Things to do
A border-ridge trail where WWI fortifications stand in the rock. A glacial lake at 1,950 metres. The September bread festival. Austria’s finest cross-country skiing valley. And swimming in the Gail.
The Karnischer Höhenweg runs along the ridge of the Carnic Alps — the Austrian-Italian border — for 120 kilometres from Sillian to Thörl-Maglern. The Lesachtal section is among the most beautiful and least crowded: panoramic views on both sides of the ridge, the landscapes of Friuli to the south and the Lesachtal forests to the north, and everywhere the remnants of the First World War frontline. Stone fortifications, tunnel entrances, ruined positions built at 2,000 metres between 1915 and 1918. The Plöckenpass area has the highest concentration of WWI sites; a half-day exploration of the pass area, with its memorials and military cemeteries, is among the most moving experiences in the Austrian Alps.
Open June–October. Snow possible at any time above 2,000m.
A glacial lake on the Austrian-Italian border above the Lesachtal — reached by a half-day hike from the valley floor, sitting at 1,950 metres between the limestone peaks of the Carnic Alps, with the Wolayersee-Hütte mountain hut at its shore. The lake is the turquoise-green of glacial melt; the surrounding peaks are grey limestone; the reflection of the mountains on calm days is photographic proof of something beyond the usual Alpine experience. The Carnic High Trail runs past the lake; it is one of the finest places in Austria to watch the sunset from a mountain hut terrace.
Accessible July–September. Wolayersee-Hütte open in summer season.
The most important annual event in the Lesachtal — and one of the most extraordinary food festivals in Austria. Bakers from across the valley gather in Liesing to bake the UNESCO-listed Lesachtaler sourdough bread in traditional wood-fired stone ovens using long-handled peels, as they have done for generations. You can watch the bread being made, buy it warm from the oven, and eat it at the farmer’s buffet alongside other valley specialities and local wines. The Handwerksgasse — a craft market — runs alongside it. Plan your September visit around this weekend.
First weekend of September, Liesing. Free to attend.
The Gail River runs the full length of the Lesachtal, fed by snowmelt from the Carnic Alps, and in summer its clear water is cold enough to be bracing and clean enough to be safe. Natural swimming holes form at bends in the river throughout the valley; ask at your guesthouse which pools are current favourites. The gorge section in the centre of the valley — up to 200 metres deep, with the river visible at the bottom — is accessible by path and offers the most dramatic swimming in the Lesachtal. There are no facilities. Bring a towel and arrive in the afternoon when the sun reaches the water.
The Lesachtal is consistently cited as one of the finest cross-country skiing (Langlauf) valleys in Austria — long, flat sections along the valley floor, forested loops through the timber that supplies Venice, and the combination of reliable snow and complete absence of crowds that makes it the ideal destination for those who find Innsbruck too busy and St. Anton too fashionable. Snowshoe tours into the mountains above the valley floor are equally good. The valley road can close in heavy snow; check conditions before driving in from Lienz in winter.
December–March. Cross-country trail network from the valley villages.
The pilgrimage church of Maria Luggau — an important Catholic shrine in the upper valley, with a monastery and a history of pilgrimage going back to the 16th century — is also home to the valley’s main farm shop, where the produce of the Lesachtal is available to take home: the sourdough bread, the speck, the alpine cheese, the herb products, and the schnapps. The Tuesday herb tours run from nearby Liesing (book through Simone Matouch, +43 650 8830657). The combination of the church, the farm shop, and the herb garden at Mühlenstüberl makes the upper valley the most concentrated version of what the Lesachtal is.
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