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It has been a while since I have shared our travel content but I always fee like people aren´t really interested in Summer travel in late Fall or Winter. Maybe I am wrong about this and you all start dreaming of warmer weather and being outdoors as soon as it gets cooler.
Anyways this is only part 2 (I have already posted about our Mallorca stay last month) of 4 outstanding travel posts. These have become my favorite posts to write (besides fashion of course) cause I can share so much with you and give you some tips and recommendations.
Where we stayed
I always wanted to stay in a Chalet and we finally found one available and it was the cutest ever. I have loved every second in there. We stayed at Mountain & Lakes Chalet Village. It was a tiny village with 9 chalets. The owner was very nice and looked after us if everything was okay. We would definitely stay there again. The girls also loved it there.
We had a living room, kitchen and one bedroom on the 1rst floor. The two small girls and I slept downstairs and my husband and our big girl slept upstairs. A very small and high ladder took you upstairs to a big bed and a great view.
Day 1
We headed out at 5 in the morning and almost drove through. Only made one stop cause no one wanted to make a break. It was about 4 hours to our final destination. We stopped at Castle Landskron. A old medival place high upon the hill. They do have all the really cool birds of prey and an awesome bird show as well. You can have some food and coffee and wander around the castle grounds. The most gorgeous views are there to find.
Admission is 17 Euro per Adult and 9 Euro for children. Kids under 6 years are free. You can read everything about it here and everything about the Burg Landskron. There are 3 shows a day so you´ll be definitely able to catch one. Stroller and dogs must be kept away from the tribunes during the show.
Day 2
On our second day we visited the Affenberg. A place full of monkeys. You can walk through with a guide and look at the monkeys in their natural habitat. They play and interact with the other monkeys as well as the guide (but that´s probably only because he has food in his pocket). There is a small playground as well as a little restaurant and you can also buy some souvenirs like stuffed animals – monkeys of course. A really nice experience for toddler as well as grown ups. I mean where can you see monkeys this close!!!
You can go on guided tours only but there are at least two or three per hour. It is 17 Euro per Adult and 9 Euro for children. Kids under 4 years are free. You can read everything about it here.
Since we checked out the monkeys in the morning we went to town in the afternoon for some coffee and a little ice cream cone. Downtown Villach is very beautiful. Tiny but beautiful. There is one main shopping street with stores and restaurants and cafés and then you have a few sights.
One of the is the St. Jacobs church. It is beautifully made with terracotta columns and black and white flooring. There is the church tower right next to it with a seperate entrance. If you are not to late in the afternoon (like we were) you can pay a small fee and walk up the stairs and have the most beautiful view of Villach. We got some ice cream, wandered around a little and then headed back to our chalet for the rest of the evening.
Day 3
This was by far the worst day. It rained cats and dogs all day long. Initially we had other plans but with 3 little kids there was no way we would spend any time outside in the rain so we went to the Kärnten Therme. A huge indoor swim area with wellness, restaurant and so much more.
We spent some time in the kids area. The kids pool was really nice. Strollers have been accepted and they offered several changing / toilet areas just for little ones. It was also possible to buy swimming diapers for your baby in case you forgot them.
But let´s talk about the main attraction – the restaurant. I have never had better food at a swimming pool than there. Maybe it´s because the focus lies on wellness and spa and mind and body??!! I guess that´s it. So delicious, fresh and so much to choose from. Of course the girls stayed true to themselves and had fries and nuggets 😉
My only downside – it is super hot inside. I was so overheated after some hours in there and not even the air conditioning in the restaurant nor the cool water could save me, I was just over it.
Side tip – there is a self-service bake shop outside of the Kärnten Therme which is amazing. The bread was so tasty and the cookies filled with currant jam – marvellous !!!! Don´t skip on that.
Day 4
Our last day wasn´t as nice either but at least it stopped raining during the night. I have to admit I thought that we would be able to bath outside in the lake or so but it was way too cold at this time of the year.
We headed out and visited Ossiach, a nearby city and name giver of the biggest lake around there – the Ossiacher See. You can take the ferry and go from place to place or you can even go swimming in the lake. It is very clear and so green. Just beautiful. We have wandered around a little and looked for a nice spot to have lunch but we ended up ordering food at L´Osteria like we did two days before cause it was just so convenient with 3 little kids but before that we visited the Family Wald.
I have been searching up and down for activities when the weather isn´t too good and have found this (there was also a stalactite cave nearby we wanted to visit but the girls have been too young for it). The concept was pretty cool and I wanted to check it out. The whole area was built into the forest with paths to wander around, playgrounds and a super cool treenet area you could wander around and climb up real high into the trees. This was so so cool but you had to be barefoot for this and we got cold pretty quick. The idea is amazing and I really was in awe of how you could transforma little forest into such a nice and interesting place.
You can read all about it here. Admission is 28 Euro for an adult and 16 Euro for a child. Kids 3 and under are free. You can get some drinks and ice-cream at the entrance. The also have a highline which is like a little rollercoaster but this costs an additional 9 Euro and it won´t be available if it´s very wet outside. No strollers allowed inside. It is a short but pretty steep walk from the parking space up to the entrance of the Family Wald. They also offer a Kletter Wald for climbing only with different difficulty levels, but it has to be paid seperate.
Food and Dining
To be honest I can not recommend you much. We went along with the food that was offered at places we visited and we had take-out on 3 nights (2 times from L´Osteria- pizza and salad and once from a restaurant called Racer´s – Ceasar salad and burger and fries) which have been delicous and we didn´t mind. My husband and I could enjoy a meal in peace and the girls ran around the chalet or outside. This was very easy cause we had a full equiped kitchen and a coffee maschine in our chalet. Never would have done this at a hotel.
XO Kati
