South Carinthia
Holiday apartments with ponies and a fire pit.
Golden light, empty paths and mild afternoons: autumn is the most relaxed season here, for families during the holidays just as much as for hikers, cyclists and couples.
Why autumn hereMild afternoons, clear views across the Jauntal valley to the Karawanken range, beech woods turning colour on the slopes and paths with hardly anyone on them: that is autumn here between the Petzen and Lake Klopein. The lake, one of the warmest bathing lakes in Carinthia, is often still warm enough to swim in September, and during the Austrian autumn holidays the Petzen gondola runs daily. On top of that comes what the off season brings at the house: the playground is yours, the choice of apartment is far wider than in July, and once it gets dark early, the best part of the day starts at the fire pit.
Then there is something you only notice when you look out of the window in the morning: in the region around Lake Klopein and Völkermarkt, thick fog often sits in the valley on autumn mornings. Our house stands on the ridge, usually just above the fog line. While the fog is still lying below, you are already sitting in the sun up here, looking down on it.
Families during the autumn holidays
Ponies, playground and fire pit right at the house, plus a playroom and club room for grey days. The Austrian autumn holidays run from 27 to 31 October every year.
Hikers and cyclists
Clear views to the Karawanken, empty paths and trails, and the Petzen as the local mountain: with a gondola, summit trails and the Flow Country Trail.
Couples and guests with dogs
Off season here means a secluded setting with no bustle: a free choice of apartment, quiet evenings and a fenced dog meadow on the grounds.
Autumn is the best season here for walking and cycling: cool mornings, mild afternoons and long views you do not get in summer. Walks and bike loops start right at the house, the first kilometres run on meadow and forest tracks with no car traffic, and you can hire bikes from us. It combines best like this: a walk on the Petzen or a ride through the Jauntal in the morning, a stop at a Buschenschank in the afternoon.
Our favourite cycling day only goes one way: ride out to Lake Klopein, stay for the sunset, and take the train back to Bleiburg with your bike. Autumn is when it is at its best, because the air is clear and the shore paths are almost empty.
„You can go on lovely walks straight from the house … a wonderful view of the Petzen. Even after the tenth visit it is still a lovely experience.“
This is the difference hardly anyone knows in advance: in early September the festival season runs at summer temperatures, in October the woods light up and the long views become superb. Both are worth it, but they are not the same. Below are three ideas that work in either half.
September to early October
The Bleiburg Wiesenmarkt opens the season, the Had'nfest in Neuhaus follows, the Buschenschanken nearby are open, and Lake Klopein is often still warm enough to swim. The woods are still green, the light is already soft.
Around 25 degrees by day, 11 to 12 at night
Mid to late October, with the autumn holidays
Now it turns colourful: larches and beeches glow, the air is clear and the view reaches the Karawanken. The best time for walking and cycling, because the heat is gone and the paths are empty. Add the Kolomonimarkt in Wolfsberg, and by five it is dusk.
Up to about 20 degrees by day, 8 to 9 at night
Valley station approx. 6 km
Up to around 1,700 m by gondola, with alpine meadows, wide paths and the view across the Jauntal to the Karawanken. During the autumn holidays the gondola runs daily, otherwise mostly Thursday to Sunday in autumn: the easiest mountain day in the region, even with younger children.
Obir approx. 25 km · museum approx. 3 km
The Walderlebniswelt at Lake Klopein is open all year, and its 500 m² indoor play house is the safest rainy day in the region. The Obir dripstone caves run into October, but need to be booked at least a week ahead. And at the house there is a playroom and a club room with table tennis, billiards and darts.
Bleiburg station approx. 2.5 km
Klagenfurt with Minimundus, St Paul Abbey or a city day in Graz: with the Aktiv Card you travel free on Carinthia's regional trains, so the car can stay parked all week.
The largest and oldest folk festival in Carinthia's Unterland has been held in Bleiburg since 1393, always on the first weekend of September from Friday to Monday, about 3 km from our house. Friday is family day, when the fairground rides cost less until 7 pm. On Saturday at noon the parade moves through the town with traditional costume groups, brass bands and decorated wagons, followed by the reading of the Freyung, a market privilege dating from 1578. Sunday belongs to dirndl and lederhosen. In between there is a market stretching for kilometres, the farm machinery show, the small animal show, and for children a petting zoo, a Ferris wheel and a natural bowling alley.
It is about 3 km to the town centre and about 2.5 km to Bleiburg station, and the regional train runs into town. The daily programme is published fresh each year on the market's own site. Accommodation in Bleiburg books up early for the market days, so ask in good time.
Autumn is the densest festival season here: harvest festivals, parish fairs and cultural evenings in the neighbouring villages. Four that are especially worth it, plus the two regional calendars with the exact dates for the current year.
Mid September · free entry
The Had'n innkeepers put the specialities of the Jauntaler Had'n food region on the table: a harvest festival built around buckwheat in the Slow Food Village of Neuhaus, and no fuss. On the menu are the legendary Carinthian Haden noodles and Hadensterz, plus sweet treats such as Haden cake and the classic Haden torte. Buckwheat itself is high in protein and naturally gluten free, and there are plenty of recipes and ideas to take home.
To the Had'nfestin October · village square, St. Michael
The harvest festival of our neighbouring municipality, around 3.5 km from the house. Repica is the Jauntal word for potato, and for one day the village square in St. Michael belongs to it entirely: stalls from farmers and producers across the region, a harvest thanksgiving service, folk dancing, live music and a children's programme of its own.
Feistritz municipal calendarMid October · Lavanttal
The great autumn market of the Lavanttal, held since 1705 and named after an Irish saint. Four days from Friday to Monday with a market, beer tents and fairground rides on the grounds at Kleinedling: the last big festival before winter.
To the Kolomonimarktin November · Kulturhaus / Kulturni dom
Art and music in the bilingual cultural centre, carried by artists from the region. The date changes each year; most recently it fell in November.
To KUMST & MUSICAIn Carinthia a Buschenschank may open for at most 200 days a year, so every holding has its own season and by October most have already closed. Four addresses nearby, with their rough window:
Eberndorf · into September
A cold Jause from their own farm, farmhouse bread and Reindling, and the only one in the district with the „Gutes vom Bauernhof“ seal. It sits right on the cycling and walking route between Lake Klopein, Turnersee, Gösselsdorfer See and Sonneggersee.
To Buschenschenke KordeschKühnsdorf · into early October
On the Seeberg road since 1988, serving cider and open sandwiches in the evening. Closed Tuesday and Wednesday.
To Mostschenke OraschRuden · into late autumn
The address for late autumn, when the others have closed: a hot kitchen until 9 pm and open into November. Closed Monday and Tuesday.
To Mostschenke KaschnigLavanttal · all year
Fourteen stops in the Lavanttal Slow Food region where producers open their farm doors: black garlic, orange wine, Mangalitza pork, ostrich, and for the brave also mealworms and grasshoppers. Each stop can be visited on its own and in any order, by car or as a bike tour.
To the GenussexpeditionOpening times change every year. Current dates are on the holdings' own pages and in the region's Buschenschank directory.
Buschenschanken in South CarinthiaBy late October it is dusk at five, and that is no drawback here: the campfire burns in the stone fire pit, firewood is ready, and chestnuts and bread on a stick over the embers need nothing more. For the evening after, there is a sauna and solarium at the house, plus the club room with table tennis, billiards and darts. If you would rather cook, there is also the large pizza oven and the swing grill next to the fire pit.
The house stands on the slope of a former farm. It has not been worked for about 35 years; what remains are the meadows, the woods around, the old barn and the quiet that a farmstead setting brings. The animals, the ponies and the playground belong to the day; the evening belongs to the fire.
When autumn draws to a close, it turns quiet and bright here one more time. The region's Advent markets are small and free of crowds: the Christkindlmarkt on the Petzen at 1,700 m, the Jauntaler Advent at Eberndorf Abbey, Christmas at Lake Klopein and the light park at the Domäne Lilienberg winery. Add mulled cider, roast chestnuts and Advent concerts in the village churches.
And because every apartment here has its own kitchen, there is room for the thing there is rarely time for at home: a whole afternoon of baking biscuits in peace, while the fog sits in the valley outside.
The dates change every year; the current programme is published by the regional tourist board.
Tell us your dates and the number of guests, and we will get back to you personally with a suitable offer.
