Carinthia (German:Kärnten ) is a state of Austria. It is especially known for its skiing areas, and its fantastic lakes.

Regions

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Wörthersee

Cities

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Klagenfurt - the capital of Carinthia with about 90,000 inhabitants

Villach - With 50.000 inhabitants second largest city in Carinthia.

Friesach - famous for its middle-age spectaculum in summer, home to a local beer brewery

Velden - Popular summer holiday destination located at lake Wörthersee. Go here to see VIPs from german and austrian television. Velden has been the setting for several german/austrian tv series and movies.

Spittal/Drau - main town of Austria's second largest district, population of about 16 000, home to a renaissance castle where comedies are performed every summer; lake Millstatt nearby;

Other destinations

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Skiing resorts

Gerlitzen close to Villach

Nassfeld at the Italian border,

Turrach at the border with Styria,

Flachau and Katschberg both bordering Salzburg.

Understand

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Carinthia is possibly the most autonomous state in Austria (with possible exception of Tyrol). Older than
Austria itself, it has always been fairly isolated from its surroundings by its geography. Carinthians are rooted and proud, but also have a reputation for being more warm-hearted than the rest of Austrians.
There are several explation where the name Carinthia comes from. One explanation says, it is derived from the celtic word Carant which means friend. Other explanations assume that the name comes from the celtic word karanto which means stone.
Cartinthia is a quite mountainous country sandwiched by the Alps in the north, and the Karawanken in the south.

Talk

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Carinthians have their own (sounding quite hard) dialect which might be hard to understand if you are only used to formal German. English is widely understood in cities and tourism areas (lakes, ski-resorts, cities), but less understood in more rural areas. Italian and Slovenian are also widely spoken in the south of Carinthia.

Get in

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By air
Kärnten has one international airport located in Klagenfurt. You can reach this
airport from Vienna. International flights
arrive from Berlin,London,Hannover,Cologne(Köln) and Frankfurt.

By train
Villach is a railway-gateway to all parts of Austria, therefore it's easy to get to Kärnten from all major cities in Austria. Trains from Vienna and Graz arrive approximately every two hours.

By car
Take the Südautobahn (A2/motorway) if your travelling from Styria or Vienna. If you are arriving from Salzburg take the Tauernautobahn (A10/motorway,liable to pay costs).

Get around

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By car
Driving by car is definetly the easiest way to get around. Be prepared that apart from the main routes mountain roads can especially tricky for those who are not used to driving on mountain roads. This is especially true in winter.
By Train
The main railway hubs are located in Villach and Klagenfurt.
By Bus
It might be tiring to get around using the federal bus network because the frequency of buses is low to non-existent on weekends.

See

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Minimundus - Located in Klagenfurt this park offers a huge collection of miniature models of famous buildings from many countries in the world.

Landskron - Located a few kilometers from Villach. This old ruin has birds of prey.

Reptilienzoo Happ -...