Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
(€5.30, 30 minutes), Friedrichshafen (€11.70, 1¾ hours), Lindau (€15.40, three hours) and
Bregenz (€16.40, 3½ hours); children aged six to 15 years pay half-price. The website
lists full timetables.
Der Katamaran ( www.der-katamaran.de ; adult/6-14yr €9.80/4.90) is a sleek passen-
ger service that takes 50 minutes to make the Konstanz-Friedrichshafen crossing (hourly
from 6am to 7pm, plus hourly from 8pm to midnight on Fridays and Saturdays from mid-
May to early October).
ONE LAKE, TWO WHEELS, THREE COUNTRIES
When the weather warms, there is no better way to explore Bodensee (Lake Constance) than with
your bum in a saddle. The well-marked Bodensee Cycle Path ( www.bodensee-radweg.com ) cyc-
ling path makes a 273km loop of Lake Constance, taking in vineyards, meadows, orchards, wet-
lands and historic towns. There are plenty of small beaches where you can stop for a refreshing
dip in the lake. See the website for itineraries and maps. Bike hire is available in most towns for
between €10 and €20 per day. While the entire route takes roughly a week, ferries and trains make
it possible to cover shorter chunks, such as Friedrichshafen-Konstanz-Meersburg, in a weekend.
A day suffices to cover some highlights in three countries on a 30km stretch of the route. Begin
in Lindau's storybook old town in Germany, then pedal along the lakeshore to Bregenz , in Aus-
tria, famous for its Festpiele ( www.bregenzerfestspiele.com ) , an open-air opera festival held on
the lake from mid-July to mid-August. Rearing above the town is the 1064m peak of Pfänder ,
which commands a breathtaking panorama of Lake Constance and the not-so-distant Alps. A
cable car (round-trip adult/concession €11/8.80; 8am-7pm) glides to the summit. Continue
southwest along a woodland path to the broad banks of the Bregenzerach , a beautiful meltwater
river where locals bathe and fly-fish on hot days. From here it's just a short pedal to the
Rheindelta wetlands and the wide bay of Rorschach in Switzerland, where you can stop for
Swiss chocolate before catching a ferry back to Lindau.
Konstanz
07531 / POP 84,690
Sidling up to the Swiss border, bisected by the Rhine and outlined by the Alps, Konstanz
sits prettily on the northwestern shore of Lake Constance. Roman emperors, medieval
traders and the bishops of the 15th-century Council of Constance have all left their mark
on this alley-woven town, mercifully spared from the WWII bombings that obliterated
other German cities.
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