Switzerland7-Northeastern Switzerland - John Covey - University of ...

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NORTHEASTERN SWITZERLAND LAKE CONSTANCE
8 Getting There & Away
Stein am Rhein is on the direct hourly train route
that links Schaff hausen (Sfr7.80, 25 minutes)
with St Gallen (Sfr29, 1½ hours).
LAKE CONSTANCE
Before package holidays began whisking
the locals and their beach towels abroad in
the ’70s and ’80s, Lake Constance (Bodensee)
was the German Mediterranean, with
its mild climate, fl owery gardens and palm
trees. The ‘Swabian Sea’, as it’s nicknamed,
is Central Europe’s third largest lake, straddling
Switzerland, Germany and Austria.
It’s a relaxed place to wind down for a
few days, whether cycling through apple
orchards and vineyards, heron-spotting in
the lake’s wetlands, or taking to its glassy
waters by canoe.
A SPIN OF THE LAKE
Come in spring for blossom, summer for
lazy beach days and autumn for new wine.
Almost everything shuts from November to
February.
8 Information
The Bodensee Erlebniskarte (www.bodensee
-erlebniskarte.de; 3/7/14 days Sfr102/131/181)
discount card is sold from mid-April to mid-
October. In its most expensive version, it entitles
the holder to free unlimited ferry travel,
entrance to many museums and attractions,
including the Zeppelin Museum in
Friedrichshafen and Insel Mainau, and a return
journey up the Säntisbahn (p284).
8 Getting There & Away
Good rail services link Zürich to Konstanz
(Sfr30, 80 minutes) and Munich (Sfr89, 4¼
hours) in Germany. Trains (Sfr8, 15 minutes) run
between Bregenz in Austria and St Margrethen
in Switzerland.
Hopping across the Swiss–German border from Kreuzlingen brings you to the highspirited,
sunny university town of Konstanz (www.konstanz.de), well worth a visit for its
Romanesque cathedral, pretty Old Town and tree-fringed harbour. Edging north of
Konstanz, you reach the Unesco-listed Benedictine monastery of Reichenau (www
.reichenau.de), founded in AD 724. Close by is Insel Mainau (www.mainau.de; adult/child
€15.90/8.50; hdawn-dusk), a pleasantly green islet with 45 hectares of Mediterraneanstyle
gardens, including rhododendron groves, a butterfl y house and a waterfall-strewn
Italian garden.
Stepping across to the lake’s northern fl ank you arrive in the wine-growing town of
Meersburg (www.meersburg.de), where cobbled lanes thread past half-timbered houses
up to the perkily turreted medieval castle. Just east of here is Friedrichshafen, forever
associated with the Zeppelin, the early cigar-shaped craft of the skies, which made its
inaugural fl ight in 1900. The Zeppelin Museum (www.zeppelin-museum.de; adult/child
€7.50/3; h9am-5pm Mon-Sun) traces the history of this bombastic, but ill-fated, means of
air transport. Still on German turf is the postcard-perfect island town of Lindau (www
.lindau.de), with its lavishly frescoed houses, palm-speckled promenade and harbour
watched over by a lighthouse and Bavarian lion. For further information, head to shop
.lonelyplanet.com to purchase a downloadable PDF of the Germany chapter from Lonely
Planet’s Western Europe guide.
Lindau sits just a few kilometres north of Austria and the town of Bregenz (www
.bregenz.ws), which hosts the highly acclaimed Bregenzer Festspiele from mid-July
to mid-August, where opera and orchestral concerts are staged on a vast water-borne
stage. Rising dramatically above the town is the Pfänder (1064m). A cable car (adult/
child return €11/5.50; h8am-7pm Apr-Oct) glides to the summit, where panoramic views of
Lake Constance and the not-so-distant Alps unfold.
Even if you don’t have your own car, getting around by bike or boat is a breeze. Wellsignposted
and largely fl at, the 273km Bodensee-Radweg (Lake Constance Cycle Route;
www.bodensee-radweg.com) encircles the lake, weaving through fi elds of ripening wheat,
vineyards, orchards and shady avenues of chestnut and plane. Most train stations in the
region rent out bikes. La Canoa (www.lacanoa.com, in German) has canoe rental points in
all major towns on the lake; see the website for details.