I am planning a two week trip to Austria and Slovenia. I arrive at the Vienna airport and plan to pick up a car. The first day I plan to head to Slovenia. As my flight arrives in the afternoon and my drive is about 4 1/2 hours, I'm thinking of staying a day or two in southern Austria first. Not sure I want to drive that much after a red-eye. Any suggestions for a good place to stay/visit in the Wolfsberg-Klagenfurt-Villach area? I see lakes a a castle, but not much information as far as good places to stay or visit.
Thank you!

The places you mention are nearly all the way to Slovenia--around 3 hours. It's an area worth visiting, but I'm not sure it meets your needs.

What about Baden?

it's about 40 minutes from the airport, and is a very pleasant Spa town.

or if you want a town jam packed full of Heurige, try nearby Gumpoldskirchen.

Graz naturally comes to mind; it is about 2 hours from the airport. The Styrian capital is a vibrant college town, with plenty to see and do, and to eat and drink.

Cities: Graz (Grac), Maribor (Marburg), Klagenfurt (Celovec), Feldbach, Fuerstenfeld, Sopron (Oedenburg), Szombathely (Steinamanger)
Landscape: Woerthersee, Ossiachersee, Raxalpe, Semmering
others: Obermayerhofen castle, Bad Radkersburg, Hochosterwitz castle at St. Veit an der Glan, Albeck Castle and Cathedral of Gurk

Thank you for all the locations. My reason for the short stay on the way to Slovenia has to do with a wedding we will attend. I will spend more time in Austria in the last half of our visit.
Elberko, to your question as to what I'm looking for - beautiful lakes/ views such as Hastadt or per another's suggestion wine making areas (I'm a winemaker-grower so always interested in anything related), or historical. I'm very familiar with the Innsbruck - Vienna corridor (and areas immediately surrounding). I've been to Austria at least a half dozen times and it is probably one of my favorite places to visit. I'm not a huge fan of large industrial cities, however I would guess that to be the case with most people.
I know little about the areas in the south, and look forward to driving through and visiting. Any suggestions to help my research would be great!

I would recommend the Styrian wine road/region. We stayed in a town called Ehrenhausen. The wine area is storybook like. Beautiful. We flew in from NE USA to Vienna on our way to Slovenia and broke our journey here. I think its manageable drive after the flight. Gorgeous scenery and wines.

<i> Place to Visit/Stay in Southern Austria
Posted by: AmysDad on Oct 12, 16 at 2:33pm</i>

A big ditto for Graz. Talk about history, this city is a keystone of Europe. A visit to the arsenal will live with you for decades, as it has with me. https://www.museum-joanneum.at/en/styrian-armoury

A couple of places I enjoy in the area:
http://www.burg-hochosterwitz.com/en
http://www.landesmuseum.ktn.gv.at/21...aussenstelle=2

Neither Graz or Klagenfurt are industrial, and both are worth exploring.