Klagenfurt

The Wörthersee is one of the few alpine lakes where the water is genuinely warm in summer — often above twenty-five degrees, because it is sheltered from the wind with almost no streams feeding it, so the upper layer holds its warmth through summer instead of mixing away. Klagenfurt sits at its eastern end, and it is a city people visit for the lake and stay in because it is cheaper and quieter than western Austria.

The centre is small and flat, with the Neuer Platz and its dragon fountain, standing since the sixteenth century — the head is said to have been modelled on an ice-age rhinoceros skull found nearby. The old town has arcaded courtyards entered straight from the street, and those are what you actually come to look at.

The lake is fifteen minutes away by bus or bike. Along the shore there are managed beaches with an entry fee and free stretches between them, and boats run to Velden and other towns on the far side. The Slovenian border is under an hour away, which makes Klagenfurt a logical stop on the way south towards Italy.