Experience the best of Villach

Villach lies on the Drau river in the Austrian state of Carinthia, within easy reach of both the Italian and the Slovenian borders. The pedestrian old town around the Hauptplatz is watched over by the tall tower of the parish church of St Jakob. In the southern suburb of Warmbad, thermal springs feed a spa that has drawn bathers for centuries, with the Dobratsch massif rising behind it.

Lake Faak, with clear green-blue water beneath wooded hills, and the longer Lake Ossiach lie a few kilometres away. Dobratsch has a nature park with alpine meadows and a panoramic road up its flank. Slovenia's Lake Bled is about an hour away by road, and the Italian town of Tarvisio is even closer, at the foot of the Julian Alps.

Carinthian cooking centres on Kasnudeln, large pasta parcels filled with curd cheese and mint, and on Reindling, a sweet yeast cake with raisins and cinnamon. Summers are warm enough for swimming in the lakes, winters are cold and snowy, and the Villacher Fasching, one of Austria's best-known carnivals, fills the streets before Lent.