Lakes
Austria has over 25,000 lakes — from tiny mountain lakes to extensive bathing lakes with Caribbean-clear water. The water quality is almost consistently of drinking water quality.
The Most Beautiful Lakes
- Wörthersee (Carinthia) — Austria's "Riviera," 20 km long, turquoise blue, up to 26 °C warm in summer. Klagenfurt, Velden (castle hotel from the TV series "Ein Schloss am Wörthersee") and Pörtschach on the shore. Perfect for swimming, sailing, and strolling
- Wolfgangsee (Salzburg/Upper Austria) — Salzkammergut jewel with St. Wolfgang (famous pilgrimage church), St. Gilgen (Mozart's mother was born here), and Strobl. Take the historic cog railway up the Schafberg for a 360° Alpine panorama
- Hallstätter See (Upper Austria) — the lake where Hallstatt is located, the "most beautiful village in the world" (Instagram-famous). Fjord-like between steep rock walls. UNESCO World Heritage Hallstatt-Dachstein-Salzkammergut
- Achensee (Tyrol) — "Tyrolean Sea," the largest lake in Tyrol, emerald green, surrounded by peaks over 2,000 m. Cold, but wonderful for swimming, surfing, and sailing
- Neusiedler See (Burgenland) — Europe's second-largest steppe lake, UNESCO World Heritage. Only 1.8 m deep, surrounded by reeds, a paradise for birds and surfers. The Hungarian border on the eastern shore
- Millstätter See (Carinthia) — deep, warm, less touristy than Wörthersee. Crystal-clear water and the medieval Millstatt Abbey
- Grundlsee, Toplitzsee, Kammersee (Styria) — the three lakes at the end of the Totes Gebirge, lined up, increasingly wild. Allegedly, Nazi gold treasures and counterfeit plates still lie in Toplitzsee
