Discovery tours in Carinthia: Gravel Carinthia
Over gravel tracks, forest paths and forgotten trails through Carinthia away from the postcard idyll - to lost places and soul places. Your gravel bike is the perfect partner: fast enough to cover the distance and flexible enough to turn off exactly where it gets exciting.
Every gravel bike tour tells its own true story:
- of legends, myths and goosebumps
- of mining, gold rushes and hard labour
- Of heroes, scoundrels and true crime
- of wars, borders and peace
- of churches and ancient places of worship
- of art, pleasure and traditions
- of geological history and contemporary history
The GPX tracks from Gravel Carinthia sometimes lead you over gentle gravel loops along lakes and rivers, sometimes over challenging climbs to alpine pastures, summits or remote high plateaus. Some tours are easy and inviting, others require stamina and concentration; what they all have in common is a thirst for adventure and moments that you want to capture: once functional, today a photo motif and monument. The locations you visit are not a backdrop, but part of history and culture. They tell stories of upheaval and decline, of wrong turns and new beginnings. This is exactly what makes them so fascinating.
Gravel Carinthia is the right place for you if you ...
- prefer to collect experiences instead of best times
- Enjoy gravel, dust and variety
- are interested in history, culture and nature
- seek the offside without being extreme
- like to say: "That was more than just one round."
Whether an after-work loop, weekend adventure or sporting challenge - these tours for explorers show just how versatile gravel biking can be. The dust goes, the impressions stay.
Regions & Tours
Villach - Faaker See - Ossiacher See
The region is considered one of the best gravel bike areas in the south of Austria. Around Villach, gravel paths meet breathtaking views, turquoise-coloured lakes and sunny valleys. Varied routes lead from the Drau via Lake Ossiach and Lake Faak to the Karawanken and combine sporting challenges with a Mediterranean lifestyle.
Tour 1 - St. Atlantis | 68 km | 1,160 metres in altitude
The tour leads via Treffen and the southern shore of Lake Ossiach before returning via the Ossiacher Tauern. Past St Atlantis, the sunken church on Lake Ossiach, the remains of a Roman burial route and Ossiach Abbey. Via the Landskron castle ruins and lost places from almost 3,000 years back to Villach.
Tour 2 - 3 Lakes | 104.3 km | 2,160 m elevation gain
Three Carinthian lakes on one XL tour: from Villach via Landskron Castle to Lake Ossiach, via the Ossiacher Tauern to Velden am Wörthersee and via the ruins of Finkenstein Castle to Lake Faak. Fine lime particles give the water its characteristic green-turquoise colour.
Tour 3 - Silent Witness | 81.3 km | 970 metres in altitude
Experience contemporary history: This tour around Lake Faak and along the River Drau discovers relics from the Second World War - abandoned bunkers and a memorial to those who died in the resistance. The earth bunker between Ledenitzen and St. Jakob served as a hiding place for partisans in 1944/45. Last few metres on foot only.
Tour 4 - Tiebel Waterlines |34.7 km | 335 metres in altitude
This easy tour leads from Lake Ossiach past the Bleistätter Moor, through Feldkirchen and the Poitschacher Graben back via Lake Flatschach. The common thread: the water power of the river Tiebel. Plus former Roman roads, churches struck by lightning and smugglers' trails.
Central Carinthia
Mystical valleys full of history(ies) and gentle hilly landscapes, in those the viewpoints are strung together like pearls on a Chain: History accompanies us of the legendary robber Krapfenbäck Simale over the ridge of the Wimitz mountains - surrounded by vineyards, Forests and great producers, their products with esprit and Can offer.
Tour 5 - True Crime, Director's Cut | 77.4 km | 942 m elevation gain
On the trail of Simon Kramer, known as "Krapfenbäck Simale", the Carinthian Robin Hood from St. Veit/Glan. Hunted as a robber by the French authorities, he was shot dead in an inn - the tour takes you right past the scene of the crime. Jack Unterweger, later a murderer and "harbour poet", grew up in the "Valley of Outlaws".
Tour 6 - Good luck! 50.8 km | 1,347 metres in altitude
From Althofen past the field of stone lentils (fossilised giant single-celled organisms) to Europe's oldest blast furnace in Urtl and to old tunnels in the Ratteingraben. Silver makes the castle town of Friesach powerful.
Tour 7 - True Crime at Steinbichl | 73.3 km | 825 metres in altitude
A slightly less demanding version of Tour 5 with fewer kilometres and metres in altitude.
Southern Carinthia
Gravel biking in South Carinthia stands for freedom, nature and limitless possibilities. Hardly any other region combines cross-border tours to Slovenia so harmoniously with genuine relaxation and tough challenges. Quiet gravel paths, gentle hills and alpine climbs meet the warmest bathing lakes in Europe, such as Lake Klopein.
Tour 8 - Geopark Ride | 99.8 km | 2,584 metres in altitude
Demanding tour from Bleiburg/Pliberk via Slovenia, Bad Eisenkappel/Železna Kapla and Globasnitz/Globasnica. 300-500 million years ago, the route lay at the bottom of a primeval sea. Limestone and dolomite rocks, coral reefs and fossils in the mountains bear witness to this. Route across the Karawanken Geopark.
Tour 9 - Unlimited enjoyment of art | 67.1 km | 1,083 metres in altitude
From Bleiburg via Carinthia's first "Slow Food Village" Neuhaus to Slovenia. Via the Grablach/Holmec border crossing and past Lake Pirkdorf.
Tour 10 - Everything flows | 54.7 km | 538 metres in altitude
Starting from Lake Klopein, the tour combines the four elements of earth, water, air and fire. Via the Gösselsdorfer See lake, the Sablatnig Moor nature reserve, Turnersee lake and along the Drau. The Hemmaberg near Globasnitz/Globasnica marks an important archaeological site of early Christianity with church ruins and a pilgrimage shrine. The spring gushing from the Rosalia Grotto is said to have healing powers.
Nassfeld-Pressegger See - Lesachtal - Weissensee
A gravel bike playground between alpine expanses and living history: the Carnic Alps are characterised by panoramic high-altitude trails, historic military roads and gravel tracks - challenging in terms of fitness, technically predominantly of medium difficulty. Traditional cheese dairies invite you to enjoy a break, while historical traces of the First World War lend thematic depth to many trails.
Tour 11 - What a cheese | 47.6 km | 1,429 metres in altitude
Via the Rattendorfer Alm to the Malga Cason di Lanza cheese dairy in Italy and back, past the Scotti Chapel to the Attila Cave - the king of the Huns is said to have hidden riches here. So far, a lot of fossils have been found here.
Tour 12 - A Herculean task | 59.1 km | 1,536 metres in altitude
Tour around Kötschach-Mauthen, the "most delicious corner of Carinthia" and centre of the world's first Slow Food Travel region. Start: Loncium private brewery. Return via the Gurina high plateau and the centre of the Carnic Alps Geopark in Dellach.
Tour 13 - "Reit" my Gravelbike | 79.7 km | 1,285 m elevation gain
From Hermagor through the Gailtal valley via Windische Höhe, Farchtensee and Weissensee-Südufer back.
Tour 14 - Happiness and glass | 64.8 km | 2,134 metres in altitude
Around Lake Weissensee from Techendorf. Past the old wooden bridge to the mountain pasture behind Brunn and Techendorfer Alm. In the "disappeared" village of Tscherniheim, traces of the first and last glass production site on Carinthian soil.
Tour 15 - War and peace | 16.1 km | 1,205 metres in altitude
Sporty and challenging tour from Birnbaum to Wolayersee. The main ridge became a high alpine front in 1915 and the landscape is characterised by the scars of the war.
Klagenfurt
Carinthia's provincial capital presents itself as an Eldorado for gravel bike enthusiasts. The extensive network of routes combines nature, sport and culture - on gravel from the city limits. A particular highlight is the Zollfeld route to memorable sites such as the Herzogstuhl and the imposing Maria Saal Cathedral. The nearby Wörthersee with its turquoise-blue water offers many opportunities for well-deserved breaks.
Tour 16 - Gravel as far as the eye can see | 85.9 km | 402 m elevation gain
Tour from Klagenfurt around the Sattnitz mountain range. It consists of conglomerate rock - solidified gravel dating back millions of years. After kilometres through the eastern Klagenfurt basin, the finale leads across the Sattnitz range.
Tour 17 - Zollfeld Express Gravel | Edition 49.6 km | 345 m elevation gain
Tour through the Zollfeld with more than 2,000 years of history. Karnburg marks the centre of the Alpine Slavic principality of Carantania. Slavic princes and Carinthian dukes were introduced on the Fürstenstein. Photo detour to Hochosterwitz Castle.
Tour 18 - Bridges over Troubled Water | 86.5 km | 452 m elevation gain
From Klagenfurt via Wörthersee and Drau into the Jaun Valley. Two railway bridges are "underpassed" - one is a lost place. Almost 2000-year-old small monuments and relics in the eastern Klagenfurt basin. Back via Maria Saal.
Millstätter See - Bad Kleinkirchheim - Nockberge mountains
Here, gravel adventure meets southern ease: the extensive natural trails of the Nockberge offer the freedom to oscillate between alpine summit experiences and riverside promenades. This flowing alternation between sporty rhythm on the mountain and first-class regeneration in the thermal resorts of Bad Kleinkirchheim is what makes this region so special.
Tour 19 - Ghostbusters | 72.3 km | 732 m elevation gain
Medium-difficulty tour from Radenthein via Spittal/Drau back. Weird lost places, a castle with a haunted history and the skeleton of a staked woman - a true story from times before "Buffy" and "Vampire Diaries".
Tour 20 - Legendary Lake Egelsee | 45.1 km | 722 metres in altitude
Medium-difficulty tour from Feld am See via the southern shore of Lake Millstatt to Lake Egelsee and back. More than 1,000 pagan statues are said to lie at the bottom of Lake Millstätter See, and a treasure of gold is hidden at Lake Egelsee. And then there is the story of the three crosses in Insberg ...
Tour 21 - Mining and summit victory | 46.9 km | 1,471 metres in altitude
From Feld am See via Radenthein (garnet minerals) to the Millstätter Alpe. Past the active magnesite mine to the summit cross of the Millstätter Törl (1,905 metres). Three huts for refreshments, then downhill towards Lake Millstatt.
Tour 22 - Gold Rush | 98.3 km | 1,334 metres in altitude
From Spittal/Drau via the Weißensee lake around the Goldeck mountain. The name Sachsenburg refers to the "Saxe", a wooden vessel for panning for gold. Gold was mined in the Goldeck group, and mysterious signs on the Hundskirche rock also point to this.
Lake Wörthersee
The Wörthersee - Rosental region delights with an extraordinary variety of gravel paths and unspoilt alpine pastures between the lake and the Karawanken. Routes lead through the sunny Rosental valley, along rivers and up to panoramic viewpoints. The mixture of fast lake laps and alpine gravel climbs makes the region exciting - ideal for combining with swimming breaks and culinary delights by the lake.
Tour 23 - Speedway | 85.7 km | 769 m elevation gain
From Lake Wörthersee through the Rosental and Keutschacher Seental valleys. Past burial mounds from the Hallstatt period, the ruined "Chapel of Forgotten Souls" and a disused railway bridge. Via the Drau cycle path to Maria Rain. In the Keutschacher Seental valley, a lost place from the times of "exchange offices" and "tourism".
Tour 24 - City, country, river | 104.5 km | 1,177 metres in altitude
From Lake Wörthersee through Rosental via Radsberg past Klagenfurt. Defused aerial bomb along the way, lost plague cemetery near Ferlach. Over the Radsberg towards Klagenfurt, on the way two white mulberry trees - the remains of a failed silkworm farm. Other relics along the way: the disused Klagenfurt tramway, the closed "Hotel Wörthersee" and the Krumpendorf scrap tower, where shot pellets are no longer cast.
