Lake Wörthersee West Bay

Level of difficulty 2 |  Gastronomy 3 |  Length 5,4 km |  Time 1 - 1.5 hours

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Velden's contrasts are not only evident on land, but also on the water. A SUP round trip takes you along busy motorboat routes and into a dreamy, exotic bay.

General information

• Woerthersee Plus Card
• Carinthia Card
• Velden Wikipedia
• Velden tourist information
• Wörthersee SUP information
• Tour Video
• Climate
• Wind, waves, weather

Navigation rules

The lake is very busy during summer months - there are plenty of motorized and non-motorized watercraft on the water. Therefore, keep a sufficient distance from bathers and watercraft!

Dangers and risks

The water access at the park Kurpark is from the bricked bank with a small difference in height to the water (approx. 50 cm). It is best to first climb down to the narrow gravel strip yourself and only then lift the SUP off the promenade.

Expect a lot of bathers, a lot of ship and boat traffic and corresponding waves in summer. That's why you should be stable on the board and already have some SUP experience.

Always keep an eye on the countless boat moorings, because boats are constantly coming and going. It is a good idea to keep a sufficient distance from the moorings and of course from the boats.

The wind conditions can change quickly on this large lake. Often it is enough for the wind to just change a little and it becomes difficult to make any progress. Always check the weather beforehand!

Directions

If you are coming from the east (Klagenfurt) or west (Villach) via the A 2 motorway, take the Velden West motorway exit and follow the course of the road straight into town. The town center is easily recognizable by the fork in the road in front of the Kurpark - Velden's central park. It's best to look for a parking space right here.

The train connections to Velden are very well timed. Whether you are travelling from Villach, Klagenfurt or even Slovenia or Italy, there are enough trains to the holiday resort every day.

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 – the closest airports in the region.

Parking

There are plenty of paid parking lots along the access roads near the tour start (fees apply from May to December). However, finding a parking space can be a tedious task in summer, as Velden then becomes the overcrowded St. Tropez of Carinthia.

If there is nothing available in the centre, you have to go to the slightly further away but free Park & Ride at the main train station or the parking lot P5 below (fees apply from May to December).

The car parks Velden Ost, Velden Süd and Marietta are also subject to a fee from May to December.

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 has a number of free lake accesses. The Metnitz Beach in Klagenfurt, the Edelweis outdoor pools in Pörtschach, the Teixlbucht Bay near Maria Wörth and the free accesses to the lake in Krumpendorf (Kurpark, Berthastraße, Strandweg among others) are worth mentioning. However, if you are looking for more infrastructure, you are spoiled for choice with the countless bathing beaches around the lake. In Velden you find the following:

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

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

Winter swimmersr always find like-minded people in Velden, when on the first day of the year the traditional New Year's Swim takes place in the area of Villa Bulfon.

From the lakeside promenade in Velden to Cap Wörth on the south bank. Cross the lake there and follow the north bank back to Velden.

Length

5,4 km

Time

1 - 1.5 hours

Start and landing

Along the lakeside promenade at the park Kurpark.

SUP rental

Strandbad Velden
Seepromenade 7, 9220 Velden
Phone +43 (0)463 2032 3020

Paddle sport around the noble resort

"Go West!", demands an old song by the Village People in order to start a new life. The West also has a very special attraction on Austria's most famous lake, the Wörthersee. After all, this is where the exclusive town of Velden is located, which has an enviable film and TV history by Austrian standards and has therefore become the celebrity location par excellence in the German-speaking cultural area.

Velden is hip and at the same time very Carinthian, here you can experience party-driven nightlife and at the same time enviable relaxation. As multifaceted and exciting as the place is between May and September, it is comparatively sleepy the rest of the year. The luxury holiday resort ultimately transfers these contrasts to the water, where I have a varied SUP tour ahead of me.

Since there are not many free lake shores, I make do with entering the water on the promenade by the Kurpark. In the park itself you can get your board ready on the large lawn before climbing about half a meter down from the brick promenade to the water. Before that, however, I take a snapshot through the photo frame that looks out over the wide lake. The subsequent transport logistics are best carried out like this: put the board down and first go down from the promenade to the small gravel beach. Only then lift your SUP over the edge and down to the water.

The water feels warmer than my bathtub in winter and the small waves splash playfully against my legs. Not only do I like that, but so do the dogs, who really enjoy the shallow water here. After a quick look around, I decide to start to the right and paddle leisurely past the exclusive outdoor pool on the jetty of the Schlosshotel. Pobably because it's lunchtime all the restaurants by the water are full and stand-up paddlers are few and far between. The water forms small waves, which is why I paddle slowly in first gear while taking in the atmosphere.

After the outdoor pool, the boat docks begin and will accompany me for the next one and a half kilometers along the south bank. It is very maritime here. You might think you are somewhere on the Adriatic, but then you swim past the Velden Castle (Schloss Velden), which is known beyond the country's borders. It was completed in 1603 and initially served as a private residence. After a fire in the 18th century, the heavily decimated property served as a post office and an inn before it was converted and renovated into a hotel at the end of the 19th century.

The 1950s saw the cinematic rise of the castle hotel aka Schlosshotel, and thus of the entire town. This is certainly also thanks to the local production company Lisa Film, which was founded in 1964 and has since released hundreds of films. For a long time, the flagship was certainly the television series Ein Schloss am Wörthtersee with many international guest stars.

Since then, Velden, and with it the entire lake, has been regularly visited by famous people from all over the world. Chuck Norris and Heather Mills should be mentioned when it comes to namedropping. Unfortunately, I don't notice any of them today, but I do spot a small stream that flows ice cold into the lake to the left of the magnificent hotel grounds. It is the outflow of the castle pond, and it promises to be a wonderful refreshment in today's heat. So I get off my board for a moment and stretch my legs in the cool water before I leisurely continue along the south bank towards Cape Wörth.

The number of restaurants along the shore is gradually decreasing, and small hotels and guest houses are appearing instead, alternating with jetties and boat moorings at regular intervals. Time and again, uniform boat waves from the middle of the lake push parallel to my board and lift me onto their crest. I have to concentrate and keep my balance, because my eyes are looking in all directions at the same time. After all, there is a lot to see here. In addition to countless old villas, the bright colors of the water along the shore and the various boats are also impressive. In addition, people keep swimming past in front of the bow, so you have to be careful and give way.

After Cap Wörth, where the Cap Wörth Youth and Family Guesthouse is located and offers a great range of sporting activities, I dive into an almost Caribbean bay. The reed belt seems to be protected and is therefore cordoned off from the rest of the lake with wooden slats and anchored tree trunks. It still looks pleasant, like a small natural pool on the shore of the large lake. I paddle past it with pleasure and settle down a few meters further on in the absolute silence of the bay. The water is calm and clear, the view extends to the bottom - hardly two meters below me. I find myself in another world, and the few anchored sailboats give the whole scene a southern touch.

After a few relaxing minutes my board is craving action again and I push it over the turquoise-blue border out of the bay and onto the lake. When crossing to the north, you should be particularly careful because many motorboats, and of course the excursion ships, pass the length of the lake. But this also has the advantage that you can break through the waves head-on and still paddle with stability.

In front of me I see the small Forstsee power plant and its power lines up to the hidden Lake Forstsee, a popular and even notorious nudist meeting place away from Lake Wörthersee. The power plant began operations in 1925 as the first storage power plant in the state and has been a listed building since 1998. It also houses a demonstration power plant that explains how electricity is generated to visitors.

But already in the middle of the lake I turn left to nestle myself and my SUP comfortably on the north bank, where I keep noticing impressive lakeside residences between the nice hotels. After all, the wealthy are at home all around Lake Wörthersee and show what they have quite unashamedly. Nevertheless, you can also sense a certain down-to-earthness and the typical Carinthian zest for life here.

I see this with my own eyes when I notice that in the early afternoon the spirits are waking up from their midday lethargy and more SUPs are frolicking on Velden's banks again. There are also several novices who keep splashing into the water as they timidly try to stand up. So I let myself drift slowly between them and the bathers in order to arrive back at the park in Velden dry and without collisions.

Because I had to paddle against the wind more than planned at times, I treat myself to a hearty pizza from the local expert. The Pizzeria Sterba in neighboring Lind ob Velden has exactly what I need: pizza, dark beer and outdoor seating in the shade.

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