This is how a family holiday in Carinthia feels. In sunny southern Austria, amidst unadulterated natural scenery with drinking-water-pure bathing lakes and a mountain backdrop that reaches from the gentle Nockberge Mountains to the picturesque three-thousanders. Family-friendly hosts offer holiday accommodation specialised for the needs of guests both big and small. From small boarding houses or a holiday on the farm to the certified family hotel. 

You will experience a ‘lust for life’ with all your senses during a family holiday in Carinthia. The focus is on communal experience and enjoyment. The combination of mountains, countless warm bathing lakes and above the average number of sunshine hours creates an abundance of possibilities for young and old to get their money’s worth, regardless of whether it is a holiday on the lake, hiking, cycling, golfing or wellness. You will hear the motto ‘live with vigour, enjoy with ease’ everywhere. It’s a soothing change from everyday life that is characterised for the most part by growing dynamism, digitalisation and insecurity.

On holiday, only your own rules apply and this is what brings you happiness. You can try new things here with ease: conquer the lake in a rowing boat, paddle through untouched rivers in a canoe, see how cows are milked or how butter is made on a farm, find your balance with stand-up paddle-boarding, jump down from a tree or step into a clear-as-glass stream with the fish. 

Speaking of fish: have you ever gone fishing yourself? There are plenty of opportunities for this in Carinthia, for example, alpine fishing in the Möll River. Encounters with animals can be very diverse in Austria’s southernmost state. You will find monkeys, eagles, chamoix, ibex, marmots and butterflies.

How are butter and cheese made? Why is the crumb of bread sometimes crisp and sometimes completely soft? How long does it take to get luscious juice from apples? Which herbs can be used to make a tasty spread? Where does honey come from? Questions upon questions! 

They will all be answered on holiday in Carinthia. For example, in the village of Irschen (famous for its herbs), at the Hermagor Honey Festival, when baking bread in the Lesachtal Valley, during apple harvesting in the Lavanttal Valley or at the show dairy at the Tressdorfer Alm near Hermagor. Searching for the ‘taste of childhood’ with all of your senses.

Countless sights across the state represent another way to enhance the family holiday in Carinthia; more than 100 of these can be visited at no cost with the Carinthia Card. Boat trips, gondola lifts, museums, water parks, panoramic roads, zoos and wildlife adventures are all included. 

Last but not least: those who would like to crown their Carinthia holiday with a test of courage can go abseiling from the highest wooden lookout tower in the world on the Pyramidenkogel. Everyone else can take the covered slide or the lift after a dreamy look over all of Carinthia from 75 metres up.

www.kaerntencard.at