

With water temperatures of up to 28° C, Lake Wörthersee is probably the most popular bathtub in the state. That's why it's very heavily built up, but also still has a number of free lake accesses. The Metnitz beach in Klagenfurt, the Edelweiss outdoor pool in Pörtschach, the Teixlbucht near Maria Wörth and the free access to the lake in Krumpendorf are worth mentioning. However, if you are looking for more infrastructure, you are spoiled for choice with the countless bathing beaches.

Strandbad Maiernigg
Süduferstrasse 116, 9020 Klagenfurt
Phone +43 (0)463 292389

Strandbad der Gemeinde Velden
Seepromenade 7, 9220 Velden
Phone +43 (0)4274 34150

Promenadenbad Pörtschach
Blumenpromenade 24, 9210 Pörtschach
Phone +43 (0)4272 2435

Strandbad Dellach
Süduferstraße 240, 9082 Maria Wörth
Phone +43 (0)676 3367034

Parkbad & Bewegungsarena Krumpendorf
Pamperlallee 35, 9201 Krumpendorf
Phone +43 (0)4229 2440

Strandbad Saag
Saag 11, 9212 Techelsberg
Phone +43 (0)4272 43501

Strandbad Maria Loretto
Lorettoweg 48, 9020 Klagenfurt
Phone +43 (0)664 805216350

Tour

From Metnitzstrand Park to the left, past the Maria Loretto Peninsula, into the Sattnitz and up to the small bridge. From there back and further into the Lend Canal to the Hotel Seepark Wörthersee Resort. There turn around and return to the starting point of the tour.

Length

5.5 km

Time

60 - 80 minutes

Start and landing

On the promenade in front of Metnitzstrand Park.

SUP rental

Fanatic SUP Center 
(Strandbad Maiernigg) 
Süduferstrasse 116, 9073 Klagenfurt
Phone +43 (0)677 62963993

Seesport 
(in the Parkbad Krumpendorf) 
Pamperlallee 35-37, 9201 Krumpendorf
Phone +43 (0)664 7661685

Reifnitz Sailing School
Uferweg 3, 9081 Reifnitz
Phone +43 (0)664 1858143

Click&Paddle Wörthersee
Self-service machine at the
slipway, Berthastraße street in Krumpendorf
Discount code “SUPAtlas” for 20% discount

Wassersport Lex
Fischerweg 14, 9082 Maria Wörth/Dellach
Phone +43 (0) 676 3367034

SUP2GETHER
(in the Maria Loretto lido)
Lorettoweg 48, 9020 Klagenfurt
Phone +43 (0)463 20323020

SUP2GETHER
(in the lido Strandbad Klagenfurt) 
Metnitzstrand 2, 9020 Klagenfurt
Phone +43 (0)463 20323020

The hidden sides of the Wörthersee

Probably the best-known and most popular lake in Austria can also be called the Austrian Riviera. The water enchants its observer with colors ranging from emerald green and turquoise to sky blue. We get a lot to offer from this spectacle right at the entrance along the Metnitzstrand Park. Here on the eastern shore promenade in front of the gates of the Carinthian state capital of Klagenfurt, you can't help but get a summer holiday feeling with the palm trees of the beach bar, the crystal-clear, light-blue water in front of you and the warm morning sun behind you.

From the free parking lot at the lido, you carry your board to the shore within a few minutes and find ideal conditions for boarding. The wide view over the lake invites you to go straight ahead towards Mt. Pyramidenkogel (observation tower half left in front of us). But that's not on the agenda today. We want to ride a lesser known route that has been on our To-SUP-list for a while. From here we should turn left into the Sattnitz (also called Glanfurt) and on the way back we want to make a small detour in the Lend Canal.

First we paddle in a wide circle around the area of the Klagenfurt lido. The three long wooden jetties are packed with sunbathers and the first swimmers are already frolicking in the water. So that nothing can happen, there are marking buoys in the water, which we paddle around. The lake is huge, but there is a lot of activity near the shore. On the right the sailing harbor lies in the turquoise bay in front of the Maria Loretto peninsula.

In front of us we have the Maria Loretto Castle expanding over the said peninsula, and with a SUP yoga group in the foreground, it forms an ideal photo backdrop. Since the yogis are floating in the water so widely spread out, we just paddle between the asanas and get a few good snapshots in front of our lens. At the same time, a considerable group sets off on their SUPs from the Maria Loretto lido and seems to aim at the same destination as us. We finally meet in the Lendspitz/Seespitz area and head towards the entrance to the Sattnitz. Shallow water, Caribbean colors, dreamy reed belts (please note the distance markings) and nice small talk among paddlers - that's how we comfortably drift into the outflow of Lake Wörthersee.

The Sattnitz (aka Glanfurt) is actually 9 km long, but from here you can only paddle the first 800 m before you have to turn back at the sea lock. We wind our way between boat huts and beautiful properties through the floodplain landscape and we are surprised about how many SUPs come towards us here. Again and again we paddle past fields of water lilies and the swans seem to have gotten used to the stand-up paddlers anyway. How great would it be to live right by the water and be able to enjoy this waterway every day?

As soon as we reach the road and the information board in front of us, the daydreaming is over and we turn back. On the way back, the influx of SUPs and kayaks continues, but it's still comfortable to navigate and so we move on to the Lend Canal. It wasn't originally planned, but we quickly fell in love with the landscape and the 4 km long canal is on our way anyway.

The small Lendkanal Channel has connected the lake with the city center of Klagenfurt since 1527, but is not an outriver of the lake. In the olden days it served to supply fish, building and heating material and fed the 34 m wide and 7 m deep city moat. However, we don't paddle to its end point, the Lendhafen in the city, but only about 900 m to the Hotel Seepark. With a width of 10 - 15 m, the Lendkanal is even more narrow than the Sattnitz, but there is less traffic on the water. Nevertheless, it is advisable to keep to the side to give oncoming traffic enough space.

Coming from the Sattnitz, after the Lendspitz nature reserve (reed belt), turn right into the Lend Canal and immediately enter another world: the trees, which spread their branches over the canal, provide pleasant shade and make the water appear significantly darker. Narrow streets run to the left and right above us, which invite you to go cycling and walking. We paddle behind the electric boat in front of us and past the lido as well as the Maria Loretto Castle Park. We are probably being photographed by tourists from the covered Loretto footbridge while we are watching how an e-boat is stopping for a snack by the Buffet zur Tramway.

For us, however, the tour goes on a little further until we take a short photo break at the small bathing beach in front of the Hotel Seepark. We photograph the white water lilies and then turn back, doing a short sprint to burn off some calories and then let ourselves glide comfortably out of the canal.

Once more the landscape opens up before our eyes, the colors become brighter and we are on the Austrian Riviera again - right next to the busy and popular Maria Loretto Peninsula. From here we paddle to the right again, past the marina and we also leave the lido behind. Shortly before landing, we look back at the lake again, which still has many great spots in store for us. It was awesome and we'll be back soon.

Alternative: If you have to rent a low-priced hardboard via Click&Paddel and want to save a whopping 20% on your booking with the discount code "SUPAtlas", start at the slipway in the municipality of Krumpendorf, where the self-service machine is located. From there you paddle to the left in the direction of the Klagenfurt lido (Strandbad Klagenfurt) and on towards the Sattnitz. The route to the end of the Sattnitz (without a detour in the Lend Canal) and back is almost exactly 7.5 kilometers long.

Find this and many other SUP tours on Carinthian waters in the SUP Guide Carinthia.