Carinthia

Carinthia – What you should know

Carinthia lies on the southern side of the main Alpine ridge, and that is what sets it apart from Tyrol: 27°C in July rather than 24°C, with summers noticeably warmer than north of the mountains. The Wörthersee, the Millstätter See and the Faaker See warm up so much in midsummer that Carinthia counts as swimming country — an exception among Alpine regions.

Winter, in return, has a problem that shows plainly in the figures: sunlight. November and December manage only 1.6 hours a day, January 1.9 — lower even than northern Germany. The cause is inversion weather, where cold air pools in the basins and high fog persists for days while the peaks above stand in sunshine. Anyone seeking winter sun has to go up.

Summer brings thunderstorms: 122 mm in July, 143 mm in August and 128 mm in September, across eight to nine days each. The finest months are June at 25°C and early autumn, when the lakes are still warm and the crowds have thinned. For walking in the Nockberge or around the Weissensee, September and early October are ideal at 15–21°C.