Lake Millstatt and the city of Villach, Austria

We took the narrow winding backroads from Gmund to Villach. So much more interesting than the autobahn. But yes, also so much more slower! We also did a detour around the north side of Lake Millstatt, and we're glad we did... such a scenic area.

We're not in a rush now, although we do want to continue south to warmer weather. We could take about 10 or 12 days to get through Slovenia if we wanted before our Schengen Visa time ran out, but we'll probably do it in about a week, and then we'll be in Croatia.

Unfortunately we won't be able to visit Max's birthplace... the Adria factory in Slovenia. I heard back from them, and they are only doing pre-booked large group tours at this time. 

We then also need to decide our route. So far, it's looking like we might be okay taking the inland route through Bosnia & Herzegovina... the long term weather forecast looks not bad. The Croatian coastal route would be warmer, but more expensive. Campgrounds aren't cheap in Croatia, and free camping along the coastal area is frowned upon.

Anyhow, we've got some time before we need to decide. Back to yesterday's activities!

We stopped at this roadside park with this giant chair... that has giant feet!

The road followed this river.

Doing some work to the retaining wall.

We were driving along the north shore of Lake Millstatt, and when we came to the village of Millstatt we saw that it's a pretty spot so we parked and went for a walk around town. It's a popular spot on the lakeshore during summer time with lots of boating and swimming activities, and lot of hotel and pension accommodation.

Lots of old homes on the lakeshore.

Statue of Saint Domitian.

Quite the diving platform.

The water gets deep very quickly. Even this close to shore, the depth is 8 meters (26 feet).

Looking west.

Scenery along the way.

There has been a church at this location since the 9th century!

Apparently there is a pilgrims walk that can be done. 800 kms of trails and pathways that lead to this church. I always wonder why so many people choose to do the various Camino de Santiago routes in France and Spain when there are so many other better and little known long distance walks. 

Lake Millstat.

Not sure what this guy in the little boat is doing, but the birds love it

Max, and the view of Lake Millstatt.

From there, we took the backroads to the city of Villach (pop 61,000). 

Scenery along the way.

My dad had been to Villach on his 1954 trip to Europe. He only had two slides from the city of Villach, one in the city itself, and one on the outskirts at Lake Faak. Of course at the time, Villach would have been more of a town than a city.

The first photo was fairly easy to find the location. It was taken from a bridge in town, and there was only one bridge that was located at this particular curvature in the river...

1954.

Taken from the same spot in 2021.

There is a bridge now that wasn't there in 1954!

We walked over to the new bridge and took a shot from it...

That's a better photo, but not from the same location.

We will go and try to match up the Lake Faak photo today.

And then we went for a walk around the city...

Today, we cross the border to Slovenia, and our first stop there at Lake Bled.

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