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A highly enjoyable cycling holiday around beautiful Lake Constance on flat cycle paths and quiet roads. Stay in charming lakeside towns each night as you pedal around the lake through Germany, Switzerland and Austria. This trip also includes a visit to the impressive Rhine Falls further downstream.
This holiday is all about relaxed lakeside cycling on level cycle paths and quiet lanes through sublime scenery and medieval towns. Starting from the pretty town of Constance you’ll cycle in a clockwise direction around the lake. Along the way you’ll explore delightful medieval towns lined with charming half-timbered houses and cobbled streets.
Stein am Rhein
The lake is your constant companion with sailing boats gliding backwards and forwards across its surface. Bathing beaches appear at regular intervals tempting you in for a cooling dip and in the distance the alps create an impressive backdrop to the idyllic scene.
The lake is effectively a large bulge in the Rhine river and this holiday includes a ride downstream along the river bank to the Rhine Falls where the mighty river plummets 75 feet. A boat trip gets you up close and personal to the maelstrom.
Other highlights include the beautiful old village of Meersburg, the incredible Zeppelin Museum at Friedrichshafen, the charming island town of Lindau and the muralled houses surrounding the town square at Stein am Rhein.
All the way around the lake you will enjoy wonderful scenery and easy cycling. The picture-perfect towns and villages provide comfortable places to stay and a great choice of restaurants, bars and cafes.
The route follows dedicated cycle paths along the lake-shore. The terrain is mostly level with very few climbs and therefore this tour will suit anyone with a basic level of fitness.
Most of the route follows level lakeside cycling paths and there is very little climbing. Regular ferries link all the lakeside towns, providing a ‘get-out’ solution if you wish to curtail the day’s ride for any reason.
Arrive in Constance and check-in at your first night’s hotel. After settling in we highly recommend a walk around this beautiful, lakeside town to soak up the atmosphere. The pedestrianised old town with it’s wonderful muralled buildings is gorgeous as is the promenade along the lake shore.
You will spend the night in Constance or a nearby village depending on availability and the accommodation standard booked.
Your first ride leads you along the lake shore to the old imperial town of Radolfzell. You then pedal through the pretty countryside of the Bodanrück Peninsula passing through the charming villages of Güttingen and Stahringen along the way. Before long you arrive on the northern shore of the upper lake. We recommend a stop in Sipplingen to admire the quaint half-timbered houses so typical of this area before cycling the final 7 kilometers to the charming town of Überlingen where you will spend the night. It’s a bustling little place with narrow winding streets, more of those half-timbered houses and a pleasant lakeside promenade.You will spend the night in Überlingen or a nearby village depending on availability and the accommodation standard booked.
Today you carry on along the northern shore of the lake. After 6 km you reach the village of Unteruhldingen. Here you can visit the interactive Lake Dwelling Museum and learn about how the locals lived during the bronze and stone ages.
Pedaling on along the pretty lake shore you soon arrive in Meersburg. This is a gorgeous little medieval place with a castle, a lovely lakeside promenade and a beautiful town square. If you like to stop somewhere for lunch on-route then this is the place. The level terrain and stunning scenery help to eat up the miles and before you know it you arrive in the town of Friedrichshafen where you will spend the night. After checking into your hotel take a stroll along the promenade or visit to the fascinating Zeppelin Museum which offers a comprehensive history of airship construction – in case you’re wondering, Ferdinand von Zeppelin established his famous dirigible factory here at the end of the 19th century, hence the airship connection.
From Friedrichshafen the cycle path leads you through a peaceful, protected park where nature still holds sway. After a few kilometres the route rejoins the lakeshore at Langenargen. This is pleasant place to stop for coffee and you could also consider climbing the tower of Castle Montfort for some marvellous view across the lake. The route then leads along the lake shore, past the villages of Kressbron, Nonnenhorn and Wasserburg to a bridge which delivers you to the island town of Lindau. The pedestrianised centre and harbour of this charming little island town are a delight to explore by bike or on foot.
After Lindau, the lakeside cycle path passes from Germany into Austria and shortly after that you arrive in the elegant lakeside town of Bregenz. The town is famous for its open-air theatre located directly on the shoreline with the stage set in the lake itself. Every summer the theatre stages lavish productions of famous operas. It's a vibrant bustling place with plenty going on. We recommend taking the Pfänderbahn cable car up the mountain for some absolutely stunning views of the lake to the west and the alps to the south.
You will spend the night in either Lindau or Bregenz.
After leaving Bregenz you reach the Rhine River where it flows into the southern end of the lake. Lake Constance is actually a huge bulge in the Rhine River and as you cross the Rhine you will be leaving Austria and entering Switzerland. A pleasant and peaceful ride e through a nature reserve delivers you to the lake's western shoreline. From her it's not far to your overnight accommodation in the village of Rorschach Arbon or a little further on in Arbon.
Today's ride completes the circle back to Constance with an enjoyable ride along the lake’s Swiss shore. In Romanshorn maybe stop for a coffee on the quayside and watch the boats coming and going in the lake's largest harbour. From here, the route leads you up the western shore, past a succession of small, sleepy lakeside villages, to Constance where you will spend the night.
Lake Constance is actually two lakes and so far you have cycled around the larger Upper Lake (Obersee). Today you set out along the southern shore of the Lower Lake (Untersee). The cycle path leads you through some lovely old lakeside villages such as Ermatingen, Berlingen and Steckborn – all good choices for coffee stops. At the point the lake narrows to once again become the Rhine River you arrive in the medieval town of Stein am Rhein. It’s worth spending a bit of time here so park the bikes and take a wander through the lovely old square lined with ornately painted town-houses. There’s also a lovely riverside promenade with plenty of inviting cafes and restaurants.
After leaving Stein am Rhein the cycle path leads you through forests and across open farmland. The Rhine River is never far away and before long you arrive in the Swiss town of Schaffhausen. This beautiful old town has a pleasant pedestrianised area and two charming town squares. It also has a natural, outdoor pool located in the Rhine River itself – a unique experience.
It’s only a short ride from Schaffhausen downstream to the impressive Rhine Falls. Here the mighty river plunges 75 feet with 600,000 litres of water passing every second. Your holiday includes a boat trip out to the base of the falls allowing you to experience the sheer power of the thundering torrent close-up.
Afterwards, mount-up and start to make your way back to Lake Constance – this time following a route through pleasant countryside on the other bank of the Rhine river. At Stein am Rhein you cross onto the Höri peninsula and cycle along the lake shore to Gaienhofen where you take a short ferry ride across to Reichenau. Once an island, Reichenau is now connected to the mainland via a causeway. Enjoy your final cycle across this fertile, scenic strip of land back to Constance where yiou spend the last night of your holiday
After breakfast it is time to check-out and head for home or your next adventure.
On this tour you can choose between a regular bike, a regular plus bike or an E-bike.
Regular bike: Is an alloy framed unisex model with 27 speeds and a comfortable, relaxed riding position, perfect for a leisure cycling holiday. Minimum height is 145cm. Male specific frames with a crossbar are available from a height of 175cm. Bikes come equipped with a pannier, lock and handlebar bag plus a repair kit per booking.
Regular plus bikes: Offers a sportier riding position and a step up in terms of components (hydraulic disk brakes, 30 speed Shimano XT gears). They also come with a suspension seat post. Male specific frames with a crossbar are available from a height of 180cm. Bikes come equipped with a pannier, lock and handlebar bag plus a repair kit per booking.
Electric bikes: These unisex/step through electric bikes are a popular option on this route and ensure riders can enjoy the scenery along the way, whilst not working too hard at the climbs. Bikes come equipped with a pannier, lock and handlebar bag plus a repair kit per booking.
Helmets are not supplied, so you will need to bring your own.
Below you will find examples of the accommodations typically used on this tour. Please note that the hotels we book for you may differ slightly from those described but they will certainly be of a similar standard.
Comfort: Comfortable 2 and 3 star hotels and guesthouses.
Constance/Litzelstetten: Hotel Ko'Ono
Überlingen/Ludwigshafen: Romer Überlingen
Friedrichshafen: Rebstock Friedrichshafen
Bregenz: Zecher Lindau
Arbon/Rorschach: Frohsinn Arbon
Constance/Litzelstetten: B&B Konstanz
Schaffhausen: Rüden Schaffhausen
Superior: Good quality 3 and 4 star hotels.
Constance: Hotel Halm
Überlingen: Parkhotel St Leonard
Friedrichshafen: City Krone Friedrichshafen
Bregenz: Messmer Bregenz
Arbon: Hotel Römerhof
Schaffhausen: Hotel Kronenhof
Local taxes
Some hotels have started to charge a local/tourist tax. These taxes are not included in the sale price of the tour and must be paid directly by you at check-in or checkout at the hotels. This fee varies and is ever changing but as a guide, you may be asked to pay between €1-€4 per person per night.
Fly to Zurich airport – Innsbruck, Munich and Stuttgart airports are also viable alternatives but slightly further away.
From Zurich airport there are regular trains direct to Constance and the journey time is around 1 and a half hours.
Research trains here.
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