Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Getting There & Away
Konstanz is Lake Constance's main ferry hub.
By car, Konstanz can be reached via the B33, which links up with the A81 to and from
Stuttgart near Singen. Or you can take the B31 to Meersburg and then catch a car ferry.
Konstanz' Hauptbahnhof is the southern terminus of the scenic Schwarzwaldbahn,
which trundles hourly through the Black Forest, linking Offenburg with towns such as
Triberg and Villingen. To reach Lake Constance's northern shore, you usually have to
change in Radolfzell. The Schweizer Bahnhof has connections to destinations throughout
Switzerland.
Getting Around
The city centre is a traffic headache, especially at weekends. Your best bet is the free Park
& Ride lot 3km northwest of the Altstadt, near the airfield on Byk-Gulden-Strasse, where
your only outlay will be for a bus ticket.
Local buses
(
www.sw.konstanz.de
)
cost €2.10 for a single ticket; day passes are €4/6.80
for an individual/family. Bus 1 links the Meersburg car-ferry dock with the Altstadt. If
you stay in Konstanz for at least two nights, your hotelier will give you a Gästekarte en-
titling you to free local bus travel.
Bicycles can be hired from
Kultur-Rädle
( 273 10; Bahnhofplatz 29; per day €12;
9am-12.30pm & 2.30-6pm Mon-Fri, 10am-4pm Sat year-round, plus 10am-12.30pm
Sun Easter-Sep)
, close to the tourist office.
Mainau Island
Jutting out over the lake and bursting with flowers, the lusciously green islet of
Mainau
(
www.mainau.de
; adult/concession €16.90/9.50; dawn-dusk)
is a 45-hectare Mediter-
ranean garden dreamed up by the Bernadotte family, relatives of the royal house of
Sweden.
Around two million visitors flock here every year to admire sparkly lake and mountain
views from the
baroque castle
, and wander sequoia-shaded avenues and hothouses brist-
ling with palms and orchids. Crowd-pullers include the
Butterfly House
, where hundreds
of vivid butterflies flit amid the dewy foliage, an
Italian Cascade
integrating patterned
flowers with waterfalls, and a
petting zoo
. Tulips and rhododendrons bloom in spring, hi-
biscus and roses in summer. Avoid weekends, when the gardens get crowded.
