Carinthia

Austria's southernmost province — a bowl of glacial lakes ringed by the Carnic Alps, Karawanken, and Nockberge ranges. Wörthersee, 17 kilometres long and warming to 28°C in summer, has been Austria's prestige lakeside resort since the Habsburg era — Velden am Wörthersee remains the address of choice for Vienna's old money. Bad Kleinkirchheim and the Nockberge offer ski resort alternatives to the more crowded Tyrolean circuits. Carinthia's strategic position — 140 kilometres from Trieste, 150 from Ljubljana, 200 from Venice — makes it a natural base for buyers active across both the Alps and the Adriatic.