Verditz: Hiking, Art and Schwarzsee

Verditz combines mountain scenery, hiking trails and art to create a diverse holiday destination in the Carinthian Nock Mountains. In the Verditz–Schwarzsee area, elevations range from 600 to 1,900 m. This allows you to plan your days in different ways: One hike leads to an atmospheric mountain lake, another excursion combines forest and sculptures, while in winter snowshoe hikes through the snow-covered winter forest and ascents to the peaks are possible.

Hiking at Schwarzsee and around Verditz

One of the distinctive experiences is the Schwarzsee circular hiking trail. The loop is 7.7 km long, involves 606 metres of ascent and is listed as taking 2 hours and 45 minutes. The trail leads to the idyllic Schwarzsee and returns to the starting point by a different route. This information helps you plan a hiking day realistically and match the desired route to your personal preferences.

Another option is the Schwarzsee–Palnock panoramic trail. It leads via Schwarzsee to Palnock and back to the starting point. Verditz is considered a hiking mountain with numerous trails. The circular routes through the forest around Verditz are also suitable for walks and hikes well into autumn. This means you can choose between a precisely described longer loop, a panoramic trail and shorter excursions into the forest, without making every day of your holiday the same.

The popular and well-signposted Steinhauser circular trail can begin at the sculpture park. From there, it leads through the Verditz forest over the Schattenberg and back past Sigi’s Einkehr. The Schwarzseehütte serves hearty dishes, prepared mainly from produce from its own farm. This allows you to combine a hike with a stop offering regional cuisine.

Experience art without giving up nature

The Kunstalm is a special complement to the mountain trails. A hiking trail runs through the Kunstalm grounds, allowing you to experience the artworks along the way. The art-lodge sculpture park extends across an approximately 1.5-hectare alpine meadow and contains more than 20 sculptures and installations. Admission to the sculpture park is free.

The art-lodge art house also offers its own distinctive focus. It centres on the Liesenfeld-Jordan collection, with an emphasis on young art from Austria and Germany. Those wishing to combine nature and culture can therefore complement a day of hiking at the sculpture park with a visit to the art house. The art offerings give a stay in Verditz another dimension without allowing the mountain character of the place to fade into the background.

Active holidays in every season

During the warmer months, cycling tours are another option alongside hiking. Around Verditz, NOCKBIKE offers challenging freeride tours with trails reaching peaks over 2,000 m high. LAKE BIKE offers trails for the whole family in all levels of difficulty. This means that different ideas of a cycling holiday can be accommodated: challenging freeride routes as well as options with a choice of difficulty levels.

In winter, Verditz is suitable for snowshoeing through the snow-covered winter forest and for ascents to the peaks. When choosing your accommodation based on the activities you have planned, you can therefore consider whether hiking trails, art, cycling tours or wintry days in the mountains should be the focus of your trip. A holiday apartment or holiday home in Verditz can serve as a starting point for varied holiday days, without requiring you to commit to just one activity.

Getting there and useful orientation

Verditz can be reached by car via a toll-free, paved road. The village is approximately 20 minutes from the Villach/Ossiacher See exit of the A10 Tauern Motorway. For hikers, GO-MOBIL® can take them to the starting point of a hike or back to their accommodation. This option is just as relevant to planning your day as deciding whether to set off directly from your accommodation or head to a specific starting point.

When choosing a holiday apartment in Verditz, the desired mix of travel experiences is therefore the main consideration: Around Schwarzsee and Palnock, nature experiences take centre stage; the Kunstalm and the art house add cultural impressions to the programme, while cycling and winter activities open up further possibilities. You can then include the neighbouring places for further orientation: Riegersdorf, Rosegg, Velden Am Wörthersee, Sankt Andrä, Köstenberg, Ledenitzen, Gorintschach and Winklern.

For the higher-level travel overview: Villach.