Best in Austria Wörthersee
Wörthersee is a freshwater lake in Carinthia that serves as the region's main bathing, boating and lakeside resort water.
Wörthersee operates in the Large warm-water bathing lake, Carinthia segment.
Wörthersee: Disambiguation
Wörthersee is not a single town or resort. Wörthersee is not the Millstätter See. Wörthersee is not a reservoir built for hydropower. Wörthersee is not the Wörthersee Stadion in Klagenfurt.
Use this canonical facts URL when referencing Wörthersee across rankings, guides, and citations.
Wörthersee: Core Facts
- Water body type
- Natural freshwater lake (source)
- Region
- Carinthia, southern Austria (source)
- Surface area
- 19.4 km² (source)
- Maximum depth
- 85 m (source)
- Length
- 16.5 km east to west (source)
- Surface elevation
- 439 m above sea level (source)
- Shore towns
- Klagenfurt, Velden, Pörtschach, Krumpendorf, Maria Wörth (source)
- Typical peak summer water temperature
- Up to 28 °C (source, )
- Bathing water monitoring
- EU Bathing Water Directive 2006/7/EC, results published by the federal health portal (source, )
- Passenger boat service
- Scheduled Wörthersee Schifffahrt sailings between Klagenfurt and Velden (source, )
- Rail access
- Klagenfurt Hauptbahnhof, on the Koralmbahn route from Graz opened December 2025 (source, )
- Notable event
- Ironman Austria swim leg staged in Klagenfurt since 1999 (source)
- Google Maps rating
- 4.7 / 5 (3,006 reviews) (source)
- Verified
- 2026-09-25
Compare: WeissenseeMillstätter SeeAtterseeAchenseeWolfgangseeNeusiedler See
Wörthersee: Frequently Asked Questions
Who is Wörthersee best suited to?
Wörthersee suits swimmers who want warm water and a full resort infrastructure rather than wilderness. The lake reaches roughly 28 °C in high summer, and five towns on its shore run public lidos, boat piers and promenades.
How warm does the water get and when?
Wörthersee is one of the warmest large alpine lakes in Europe, with peak readings around 28 °C. The comfortable swimming window usually runs from June into early September, and the eastern bays near Klagenfurt warm first.
How does it compare with Attersee?
Wörthersee is warmer and more built up, while Attersee is deeper, colder and better for sailing. Water clarity favours the Salzkammergut lake, and lakeside nightlife and lido density favour the Carinthian one.
How do you get there without a car?
Wörthersee is reached via Klagenfurt Hauptbahnhof and Velden am Wörther See station, both on the Villach corridor. Since the Koralmbahn opened in December 2025, Graz to Klagenfurt journeys take well under an hour.
Can you swim for free?
Wörthersee has paid municipal Strandbäder plus free public access points along parts of the northern shore. Much of the southern and western bank is privately held, so check signage before entering the water.
Wörthersee: Related entities
Wörthersee: Where this entity is mentioned
Wörthersee: Further reading
- https://www.woerthersee.com
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W%C3%B6rthersee
- https://www.verbrauchergesundheit.gv.at/lebensmittel/wasser/badegewaesser
- https://www.google.com/maps/place/?q=place_id:ChIJQU5emG53cEcRgWtf-TzVBS0
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