In-depth guide · CampingSpirit
From Villach over the Dobratsch, past Lake Faak and up the Gail Valley into the Lesach Valley, over the Gailberg to the Weissensee and back to Lake Ossiach: around 425 kilometres on narrow valley roads where you will spend more time in second gear than on the motorway.
The spirit of the route
Southern Carinthia lies in the lee of the great Alpine routes. The Karawanks and the Carnic Alps draw the border with Slovenia and Italy, and in front of them lie warm lakes, limestone crags and valleys where the evenings smell of hay and woodsmoke. In the morning you stand at Lake Faak, the water turquoise beneath the Mittagskogel; at midday you wind your way up the Dobratsch and look out over the rockfall landscape of the Schütt to the Julian Alps. The further west you drive, the tighter it gets: in the Lesach Valley the road clings to the northern flank, dips into ravines and comes out again at mountain farms that have stood like this for centuries. From the sliding door you see larch meadows, chapels and the pale jagged peaks of the Carnic Alps. At the Weissensee the road simply ends, and you reach the rest of the shore on foot or by boat. This loop rewards slow driving, short stages and early swims.
Stage-by-stage plan
1Stage 1: Villach to Lake Faak (via the Villach Alpine Road) (approx. 50 km)
- The drive
- After a short stroll around Villach, drive via Möltschach to the toll station of the Villach Alpine Road. The road climbs around 16.5 km with wide hairpins and an even gradient through the Dobratsch Nature Park to the highest car parks at the Rosstratten at just over 1,700 m; well built, but with cyclists and motorbikes coming the other way. Return on the same road, then head south-east through Villach and via Drobollach to Lake Faak. Pure driving time just under 2 hours.
- Highlights & must-sees
- Villach old town with the Hauptplatz, the Drava bridge and the parish church of St. Jakob, whose tower you can climb; plus the Kärntner Therme in Warmbad-Villach for a spa day when it rains.
- Hike from the Rosstratten to the Dobratsch summit (2,166 m) with its summit hut and the two summit churches, around 1.5–2 hours each way; along the way you look down on the Schütt, the rockfall landscape of the 1348 earthquake.
- Alpengarten Villacher Alpe on the upper Alpine road, open in summer, with around 800 Alpine plant species on about one hectare.
- CampingSpirit overnight tip
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Official campsite or RV park: Lake Faak has several well-equipped campsites right on the shore, such as Camping Arneitz in Faak am See and Strandcamping Gruber near Drobollach, each with electric hook-ups, sanitary facilities, fresh water and waste disposal and their own bathing area. The season runs roughly from spring to autumn; book early for July and August. Lakeside pitches cost more.
Free camping or nature tip (where legal): According to the operator, camping is not permitted along the Villach Alpine Road, and there is a night-time entry ban (from 10 pm in summer, otherwise from 9.30 pm until early morning). At Lake Faak the shores are largely private or lidos; staying overnight in bathing car parks is not permitted under the Carinthian Nature Conservation Act and local regulations.
- Insider tip for campers
- The Alpine road is open all year; tolls are charged from about mid-April to mid-November. Motorhomes up to 3.5 t pay the car rate, heavier vehicles have their own rate – check the current details with the operator. In Villach itself the multi-storey car parks have height restrictions – it is best to park on the edge of town and walk or cycle into the centre. Fill up in Villach before leaving; the choice is smaller at Lake Faak and in the Gail Valley.
2Stage 2: Lake Faak to Lake Pressegg (Hermagor) (approx. 60 km)
- The drive
- A short detour to the Finkenstein castle ruins above the lake, then via Fürnitz to Arnoldstein and up the valley on the Gailtal Straße (B111) via Nötsch and St. Stefan to Hermagor and Lake Pressegg. A wide, well-built valley road through meadows and villages, with hardly any climbs; around 1.25 hours of driving. If you are in a hurry, take the motorway as far as Arnoldstein (vignette).
- Highlights & must-sees
- Finkenstein castle ruins with the Burgarena, an open-air stage within the walls, and wide views over Lake Faak and the Villach basin.
- A swim stop at Lake Pressegg, a shallow moor lake that warms up early, with reed-fringed shores and views of the Gailtal Alps.
- Hermagor: the small main town of the Gail Valley with its parish church and a market-day atmosphere, a good stop for supplies.
- CampingSpirit overnight tip
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Official campsite or RV park: At Lake Pressegg there is the small site Camping Pressegger See (also known as Camping Max) at the eastern end and EuroParcs Pressegger See; on the edge of Hermagor are EuroParcs Hermagor-Nassfeld and Sportcamping Flaschberger, each with electricity and sanitary facilities. For short vehicles up to around 7 m, the small Camperplatz Nampolach in Egg near Hermagor has electricity and waste disposal, open seasonally from spring to autumn. Check facilities and season in advance.
Free camping or nature tip (where legal): The lakeside car parks at Lake Pressegg are intended for bathers; sleeping in your vehicle there is not provided for. In the Gail Valley, as throughout Carinthia, camping in the open countryside is prohibited, and municipalities carry out checks at the lakes during the season.
- Insider tip for campers
- The B111 is the main artery of the Gail Valley; it is usually calmer in the morning. In Hermagor you will find supermarkets and petrol stations – the last bigger choice before the Lesach Valley. If you are travelling with bikes: the Gailtal cycle path follows the Gail and is largely flat.
3Stage 3: Lake Pressegg to Lake Pressegg (Nassfeld and Garnitzenklamm) (approx. 50 km)
- The drive
- A day loop without moving camp: from Hermagor to Tröpolach and up the Nassfeldstraße to the Nassfeld (just over 1,500 m) on the Italian border. The road is well built but steep and full of hairpins; use low gears on the way down. Back to Tröpolach and on to Möderndorf at the entrance to the Garnitzenklamm. Just under 1.5 hours of pure driving time.
- Highlights & must-sees
- Nassfeld in summer: hiking trails across alpine pastures to the Gartnerkofel, the only place in Central Europe where the blue Wulfenia grows; cable cars from Tröpolach and at the pass make the climb easier – check summer operating times in advance.
- Garnitzenklamm near Möderndorf: a geotrail with information boards, bridges and steps through the gorge in four sections – it takes around 30 minutes to the big waterfall, while the full loop takes 3.5–5 hours and needs sure-footedness; the last section is exposed and slippery in places.
- View from the Nassfeld of the limestone walls of the Carnic Alps and down into Italy's Val Canale.
- CampingSpirit overnight tip
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Official campsite or RV park: Second night at the same site at Lake Pressegg or in Hermagor. There is no campsite at the Nassfeld itself; the car parks at the pass serve the cable cars and hikers.
Free camping or nature tip (where legal): Overnight stays in the car parks at the Nassfeld are not provided for, and the alpine pasture area is covered by the Carinthian Nature Conservation Act. In the Garnitzenklamm, lighting fires and camping are off limits.
- Insider tip for campers
- The Carnic Alps are prone to storms: in summer, thunderstorms with hail often build up in the afternoon. Start the Nassfeld hike early and do not go into the gorge in heavy rain – water levels and rockfall rise quickly, and the path is closed after severe weather. A maintenance fee is charged at the car park in front of the gorge; good footwear is a must. With a dog: two bridges in the upper section cannot be crossed by dogs.
4Stage 4: Lake Pressegg to Maria Luggau (Lesach Valley) (approx. 65 km)
- The drive
- Up the valley on the B111 via Kirchbach to Kötschach-Mauthen (just over 30 km, wide and flat). This is where the Lesach Valley begins: from Kötschach-Mauthen to Maria Luggau it is around 30 km on a narrow, very twisty road high above the Gail. The road repeatedly cuts into deep side ravines, with short steep ramps, tight bends and bridges; meeting lorries or buses means pulling over at some narrow points. Allow at least an hour for the Lesach Valley, a good 1.5–2 hours in total.
- Highlights & must-sees
- The villages of St. Jakob, Liesing and Birnbaum with mountain farms on sunny terraces – the Lesach Valley is considered one of the most natural valleys in the Alps and is barely developed for tourism.
- The pilgrimage village of Maria Luggau with the pilgrimage church of Maria Schnee and the monastery, a pilgrimage destination for people from Carinthia, East Tyrol and Friuli since the 16th century.
- The Mühlenweg (mill trail) in Maria Luggau along a stream with restored farm mills; plus Lesachtal bread, whose baking has been listed in Austria's national inventory of intangible cultural heritage since 2010.
- CampingSpirit overnight tip
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Official campsite or RV park: Maria Luggau has a small campsite in the village (Lesachtal Camping) with sanitary facilities and electricity; near Liesing, the Berghotel Lesachtal offers a few places with Panorama Camping Lesachtal. Capacity in the valley is small and the season is usually summer only – call ahead and book.
Free camping or nature tip (where legal): The Lesach Valley has practically no spare space: the few lay-bys along the road are passing places and hikers' car parks, not overnight spots. Camping in the open countryside is prohibited in Carinthia; farms with guest beds sometimes offer a pitch – only with explicit permission.
- Insider tip for campers
- Drive the Lesach Valley with a full tank and an empty cassette: you will reliably find petrol stations and waste disposal in Kötschach-Mauthen. We are not aware of a general length restriction, but large motorhomes over around 8 m and vehicles with trailers only make slow progress through the ravine bends; roadworks with traffic lights and landslides after heavy rain are common – check the Carinthian state traffic information beforehand. Beyond Maria Luggau the road continues via Kartitsch into East Tyrol; that continuation is not part of this loop.
5Stage 5: Maria Luggau to Weissensee (via the Gailberg Saddle and the Drava Valley) (approx. 80 km)
- The drive
- Back through the Lesach Valley to Kötschach-Mauthen, then on the B110 over the Gailberg Saddle (982 m): a moderate climb on the south side, a few hairpins on the north side down to Oberdrauburg. Through the Upper Drava Valley on the B100 via Dellach im Drautal to Greifenburg, and from there on the Weißensee Straße (B87) with several steep hairpins up to the western part of the Weissensee near Techendorf. Around 2 hours of driving.
- Highlights & must-sees
- Kötschach-Mauthen: the late Gothic parish church known as the “Cathedral of the Gail Valley”, and the museum of the 1915–1918 mountain war on the Carnic front.
- Viewpoints on the Gailberg Saddle looking back at the Carnic Alps and down into the Drava Valley.
- First view of the Weissensee from the road above Techendorf – long, narrow and green between wooded slopes.
- CampingSpirit overnight tip
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Official campsite or RV park: On the western part of the Weissensee are Camping Knaller in Techendorf (family-run, marked pitches, its own bathing area, sanitary facilities with family bathrooms) and Seecamping Müller near Techendorf with lake access; both have electricity as well as fresh water and waste disposal. The season runs roughly from May to September; book in high summer. The Wohnmobilplatz Gailberghöhe on the saddle, with electricity and waste disposal, works well as a stopover.
Free camping or nature tip (where legal): The Weissensee lies within the Weissensee Nature Park; overnight stays at bathing areas, hikers' car parks and by the roadside are not permitted. The same applies in the Drava Valley – plan for proper sites.
- Insider tip for campers
- Fill up and shop in Kötschach-Mauthen before the Weissensee; the shops at the lake are small. The climb from Greifenburg is steep but well built; in summer many cyclists come the other way. If you want to continue east from the Drava Valley, you will find the Grossglockner region and Lake Millstatt in the CampingSpirit guide “Ice fields, hairpins and warm lakes”; the Plöcken Pass and Carnia across the border are described in the guide “Mountain villages, karst caves and Adriatic light”.
6Stage 6: Weissensee to Lake Ossiach (via the Gitschtal and Bad Bleiberg) (approx. 95 km)
- The drive
- In the morning, a boat trip or the shore, then on the B87 over the Kreuzberg Saddle (just over 1,000 m) and through the quiet Gitschtal with Weissbriach down to Hermagor; twisty but two-lane. Continue down the valley on the B111 to Nötsch, then up into the Bleiberg high valley to Bad Bleiberg (moderate gradient) and via Heiligengeist down to Villach. Along the south shore of Lake Ossiach to Ossiach. About 2.5 hours of driving.
- Highlights & must-sees
- Weissensee: the car-free eastern shore on foot along the lakeside path (around 6.7 km from Neusach/Ronacherfels) or on one of the scheduled boats that shuttle between the landing stages in summer – timetable on site; walking there and taking the boat back is a good combination.
- Swimming in the Weissensee: at around 930 m, one of the highest large bathing lakes in the Alps, clear and pleasantly warm in high summer.
- Terra Mystica show mine in Bad Bleiberg: a trip into the former lead and zinc mine beneath the Dobratsch, by guided tour only at fixed times – book by phone in advance.
- CampingSpirit overnight tip
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Official campsite or RV park: On the south shore of Lake Ossiach near Heiligen Gestade and Ossiach are large lakeside campsites such as Seecamping Berghof and Camping Kölbl, with electricity, sanitary facilities, fresh water and waste disposal and their own lake access. Book in high season and ask about vehicle lengths.
Free camping or nature tip (where legal): At Lake Ossiach the lakeside car parks charge during the day and are not permitted for overnight stays. Bad Bleiberg and the Bleiberg valley border the Dobratsch Nature Park – no wild camping there either.
- Insider tip for campers
- If you want to experience the Weissensee more fully, stay a second night and drop Lake Ossiach instead. The road from Nötsch to Bad Bleiberg is easy to drive in a motorhome; the descent to Villach has a few bends – go easy on the brakes. Stock up in Villach before the lake; prices are higher in the lakeside resorts.
7Stage 7: Lake Ossiach to Villach (via Landskron Castle) (approx. 25 km)
- The drive
- A short final stage past the western end of Lake Ossiach to Landskron Castle on its rocky ridge above the lake and on to Villach. Well-built roads; the access road up the castle hill is narrower and twisty. Around half an hour of driving.
- Highlights & must-sees
- Affenberg Landskron: an open enclosure with Japanese macaques in the woods below the castle, visits only on a guided tour of about 45 minutes, open roughly from late March to early November.
- Landskron castle ruins with a bird-of-prey show and views over Lake Ossiach and the Villach basin.
- The lakeside promenade in Annenheim; from there the Kanzelbahn cable car runs up the Gerlitzen if you want to add one more viewpoint mountain.
- CampingSpirit overnight tip
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Official campsite or RV park: For the last night, Lake Faak or Lake Ossiach again are good options; Villach itself has hardly any campsites.
Free camping or nature tip (where legal): Around Villach and at the lakes, overnight stays outside campsites and motorhome areas are not permitted; the paid car parks at the castle and the Affenberg are for day visits only.
- Insider tip for campers
- With a large motorhome, ask the castle or the Affenberg about parking on the castle hill in advance and, if in doubt, walk the last stretch. The Gerlitzen and the Gerlitzen Alpine Road are described in the guide “Ice fields, hairpins and warm lakes”, as are Ossiach Abbey and the Nockalm Road.
Camping practice & local rules
Wild camping & overnight parking
- In Carinthia, camping in the open countryside outside campsites is prohibited under the Carinthian Nature Conservation Act. This applies equally to tents, caravans and motorhomes; leaving your vehicle in a permitted car park counts as parking, but if you put out chairs, the awning or levelling jacks, you are camping. Numerous lakeside municipalities also ban overnight stays in car parks by ordinance and carry out checks in the season; fines are steep.
- Nature parks (Dobratsch, Weissensee) and the Carnic Alps Geopark are protected areas: no overnight stays, no fires, dogs on a lead. Under the Forestry Act, camping out after dark and pitching a tent in the woods are only allowed with the owner's permission.
- The Villach Alpine Road has an explicit camping ban and a night-time entry ban; the Nassfeld and lakeside car parks are day and bathing car parks.
- You can stay legally at campsites, at motorhome areas such as those on the Gailberg or in Egg near Hermagor, and at farms with permission. Useful apps: park4night, Campercontact, and motorhome-area directories such as stellplatz.info; plus the websites of the Nassfeld-Pressegger See, Lesachtal and Weissensee tourism regions.
Waste disposal & supplies
- Fresh water and waste disposal are available at practically all campsites and at the motorhome areas mentioned; away from these sites the network is thin, especially in the Lesach Valley. Kötschach-Mauthen, Hermagor and Villach are the places to stock up.
- Empty grey water and cassettes only at disposal points, never into drains, streams or meadows – Carinthia's bathing lakes depend on their water quality, and violations are prosecuted.
- Tap water is drinkable almost everywhere in Carinthia; fountains on alpine pastures and hiking trails are not always marked as drinking water.
- Gas: exchange cylinders from other countries are usually not swapped in Austria; refillable cylinders and gas tanks can be filled at LPG stations, which are thin on the ground in Austria – look up locations in an app beforehand and arrive with two full cylinders.
Vehicle size & traffic rules
- A vignette is required on motorways (here the A2, A10 and A11) for vehicles up to 3.5 t: 1-day (digital only), 10-day, 2-month and annual vignettes; the sticker vignette is being phased out, and in future there will only be the digital vignette. If you buy the digital vignette online as a consumer, you must allow for the 18-day withdrawal period; bought at a sales outlet, it is valid immediately. Vehicles over 3.5 t pay the GO toll with a GO-Box.
- Toll roads: the Villach Alpine Road is subject to a toll from about mid-April to mid-November (motorhomes up to 3.5 t at the car rate, a separate rate above that; night-time entry ban). The Nockalm Road and the Gerlitzen Alpine Road also charge tolls; check current rates with the operator.
- Speed limits: motorhomes up to 3.5 t 50 km/h in built-up areas, 100 outside them and 130 km/h on motorways; over 3.5 t, 70 outside built-up areas and 80 km/h on motorways. Vehicles with trailers follow the signs and are limited to 100 km/h on motorways. In the Lesach Valley and on the mountain roads you will rarely be able to drive at the permitted speed.
- Dimensions: height 4.00 m, width 2.55 m. Loads projecting beyond the rear: up to 1 m a red cloth, beyond that a white 25 × 40 cm board with a red reflective border.
- Winter equipment is mandatory from 1 November to 15 April in wintry conditions; on the Nassfeld, the Kreuzberg Saddle and in the Lesach Valley it can snow as early as October. Alcohol: 0.5 per mille; phone at the wheel only with a hands-free kit.
- Bathing lakes: swim at lidos and designated bathing areas; lake shores are often private. On the Weissensee and other Carinthian lakes, private boats with combustion engines are banned or heavily restricted; rowing boats, pedalos, electric boats and SUPs are common – avoid reed beds. Dogs are not allowed at many lidos.
CampingSpirit packing & preparation checklist
- Good hiking or trail shoes with grippy soles – the Garnitzenklamm and the path to the Dobratsch summit are stony and slippery when wet.
- A rain jacket and a weather app with lightning radar: in the Carnic Alps, summer afternoons often bring thunderstorms with hail.
- A full cassette and water canisters as a reserve for the Lesach Valley, where waste disposal points and petrol stations are scarce.
- Water shoes and a neoprene top for early mornings at the Weissensee – the water is clear but chilly in the early season.
- A folding bike or bikes on a rear rack with the appropriate warning board or cloth for the Gailtal cycle path and the lakeshores.
- Cash and a card for toll stations, small motorhome areas and farm shops in the Lesach Valley.
As of 2026-10. Closures, fees and booking rules change: check official sources before you go.
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