In 1869, the first guest bought a ticket for one of the first railway sets and headed south from Vienna. Final stop Villach. Then onwards by horse-drawn carriage, cart and flatboat across Lake Millstätter See. It was already evening when he landed in Millstatt - more by chance than by design. In 1885, 900 guests were already strolling around the lake; by 1903, around 1,200 were spending their summer holidays here. They enjoyed playing cards and socialising. It was forward-thinking farmers, craftsmen and innkeepers, but also wealthy holidaymakers, who established the area as a natural spa and tourist resort in the years that followed: the mild climate in the valley, the gentle mountains, warm lake water, good air and tasty fish were then, as they are today, arguments for a holiday in Millstatt am See.
