{"id":1150,"date":"2026-06-07T21:14:37","date_gmt":"2026-06-07T19:14:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alpentreff.de\/item\/weissensee\/"},"modified":"2026-06-08T11:04:10","modified_gmt":"2026-06-08T09:04:10","slug":"weissensee","status":"publish","type":"citadela-item","link":"https:\/\/alpentreff.de\/en\/item\/weissensee\/","title":{"rendered":"Weissensee"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"font-size:1.15em;line-height:1.6;color:#3a352f;\">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.<\/p>\n<h2>Highlights<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Unspoilt lake with drinking-water quality<\/li>\n<li>Europe's largest natural ice surface in winter<\/li>\n<li>Gentle tourism, hardly any development<\/li>\n<li>Bathing and hiking in summer<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Good to know<\/h2>\n<table class=\"at-vergleich\" style=\"width:100%;border-collapse:collapse;font-size:14px;\">\n<tr style=\"background:#ffffff;\">\n<td style=\"padding:8px;border:1px solid #e3e0d8;width:34%;font-weight:600;\">Special feature<\/td>\n<td style=\"padding:8px;border:1px solid #e3e0d8;\">Drinking-water quality<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr style=\"background:#fafaf8;\">\n<td style=\"padding:8px;border:1px solid #e3e0d8;width:34%;font-weight:600;\">Winter<\/td>\n<td style=\"padding:8px;border:1px solid #e3e0d8;\">Europe's largest natural ice surface<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr style=\"background:#ffffff;\">\n<td style=\"padding:8px;border:1px solid #e3e0d8;width:34%;font-weight:600;\">Protection<\/td>\n<td style=\"padding:8px;border:1px solid #e3e0d8;\">unspoilt<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr style=\"background:#fafaf8;\">\n<td style=\"padding:8px;border:1px solid #e3e0d8;width:34%;font-weight:600;\">Region<\/td>\n<td style=\"padding:8px;border:1px solid #e3e0d8;\">Gailtal Alps<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<h2>Practical info<\/h2>\n<div style=\"background:#f3f1ec;border:1px solid #e3e0d8;border-radius:10px;padding:18px 20px;\">\n<p style=\"margin:6px 0;line-height:1.55;\"><strong style=\"color:#f25353;\">Getting there:<\/strong> By car via the Gail or Drau valley; train to Greifenburg-Wei\u00dfensee.<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin:6px 0;line-height:1.55;\"><strong style=\"color:#f25353;\">Best time:<\/strong> Bathing June to September; skating in mid-winter.<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin:6px 0;line-height:1.55;\"><strong style=\"color:#f25353;\">Cost:<\/strong> Lidos and ice surfaces partly payable (please verify).<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin:6px 0;line-height:1.55;\"><strong style=\"color:#f25353;\">Safety:<\/strong> Skating only on released surfaces.<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin:12px 0 4px;\"><strong style=\"color:#f25353;\">Tips:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul style=\"margin-top:0;\">\n<li>In winter the lake is a skating paradise when the ice is safe<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<h2>Background &amp; History<\/h2>\n<p>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.<\/p>\n<p>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.<\/p>\n<div style=\"background:#221c1a;color:#fff;border-radius:10px;padding:18px 22px;margin-top:28px;\"><strong style=\"font-size:1.08em;\">Related<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"margin:6px 0 12px;color:#d8d2cc;font-size:14px;\">To make your trip run smoothly , our guides and gear tips for this destination:<\/p>\n<div style=\"display:flex;flex-wrap:wrap;gap:10px;\"><a href=\"\/en\/mit-hund-in-den-alpen\/\" style=\"display:inline-block;background:#f25353;color:#fff;padding:9px 16px;border-radius:6px;text-decoration:none;font-weight:600;font-size:14px;\">With your dog in the Alps \u2192<\/a><a href=\"\/en\/hunde-ausruestung\/\" style=\"display:inline-block;background:#f25353;color:#fff;padding:9px 16px;border-radius:6px;text-decoration:none;font-weight:600;font-size:14px;\">Dog gear \u2192<\/a><a href=\"\/en\/schichtenprinzip-bekleidung\/\" style=\"display:inline-block;background:#f25353;color:#fff;padding:9px 16px;border-radius:6px;text-decoration:none;font-weight:600;font-size:14px;\">Layering guide for clothing \u2192<\/a><a href=\"\/en\/packliste-tages-bergwanderung\/\" style=\"display:inline-block;background:#f25353;color:#fff;padding:9px 16px;border-radius:6px;text-decoration:none;font-weight:600;font-size:14px;\">Day-tour packing list \u2192<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Der Weissensee in den Gailtaler Alpen ist der h\u00f6chstgelegene unter K\u00e4rntens gro\u00dfen Badeseen und f\u00fcr seine naturbelassene, von strengem Schutz gepr\u00e4gte Umgebung bekannt. Im Sommer hat das Wasser Trinkwasserqualit\u00e4t, im Winter friert er gro\u00dffl\u00e4chig zu und bildet die gr\u00f6\u00dfte pr\u00e4parierte Natureisfl\u00e4che Europas zum Eislaufen. Highlights Naturbelassener See mit Trinkwasserqualit\u00e4t Gr\u00f6\u00dfte Natureisfl\u00e4che Europas im Winter Sanfter [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":1187,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","citadela-item-category":[39,75,36,33],"citadela-item-location":[62],"class_list":["post-1150","citadela-item","type-citadela-item","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","citadela-item-category-ausflugsziele-sehenswuerdigkeiten","citadela-item-category-hundefreundlich","citadela-item-category-seen-baden","citadela-item-category-ski-winter","citadela-item-location-kaernten"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alpentreff.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/citadela-item\/1150","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alpentreff.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/citadela-item"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alpentreff.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/citadela-item"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alpentreff.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1150"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/alpentreff.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/citadela-item\/1150\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1598,"href":"https:\/\/alpentreff.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/citadela-item\/1150\/revisions\/1598"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alpentreff.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1187"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alpentreff.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1150"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"citadela-item-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alpentreff.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/citadela-item-category?post=1150"},{"taxonomy":"citadela-item-location","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alpentreff.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/citadela-item-location?post=1150"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}