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All year long the railway takes you up to the highest mountain at Lake Constance, the Pfänder, which offers an unforgettable sight.
Are you easily bored during your holidays? Need that bit of extra entertainment? How about a place where four countries meet? How about a place where you can go swimming, diving, sailing, climbing, hiking, bird watching, skiing, golfing, sightseeing, wellnessing? How about a place of records — the biggest lake, the most castles, the greatest fun? Then you are in for Lake Constance, the “Bodensee,” as it is called in German.
Lovers of history, architecture, all types of sports, those with family and those who seek quietude all get what they are looking for at this truly international lake with shores in Austria, Germany, Liechtenstein and Switzerland. One who knows best what to do and where to go is Markus Böhm. He works for the International Bodensee Tourismus GmbH (www.bodensee.eu). Here are his top recommendations:
What could be more romantic? Enjoy dinner on board while the ferry takes you right to the Bregenz Festival.
“What comes to mind first is Mainau Island,” Böhm said about one of the top attractions at Lake Constance. “It’s a flower paradise with a tropical greenhouse and a botanical park overlooking the lake.”
Another major attraction is the Zeppelin Museum in Friedrichshafen.
“They partially rebuilt the LZ 129 Hindenburg, a 245 meter aircraft, and you can actually enter it,” he said.
A 3D show takes you through the technical history of the years from 1900 to 1937.
The Pfänder Mountain (1064 meters) is the most famous point of the region and offers a unique view of Lake Constance and its four countries.
“It can either be climbed or you take the Pfänder railway from Bregenz,” Böhm said.
The archeological Museum Unteruhldingen represents one of the cultural highlights of the region. It is one of the largest open-air museums in Europe. The reconstructed pile dwellings show the history of early farmers and traders of the Stone Age. It is also a Unesco World Heritage site, Böhm said.
“For those who love music, the Bregenzer Festspiele is a must,” Böhm said. “To see great artists perform ‘The Magic Flute,’ for example, on the floating stage is a real experience!”
This stage offers seats for 7,000 visitors. The Bregenz Festival is a performing arts festival held annually between July and August in the Austrian town of Bregenz. For families, it’s the monkey mountain of Salem.
Flying over Lake Constance in a Zeppelin is a once in a lifetime experience. (www.zeppelinflug.de)
“They have got some 200 Barbary apes living there under almost nature like conditions, sharing the area with fallow deer,” Böhm said. “It’s the biggest outdoor enclosure of Germany.”
Signs, interactive shows and hosted feeds teach visitors about the animals.
And another suggestion Böhm just had to point out: The castle of Meersburg is the oldest inhabited castle in Germany — absolutely worth a visit.
Indeed, Air Force spouse Casey Coté, living and traveling in Germany, confirms it’s worth a visit.
“The view of Meersburg from the ferry as it pulls away from the shore is stunning,” she writes in her travel blog “We Took the Road Less Traveled” (www.wetooktheroadlesstraveled.com). “The colorful wood-timbered houses up against the teal blue lake is like nothing I’ve ever seen before. It’s so unexpected to have such a tropical, beachy type place bordering Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Like something out of a storybook, for sure!”
But our ultimate suggestion is to take the Lake Constance ferries — be it for a short ride or a day trip — and experience some of the 1,000 options, because whatever your choice may be, it can’t be wrong. “Lake Constance was an absolute dream,” Coté said.
