Carinthia

Heiligenblut

A10 Metnitz Bad. St. Leonhard i. L. Friesach Hüttenberg Flattnitz Gmünd Deutsch- Gurk Griffen Klein St. Paul Wolfsberg Reichenau A2 Bad Spittal a. d. D. Kleinkirchheim Steinfeld St. Veit a. d. G. St. Andrä Oberdrauburg

Feldkirchen i. K. Griffen St. Paul i. L. Kötschach- Feistritz Maria Luggau Mauthen Völkermarkt Kirchbach Pörtschach a. W. Hermagor Tainach Velden a. W. Klagenfurt a. W. Villach

St. Jakob i. R. A2

Ferlach Bad A11 Eisenkappel

Key Realms of delight

West Carinthia West Carinthia Central Carinthia East Carinthia

GENUSS REGION Mölltal – ÖSTERREICH Glockner Lamm

National Park Route: “Walking through gourmet country” www.heiligenblut.at Central Carinthia Bacon Route: “Where nature decks the table”

GENUSS Nockberge GENUSS Rosentaler GENUSS Kärntna GENUSS Gurktaler GENUSS Metnitztaler REGION REGION Carnica REGION REGION Luftgeselchter REGION ÖSTERREICH Almrind ÖSTERREICH ÖSTERREICH ÖSTERREICH ÖSTERREICH Wild Historical Route “A tale of castle damsels and the fair youth” Honig Låxn Speck

www.nockfleisch.at www.carnica-rosental.at www.laxn.at www.luftgeselchter.at www.metnitztalerwild.at Lakes Route “Still waters run deep” East Carinthia Cider Route “Cider with rosy apples” lebensministerium.at

GENUSS GENUSS GENUSS GENUSS Jauntaler Görtschitztaler  ,%**#( Mittelkärntner REGION Jauntaler REGION REGION  REGION ÖSTERREICH Milch   ÖSTERREICH Blondvieh Buckwheat Route “When South Carinthia wears pink” ÖSTERREICH Hadn ÖSTERREICH Salami '#$&)*

www.hadn.info www.salamigenuss.at www.sonnenalm-milch.at www.mostbarkeiten.at www.kaerntnerblondvieh.at Mein Liebling ist blond. Farm Holidays is moving beyond its involved in the success of the project have been the cultural horizons. Since 1997, the Kärntner Wirtschaftsförderungs Fond (Carinthian regional association has been working economic promotion fund), the Wirtschaftskammer across borders and initiating projects Kärnten (Carinthian economic chamber), Kärntner with an international perspective. Wirtshauskultur (Carinthian pub culture), Kärnten Utilising the unique geopolitical echt gut (“Carinthia really good”), Kuratorium position of the southernmost region of Kulinarisches Erbe Österreich (Curatorship of , cross-border cooperation with Austria’s culinary legacy), Kärntner Agrarmarketing Friuli-Venezia Giulia has now been (Carinthian agrarian marketing), Pferdeland Kärnten intensifi ed and extended to include the (Carinthia, land of horses), Bio Austria Kärnten region of Veneto. The “RURALNET” (Carinthian organic farming), Landesverband project was one more milestone in the bäuerlicher Direktvermarkter Kärnten (Carinthian consolidation of the Alpine-Adriatic association of direct farm marketers), the KAGIS philosophy – this time, in partnership (Carinthian geographic information system) and the with the provinces of Udine and Treviso: Institute of Geography and Regional Studies of the beyond language barriers and bureaucratic borders. Alpine-Adriatic University of Klagenfurt. It remains We are proud of this achievement. The Carinthian only for us to hope that our guests will not only travel guide leads the reader into the realm of delights acquire the taste for Carinthia and get to know its – with supplementary details of worthwhile beauties, but also look beyond their own cultural Carinthian excursion destinations, tips on regional horizons, visit our neighbours and experience what guesthouses, and top gourmet addresses – ranging they have to offer. For, despite all our differences, we from producers to restaurants, food festivals, details all have much in common: the refi nement of honest of accommodation at the loveliest farms and Alpine farmhouse fare, the high quality of the holiday farms huts, as well as suggestions for gourmet routes and and a heart-felt hospitality which goes beyond typical regional recipes. Our travel guide offers a borders. unique 360-degree overview of Carinthia. The fact that it has been possible to prepare this project so perfectly is due to the kind help of our project partners Hubert Reiner, Chairman from the provinces of Treviso, Udine and the region of & The Team of Farm Holidays Veneto. We would also like to thank the Carinthian in Carinthia partners in tourism, catering and agriculture and all the farm holiday hosts, without whose dedication this project would not have been possible. Also

10 11 Farm Holidays KÄRNTEN KÄRNTEN A real holiday with a heart KÄRNTEN Farm Holidays Farm Holidays Farm

Where goodness is at home, body and soul Down-to-earth simplicity and comfort are not enjoy a sense of well-being. On a Carinthian mutually exclusive. So that everything’s just farm, you’re at the source, the origin, of many right, your farm hosts have invested a great different foods. This is where the wheat for deal in quality. Two, three or four fl owers are bread, herbs for soup and apples for cider are used to show the quality of accommodation grown. The cow supplies milk for your coffee at a glance. Farm holidays in Carinthia aren’t and butter for your bread. Eggs are gathered boringly similar, but fi lled with colour and from under the hens‘ feathers every morning, variety - in each season, catering for a variety cherries are picked from the tree, mushrooms of interests. Whether on a baby farm, at riding in the forest. stables or on an organic farm – guests are specially catered for everywhere. On a farm, The farmwives still know the old recipes for you’re at home – this isn’t just an ordinary simple Carinthian dishes, and invite you to holiday, but a real holiday with a heart. share the meal: anyone who’s ever experienced the scent of a roast fresh from the oven, the herb-rich taste of Carinthian noodles and the seductive sweetness of a Carinthian Reindling (a yeast-dough cake fi lled with raisins), will always yearn nostalgically for the taste of an Landesverband authentic farm holiday. Urlaub am Bauernhof Human beings love the familiar: encounters Kärnten with nature and honest people. This is why Viktringer Ring 5 farm holidays are more popular than ever. On 9020 Klagenfurt +43 (0) 463/33 00 99 the 400 Carinthian farms, you fi nd just that offi [email protected] authenticity which is increasingly disappearing www.urlaubambauernhof.com 12 from our everyday life. 13 A holiday in an Alpine hut KÄRNTEN KÄRNTEN The highest form of pleasure KÄRNTEN A holiday in an Alpine hut Alpine an in A holiday hut Alpine an in A holiday

The best things in life are often the simplest served in front of the Alpine hut is always – crisp, cold mountain water, for example, well-deserved. Is there anything more which washes the sleep out of your eyes, wood delicious than spooning thick sour milk from crackling so cosily in the stove, cows ringing an earthenware bowl, biting into lukewarm in the morning with their bells, and the air - so Landesverband farm doughnuts, chewing a crisp bread-crust Urlaub am Bauernhof or letting farm bacon melt on your tongue? fresh and pristine, you’d like to take it home Kärnten with you. Up on the Alpine pasture, clocks run When the dairymaid serves the fresh-churned Viktringer Ring 5 butter with the Alpine cheese and lets you taste differently: time has its own dimension. Indeed 9020 Klagenfurt here, between heaven and earth, it‘s almost some of the golden-brown “Kaiserschmarrn” +43 (0) 463/33 00 99 (a sugared raisin pancake) with blueberries, wastefully abundant. You need to take time for offi [email protected] it’s the highest form of pleasure - impossible a holiday in an Alpine hut. The 200 Carinthian www.urlaubaufderalm.com to beat. Alpine huts, all thoroughly tried and tested, are as diverse as the farmers who own them - whether perched in solitude on the Alpine pasture or within earshot of the neighbour. Comfortably-equipped with satellite TV, dishwasher and sauna, or extremely simple, with a well or a Herzerl-Klo (an outdoor toilet with hearts carved in the door), mattresses laid side-by-side or a snuggly four-poster bed. The wide variety of Carinthian Alpine huts knows no limits. On the Alpine pasture, diets and calorie- counting simply don’t exist. You can easily burn up those calories hunting for mushrooms, 14 or hiking over hill and dale. The hearty snack 15 In the realm of delights KÄRNTEN KÄRNTEN KÄRNTEN Carinthia – Realms of Delights of – Realms Carinthia Delights of – Realms Carinthia

Carinthia is a realm of delights. At the latest, one a guaranteed origin in Carinthia. This guarantee realizes it while wandering through Carinthia’s is based on strict criteria and is assured through twelve delightful regions and sampling their 13 regular inspections. There is no compromise as delicious regional products. The clean lakes and regards quality, which is guaranteed by means rivers, the pleasant, well-cared-for landscape, of identifi cation labels, ranging from the AMA an unspoilt environment and hard-working seal of quality and the Bio-Austria organic farmers and manufacturers produce valuable trademark, “Gutes vom Bauernhof” (“Goodness foodstuffs. Each region has a leading product: from the farm”), to EU protected designations. the tender lamb from the region around Mount An overview of Carinthia’s realms of delight: Grossglockner, the tangy Lavanttal Valley apple Lavanttal Valley apple wine, Gailtal Valley wine from the paradise of Carinthia, the spicy bacon (EU protected geographical indication) Jauntal Valley salami (to which each landlord and Gailtal Valley Alpine cheese (EU protected adds his own original recipe), Gailtal Valley designation of origin), Gurktal Valley air-cured bacon, which melts on the tongue, and the bacon, Mölltal Valley Glockner lamb, Görtschitztal seductive sweetness of Carnica Honey from the Valley milk, Jauntal Valley buckwheat and salami, Rosental Valley are just a few examples of such Rosental Valley Carnica Honey, Metnitztal Valley incomparable regional delights. You can buy venison, Nockberge Mountain Alpine pasture them straight from the farm or the shop, sample beef, Carinthian Laxn (lake trout) and Central them in restaurants and rural wine taverns, Carinthian Beef of Blondvieh (a cattle breed). and enjoy them on a farm holiday. The Verein Kärntner Agrarmarketing (Carinthian agrarian Verein marketing association) has brought together the Kärntner Agrarmarketing high-quality products which make the region so Messeplatz 1 unique, a place to experience with all the senses, 9020 Klagenfurt under the umbrella label “Carinthia, Realm of +43 (0)50/77 88 Delights”. The umbrella brand stands for high- [email protected] www.genusslandkaernten.at 16 quality foodstuffs and product experiences with 17 Carinthia, where the south holds sway KÄRNTEN KÄRNTEN KÄRNTEN Carinthia image Carinthia image Carinthia

Blame the south for the fact that the climate in festivals, celebrations, village fêtes, choral Carinthia is milder than it is to the north of the societies and in the colourful traditional main Tauern ridge, that the cold north winds are costumes. Strangers quickly become friends. kept away and the sun lingers longer here than The accommodation here is equally hospitable elsewhere. Carinthia enjoys more sunny days – from a high-class fi ve-star hotel to a cosy than other parts of Austria. Even the weather holiday on one of the 300 quality-inspected trough from the Mediterranean is welcome. farms. The inns, rustic wine taverns, which The southern climate ensures plenty of snow pamper guests with Carinthian fare are equally in winter and the needful rain which keeps the inviting. meadows, Alpine pastures and fi elds fresh and green in summer. Nestling between the Alps and the Adriatic, Blame the spicy winds from the Adriatic, which the southern infl uences here are impossible to miss. The local dialect has a melodious carry with them a breath of the nearby sea, the singsong. Over 300 choirs do full justice to the scent of thyme and absinthium from the karst inexhaustible treasury of folk songs. Carinthian over the Karawanken Mountains, thus allowing cooking, too, borrows extensively from its the Gailtal Valley cheese, bacon, ham and neighbours. The nut and poppyseed Potitzen salami to mature so admirably well. The warm Rolls, the fi lled strudel und cereal dishes, salami, Breezes heat the lakes up to 27 degrees, making cider, fruit schnapps and homemade sausages the spring snows melt faster and ensuring all taste just as good here as in . warm sun until well in October. Carinthian Reindling, a yeast-dough cake fi lled with raisins, is closely related to the Friulian Blame the Mediterranean infl uence for the Gibanica. Cjalsons and ravioli are similar to fact that people here are more full of zest for Carinthian noodles, and here - as there - you’ll living, more open and more approachable than fi nd fruity white wines. One region with three elsewhere. This is apparent in their “live and countries and three languages - three cultures, 18 let live” attitude to life, as well as the many yet forming one indivisible unit. 19 Carinthia is full of variety KÄRNTEN KÄRNTEN KÄRNTEN Carinthia image Carinthia image Carinthia

Carinthia has something of everything, and walking - an El Dorado for climbers, mountain has it in abundance – such as a sea of lakes. bikers, Nordic walkers and lovers of Alpine There are over 200, as well as rushing rivers, pastures, and they are absolutely ideal for shimmering ponds, plunging waterfalls, skiing. Over 30 skiing regions are accessible bubbling streams and hot thermal springs. And via numerous cable railways and lifts. Snug pure, clean, carefully-protected drinking water mountain huts, toboggan runs, cross-country is found everywhere - even in the lakes. skiing trails and winter hiking trails make the Carinthian winter both romantic and homely. The mountains offer enormous variety as well. This is where Olympic champions like Franz Mount Grossglockner watches over the realm Klammer and Fritz Strobl learned to ski. Sport- of the hundreds of peaks over 3,000 metres. At lovers are welcome everywhere – and, just for 3,798 metres, it’s Austria‘s highest mountain. them, Carinthia has prepared nine golf courses, The Karawanken Mountains, Carnic Alps and countless tennis courts, a dense network of Gurktal Valley Alps are lined up in a chain, and cycle tracks and bridle paths, hiking trails, and between them stand the Nockberge Mountains, rafting and paragliding areas. Just to try it out. looking more like a pastry than rugged rocks. And those not taking part themselves can There, marmots, ibexes, chamois, yellow- simply enjoy watching events like the Ironman billed choughs, and sometimes even a golden Triathlon in July, the Harley Davidson rally, eagle, the now-rare stone pine, larches and beach volleyball or football in the futuristic the fragrant Celtic valerian herb all peacefully stadium in Klagenfurt, specially built for the co-exist with human beings. Wide reaches of Holiday Information Kärnten European Football Championship in 2008. this extraordinary mountain landscape have Casinoplatz 1 been declared protected areas: the National 9220 Velden Park Hohe Tauern in Upper Carinthia and the +43 (0)463/30 00 [email protected] National Park Nockberge in Central Carinthia. www.kaernten.at 20 Carinthia’s mountains are wonderful for 21 Carinthia has culture Carinthia has personality KÄRNTEN KÄRNTEN KÄRNTEN Carinthia image Carinthia image Carinthia

Carinthia’s traditional events and town It isn’t hard to understand why a region festivals are already legendary. The most blessed with such a landscape should well-known is the Villacher Kirchtag, the produce so many creative personalities. town festival of Villach, at the beginning of An exceptional number of world-famous August, where many thousands of visitors artists have come from this southernmost dance, celebrate, feast on Kirchtag soup region of Austria. They have spread out all with Reindling (a yeast-dough cake fi lled over the world, though many are drawn with raisins), and drink Kirchtag beer by the back to their old homeland. To name litre. Good-looking girls in their gorgeously- but a few contemporary artists whose coloured traditional Gailtal Valley dresses with fame reaches far beyond the borders of stiffl y-starched petticoats summon one Austria: Herbert Böckl, Maria Lassnig, Hans and all to dance, swirling over the main Stzaudacher, Kiki Kogelnik, Werner Berg, square of Villach to the rhythm of Cornelius Kolig, Bruno Gironcoli, Franz polkas and waltzes. A contrast is Wiegele, Werner Lössl, Peter Krawagna and offered by the many events like Günther Domenig. the Star Night in Pörtschach, or “Wenn die Musi spielt” (“When the Among the most famous writers are music plays”) in St. Oswald, as well as cultural highlights at the ruins Ingeborg Bachmann, Peter Turrini, Peter of Finkenstein Castle, and the Handke, Christine Lavant and Gert Jonke. Carinthischer Sommer in Ossiach. And the list of artists goes on and on: Enjoy serious theatre at the City Theatre Gustav Mahler, Johannes Brahms and of Klagenfurt, and humour at the Burg- Alban Berg weren’t Carinthians, but they hofspiele comedy festival at Friesach Castle, found inspiration for their most beautiful the Sommerspiele comedy festival at Eberndorf symphonies at Lake Wörthersee. Another Abbey and the Sommerspiele comedy festival artist who also achieved world fame in at Porcia Palace. The light-hearted muse plays a lighter genre is the Carinthian bard and on the Wörtherseebühne lake stage or at the composer, Udo Jürgens. ruins of Finkenstein Castle. Carinthia is 22 many things, but it’s certainly not boring. 23