Photo spot in Wörthersee
The Velden promenade and Schloss Velden
A white Renaissance castle at the western end of the lake, with a promenade of plane trees, jetties and boathouses looking straight down sixteen kilometres of water.
About The Velden promenade and Schloss Velden
Get directionsVelden closes the western end of the Wörthersee, and the whole town is built facing east down the length of it. The anchor is Schloss Velden, a white four-square Renaissance house from around 1600 with corner towers and an arcaded courtyard, converted long ago into a hotel and still the most photographed façade in Carinthia.
The public part is the promenade: a lakeside walk of plane trees, lawns, jetties and moored boats running from the castle park along the bay, with the lake opening east in front of it. Boathouses on stilts stand along the water, and the old bathing pavilions and belle-époque villas give a run of white timber and glass that is unlike anything else in Austria.
Because the town faces east, the morning light comes straight up the lake into the promenade and the water behind a subject is bright and clean; by late afternoon the sun is behind the town and the front goes into flat shade while the far shore stays lit. Sunrise here is the strongest hour of the day.
July and August are Velden's high season, loud and full. From late September the promenade empties, the plane trees turn and the same walk becomes a quiet one. The castle is a working hotel — the exterior, the park and the promenade are the location; anything inside needs to be arranged with them.
Best time to shoot
Sunrise and the first hours, when the light comes up the lake into the promenade; the front goes flat in the afternoon
Tips
Work east along the promenade away from the castle for jetties and boathouses without hotel signage in frame. The castle is a hotel: shoot the exterior and the park, and ask before going in.
Other spots in Wörthersee
Maria Wörth on its peninsula
Two churches on a small wooded headland pushed out into the lake, turquoise water on three sides and a cemetery terrace looking straight across.
The Pörtschach peninsula
A wooded spit reaching out from the northern shore, with a level walk right round it, rose beds and open lake views in both directions.
The Pyramidenkogel tower
A hundred-metre spiral of larch beams above the southern shore, whose open decks take in the whole lake, Klagenfurt and the Karawanken in one look.
Ready to book?
Our concierge team will hand-pick 2-3 photographers who know The Velden promenade and Schloss Velden — free of charge.