Lake Constance or Bodensee*

The 210 km cycle route around Lake Constance is one of the most popular cycling routes in Germany. It is fairly easy to see why. The route is basically flat and consists in the main of dedicated cycle paths away from traffic. From the apple orchards of the northern shore you have superb views of the Alps to the south. There are hotels, guest houses, B&Bs galore. Many farms in Thurgau (Thurgovia) on the southern Swiss side of the lake and also just to the north in Germany offer families the chance to sleep in the straw. It is a lot less prickly than it sounds. All of the towns and villages around the lake offer good swimming and boating facilities. The food in restaurants is well cooked, comes in immense portions and at least in Germany is reasonably priced. If your pins give out on you there are lake steamers and trains to carry you on. If you fancy a bit of culture: Bregenz, at the eastern Austrian end of the lake has an annual festival between the middle of July and the end of August, the high point of which is opera on a floating stage just off the prom. At the other end of the lake the village of Stein am Rhein is a masterpiece of painted houses and mediaeval twiddly bits and the Rhine Falls in Schaffhausen are not that far away. Fans of engineering and good design should not miss the Zeppelin Museum in Friedrichshafen. You and your bike can take the cable car from Bregenz and then either do the Diretissimo back to Bregenz or wander off along quiet roads into and out of the Allgäu (Germany) before descending into Bregenz at breakneck speed.

Alteration: 29 June 2012: We have written a jolly little book about the cycle routes around the lake called “Mainly in High Gear - A cycling guide around Lake Constance” which is now only available as an e-book from Smashwords (http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/173312) and from your local Amazon website.

*I can never understand why the lake is called the Bodensee (Lower Lake or Bottom Lake) in German. I suppose one could argue that it is at the bottom of a map of Germany, but the Swiss use the same name and the lake is at the top of their country on a map. The other thought is that the lake is in a depression, but then all lakes are in depressions. Ah well, just accept it.