Weissensee

The Weissensee in the Gailtal Alps is the highest of Carinthia's large bathing lakes and known for its natural, strictly protected surroundings. In summer the water has drinking-water quality, in winter it freezes over widely and forms the largest groomed natural ice surface in Europe for skating.

Highlights

• Unspoilt lake with drinking-water quality
• Europe's largest natural ice surface in winter
• Gentle tourism, hardly any development
• Bathing and hiking in summer

Good to know

Practical info

Background & History

At around 930 metres altitude, embedded in the wooded Gailtal Alps of Carinthia, lies the Weissensee, the highest of the large bathing lakes in the region. Its exceptional water quality is legendary, the water has almost drinking-water purity and shimmers in deep turquoise. Like the other Carinthian lakes, the Weissensee too came into being at the end of the Ice Age, when the melting glaciers left behind a long, narrow basin that filled with clear mountain water.

Unlike the fashionable shores of some neighbouring lakes, the Weissensee has remained largely in its natural state, a large part of its shores is protected and unbuilt. The region owes this restraint to a deliberate decision by the local residents to place nature above development. In winter the lake turns into something special: in severe frost it freezes into the largest prepared natural ice surface in Europe, on which skaters and tour skaters cover great distances. On this vast natural ice surface a legendary long-distance ice race has also been held for years, drawing athletes from all over Europe and recalling the Dutch tradition of the Elfstedentocht. Thus the Weissensee unites summer bathing pleasures in crystal-clear water with the winter magic of a huge, mirroring ice rink, framed by the quiet mountain backdrop of Carinthia.