Autumn hiking in Nassfeld

Summer is over and autumn is finally here. It is the perfect time for hiking in the Alps. Beautiful colors, warm sunny days.

I booked us 6 nights in Falkensteiner Hotel & Spa Carinzia, in Tröpolach in the Nassfeld region. It is over 500 km drive but we have never been in the Kärnten region. I am a huge fan of the Falkensteiner hotels, we visited many in Austria and we regularly spend our summer vacation at Senia in Zadar. Carinzia is close to the Slovenian and Italian border, there are many Italian guests here as well. The staff speaks both Austrian and Italian. Some hiking trails go over the border from Austria to Italy.

The drive took us about 6 hours and we arrived shortly before dinnertime. It was bbq buffet evening and we stuffed our face with different grilled meats and cheeses. The highlight was the tiramisu for dinner, it was one of the best that I ate. My recipe is probably better butit did camepretty close.

The weather forecast predicted rain for our entire stay and I was very happy to wake up each morning to a warm sunny day.

Aqua Trail Nassfeld

We were very lucky to arrive one day before they close the Millenium Express lift and they will open it for the winter skiing season beginning of December. So we took advantage on the next day and took the lift all the way up to 2000 meters. It was warm and sunny in the valley but it got very cold, cloudy and windy on the top of the mountain. We decided to hike on the Aqua Trail, it took us along beautiful water and ponds and lakes surrounded by huge mountains. The trail is for families and kids to learn about the water in the mountains but we, two adults, loved it as well.

Slow Trail around Pressegger See

On the second day we drove to Pressegger See and hiked 6 km on the Slow Trail around the Pressegger See. The nature is different on every side of the lake. We started at the Seebad that took us through the village. The next side of the lake took us through a swamp. The trail on the third part went right at the lake side. Finally the fourth part took us through the woods.

We were starving and unfortunately everything was closed so late in the summer, beginning of autumn. We returned to the hotel for an afternoon snack and a coffee.

Wörthersee and Klagenfurt

On the third day we drove to Klagenfurt on Wörthersee. The drive was 1 hour and we parked in a garage near the inner city. We walked to the inner city and visited the pedestrian area. It is quite small. We discovered the big shopping mall City Arkaden and of course we had to do some shopping too. Across the mall is a very good ice cream parlour Arcobaleno that was recommended to us, the chocolate ice cream is delicious.

We returned to the car and drove to Minimundus, a beautiful park full with miniature buildings from all around the world.

Finally we drove to the lake Wörthersee and took a stroll along the promenade before returning back to the hotel.

Bella Italia in Udine

On our last day we decided to drive to beautiful Italy. We crossEd the border in a scenic route over the Alps and stopped in the small town Pontebba. After a short walk and a cappuccino, we got back on the road and drove to Udine on the national street passing by many small Italian villages and towns.

In Udine we parked in the garage at the 1st of March Place and headed straight for the beautiful castle on top of the hill, located in the middle of the city center which is also the old town. We continued our walk in the small narrow streets of the old town and by the end of the day we discovered all streets and knew our way around.

When in Italy, of course we must have gelato! Grom has one of the best ice creams I have ever had. In the evening we searched for a restaurant to have dinner. Many people were out at osterias and trattorias, mainly just drinking. Finally using TripAdvisor we decided for pizzas at Pizzeria Vesuvio.

I got to practice my Italian language skills as well. I listened to the local radio in the car and it all came back to me. While I am a bit rusty, I could order and pay in Italian. Most locals speak only Italian and understand some English, they replied in Italian when we spoke to them in English. It is part of this town’s charm and I love the Italian language so I was happy to hear locals speak it.