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The Almseehütte mountain hut on the sunny slopes of the Gerlitzen

Mountain & Ski Area

Gerlitzen Alpe

Villach & Faaker See · Carinthia

QUICK INFORMATION

CATEGORY
Mountain & Ski Area
COUNTRY
Austria
REGION
Villach & Faaker See · Carinthia
DURATION
2–4 days

ABOUT THIS ATTRACTION

Villach’s sunny local ski-and-hiking mountain, reached by cable car straight from Lake Ossiach.

HISTORY & BACKGROUND

The story behind it

The Gerlitzen has been the Villach region’s winter playground since the first lift of 1928; its gentle, forested slopes and reliable sunshine made it one of the first family ski areas of the Austrian south.

WHAT TO SEE

What to see here

01

Kanzelbahn cable car from Annenheim

02

Summit ridge panorama trails

03

Almseehütte and other mountain huts

04

Family ski slopes December–April

WHY IT MATTERS

Why it matters

The easiest mountain day from Villach in any season — cable car up, hut lunch, ridge walk down.

PRACTICAL INFORMATION

Before you go

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MAP & LOCATION

Gerlitzen Alpe

Gerlitzen Alpe, Villach & Faaker See, Carinthia, Austria

46.6956, 13.9267

Open in OpenStreetMap

MORE ATTRACTIONS

More to see in Villach & Faaker See

Pastel facades and café terraces on the Hauptplatz in Villach
Historic Quarter

Hauptplatz & the Old Town

Villach’s two-hundred-metre main square is eight times longer than it is wide — a medieval proportion designed for sight and sound — and its pastel Renaissance facades shelter arcaded courtyards you can simply walk into. The Paracelsushof at No. 18 grew up the physician-alchemist Paracelsus, whose father practised here; the Trinity Column of 1739 rises mid-square; and cafés spill across the car-free space that locals treat as their living room.

View attraction
The Gothic parish church of St. Jakob dominating Villach’s old town
Church

St. Jakob Parish Church

Villach’s skyline is defined by the 94-metre tower of St. Jakob — the tallest church tower in Carinthia. Inside is a rare Gothic hall church, rebuilt after the great 1348 earthquake, with a carved stone pulpit of 1555 from its brief Protestant era; in summer you can climb the 239 steps past the former tower-keeper’s flat to a balcony 49 metres up, with the Drau, the Karawanks and Lake Faak below.

View attraction
The turquoise water of Faaker See with the island hotel in the bay
Lake & Beaches

Faaker See

The fifth-largest of Carinthia’s bathing lakes is its most extraordinary colour: Faaker See glows opaque turquoise in summer, warms to 24–27 °C, and holds drinking-water quality — the water is fully renewed every 1.8 years. An island sits mid-lake, the only Austrian lake island with a village on it, and the southern shore runs beneath the cliffs of the Mittagskogel, the pointed mountain on every postcard of the lake.

View attraction
Alpine huts on the Rosstratte high plateau of the Dobratsch
Mountain & Nature Park

Dobratsch Nature Park

Villach’s house mountain rises to 2,166 m straight from the valley floor, and the Villacher Alpenstraße — one of Austria’s finest panorama roads — climbs 16.5 km of it to the Rosstratte high plateau at 1,732 m. Up here: a barrier-free skywalk hanging over the Rote Wand cliff, an alpine botanical garden with 900 plant species, the geology trail of the giant 1348 rockfall, and two summit paths to the cross at the top with views from the Julian Alps to the Hohe Tauern.

View attraction
The ruin of Landskron castle on its wooded rock above the Ossiach lake valley
Castle & Wildlife

Burgruine Landskron

The early-14th-century ruin on its rock cone above Lake Ossiach packs four attractions into one hill: the atmospheric castle ruin with a restaurant inside its walls, the Adlerarena eagle flight show (birds bred on site soar on the thermal updraft past the castle walls), and the Affenberg — a forested enclosure where some 180 free-roaming Japanese macaques live on a hilltop you walk through with a guide.

View attraction
Finkenstein castle ruin above Lake Faak at dusk
Castle & Concert Venue

Burgruine Finkenstein & Burgarena

High on the Kanzianiberg above the eastern end of Lake Faak stand the walls of a 12th-century fortress whose view once guarded the Gail valley; today its courtyard is a 1,150-seat open-air arena that hosts a summer concert season against a backdrop of lake and Karawanks. The Burgschenke restaurant in the ruin serves Carinthian classics on the terrace, and the short walk up from Latschach takes 20 minutes.

View attraction

THINGS TO DO

Things to do nearby

01

Cycle the Drau Cycle Path & Around Faaker See

02

Hike the Dobratsch Summit

03

Swim and Paddle on Faaker See

04

Camp Beside the Turquoise Lake

05

Three Countries in One Day

06

Winter on the Gerlitzen

FOOD & DRINK

Where to eat nearby

01

Stadtwirt Villach — Carinthian and Friulian classics in a vaulted old-town hall, 180 seats and a shaded garden

02

Restaurant Lagana — Hauptplatz institution for wood-fired pizza and alpine-Adriatic seafood with a terrace on the square

03

Gasthof Brauhof — Villacher Bier brewery tap in a side lane off the Hauptplatz, Kasnudeln and schnitzel in a courtyard

04

Fruhmann — butcher-gasthaus serving Carinthian home cooking (Reindling, Kasnudeln) with its own smokehouse, just off the centre

05

Burgschenke Finkenstein — Carinthian classics on the castle-ruin terrace above Lake Faak

06

Almgasthaus Rosstratte — hearty alpine fare at the top of the Villacher Alpenstraße after your summit walk

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HOTELS & STAYS

Where to stay nearby

01

Voco Villach — 4-star superior directly on the Drau riverside, walkable to the old town

02

Hotel Goldenes Lamm — boutique 4-star in a Renaissance house right on the Hauptplatz

03

Strandcamping Gruber — 140 pine-shaded pitches on the turquoise shore of Faaker See

04

Strandcamping Anderwald — family site with heated pool and Karawanks views on the lake

05

Karnerhof — 4-star superior wellness hotel on its own lagoon bay at Egg am Faaker See

06

harry’s home Villach — modern budget hotel-apartments directly at the main station

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ITINERARIES

Day-by-day routes

Villacher Alpenstraße & Faak Loop — Villach & Faaker See1 day

Villacher Alpenstraße & Faak Loop

The Dobratsch panorama road, the turquoise lake circuit and two castles in one compact day from Villach.

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Three Countries Day: Tarvisio & Kranjska Gora — Villach & Faaker See1 day

Three Countries Day: Tarvisio & Kranjska Gora

From Villach into Italy before lunch and Slovenia by afternoon — the Dreiländereck loop through the Karawanks.

View itinerary

NEARBY DESTINATIONS

Continue the journey

Klagenfurt & Wörthersee

Klagenfurt & Wörthersee

Carinthia

Tarvisio

Tarvisio

Friuli-Venezia Giulia

Kranjska Gora

Kranjska Gora

Alpine Slovenia

Soča Valley

Soča Valley

Alpine Slovenia

Ossiacher See

Ossiacher See

Carinthia

PART OF

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