Travel report: From Lake Constance to the Danube and the Allgäu

From Lake Constance to the Danube and the Allgäu by bike. Our guests Michael and Ilse opted for this cycle tour through the Lake Constance hinterland. In their report, they talk about their experiences and adventures.

Day 1 - Arrival in Constance

After several hours by car, we arrived in Constance with our bikes at around 2.00 pm. We received a very friendly welcome at the Radwegreisen office and were able to refresh ourselves with coffee, cold drinks and a cooling ice cream. We then checked into the hotel and parked the car easily in the Radwegreisen parking lot.
In the afternoon, we still had time to explore the old town of Constance. From Niederburg Castle, we passed the town theater and the Dominican convent of Zoffingen as well as numerous houses painted in medieval style. The Steigenberger Hotel, located directly on the lake, was also worth a look. We then visited the cathedral with its beautiful cloister. We found the crypt with the exhibited Constance gold discs, which used to be on the outside of the cathedral, particularly interesting.
After a leisurely dinner with a view of the Seerhein at the Constanzer Wirtshaus, we ended the evening with a walk along the banks of the Rhine.

Day 2 - Constance - Schaffhausen

After a hearty breakfast, we began our cycle tour from Constance in fine weather, a very beautiful ride close to the shore. We therefore took our time and took several breaks to enjoy the view over the lake.
In Stein am Rhein, we finally visited the famous old town at the foot of Hohenklingen Castle with the St. Georgen monastery and the many half-timbered houses and facade paintings. The oldest and most valuable façade painting in Switzerland (Haus zum weißen Adler) could be admired on Rathausplatz opposite the town hall.
To our destination for today, Schaffhausen, we now cycled partly through the forest or alongside the road. The Hotel zum Park in Schaffhausen was not so easy to find. We had to push our bikes through the pedestrian zone for quite a while.
After checking in, we set off on a walk through Schaffhausen with its pretty town houses and the cathedral with its cloister - a place of tranquillity. We found a cozy beach bar on the Rhine and enjoyed our light meal again with a view of the Rhine. Refreshed, we felt fit enough to climb the Munot fortress on the way back. The 277 steps up to the top rewarded us with a beautiful view.

Day 3 - Schaffhausen - Stein am Rhein - Radolfzell

The day began with a trip to the Rhine Falls through heavy
traffic. But the boat trip in bright sunshine rewarded us for our efforts. Climbing the cliff with thundering water all around us was also a fun experience. Water splashed into the boat when we turned. However, we suspected that the skipper was a little more aggressive in the waves because a group of Swiss children were in our boat. The cheering of the children was great fun for us too. We headed back to Schaffhausen and then via Stein am Rhein towards Radolfzell. After a coffee break by the lake, we visited the Otto Dix House. There was a lot of information about Otto Dix's family and explanations of some of his paintings and society at the time. The garden of the house has a wonderful view of the lake.
In Radolfzell, time only allowed a short walk with the town wall and Griener Winkel, as well as the Kappedäschle fountain. After dinner, we enjoyed another view of the lake in the harbor with a beautiful evening sky.

Day 4 - Radolfzell - Mühlheim - Fridingen

Or also: Adventure trip with Deutsche Bahn

As it was raining in the morning, we decided to take the train from Radolfzell to Engen. In Engen, we visited the old town with its carnival fountain and beautiful old houses. Unfortunately, finding the cycle path from Engen turned out to be more difficult than expected and as we were advised to continue on to Immendingen anyway due to the steep section that followed, we decided to continue by train. The weather was also still very unstable.
In short, the train was overcrowded and we didn't notice at first that the right-hand door on the bike compartment was broken. We could therefore only give a friendly wave to Immendingen and were forced to continue to Donaueschingen. Here, too, the exit was on the right and the next stop would have been Karlsruhe. With combined forces, we pushed, squeezed and lifted our bikes through the passenger compartment while one of us blocked the door until both bikes were out.
But there was a happy ending: from Donaueschingen, we rolled along the Danube on a beautiful Danube cycle path through meadows and fields with wooded hills. A break shortly after Immendingen in the middle of the forest was wildly romantic and shortly afterwards we reached the site of the complete Danube seepage near Möhringen. However, as it had been raining, there was still some water to be seen. We cycled via Tuttlingen to Mühlheim and from there through the picturesque Upper Danube Valley Nature Park with its rocks and moorland to Fridingen.

Day 6 - Sigmaringen - Break

We had decided to take a day off from cycling and used it to take a tour of Sigmaringen with its striking castle. After the parish church of St. John (Baroque), we visited the Hohenzollern castle with an audio guide. Of particular interest was the ancestral gallery, the bathroom, the dressing room with walk-in closet above and the black salon with graphite-blackened ceiling and console tables with a slate top.
In the afternoon, a walk to St. Joseph's Chapel with a view of the castle was on the agenda, as well as the Prince's Garden and a walk to the banks of the Danube.
We had a lovely dinner in the boathouse on the banks of the Danube.

Day 7 - Sigmaringen - Bad Waldsee

We cycled past Scheer on the Danube cycle path in fine weather and from Hundersingen to Bad Saulgau. Fortunately, we took a break there, as we survived a heavy downpour while resting in a sheltered restaurant. From Bad Saulgau, we cycled past wide meadows and woodland to Aulendorf and from there via Tannhausen on a gravel forest path to Bad Waldsee. The historic old town with its town hall, museum and hospital church is surrounded by 2 lakes, the town lake and the castle lake. A shanty choir gave a very professional concert in front of our hotel and the town hall in the evening and attracted many spectators.

Day 8 - Bad Waldsee - Wangen

The sun greeted us in the morning. From Bad Waldsee, we headed towards the Allgäu via Ankenreute on the Danube-Lake Constance cycle path to Wolfegg. We cycled through a beautiful wide landscape with meadows and cows, horses and wooded slopes. Unfortunately, we didn't have a clear view of the Alpine panorama. We continued on to Kißlegg until we reached Wangen after a few detours. Wangen has a beautiful old town with beautifully decorated houses, the Martinstor gate and the Martinskirche church, as well as numerous interesting and funny fountains such as the Eselsbrunnen, the Taugenichts or the verdruckte Allgäuer, which sprays water at irregular intervals to the delight of the children. We had our dinner with a view of the pretty town wall.

Day 9 - Wangen via Lindau and Friedrichshafen to Constance

We now headed towards our starting point and destination via the Danube-Lake Constance cycle path in glorious weather. We cycled through the beautiful Allgäu countryside with a few climbs and rapid descents to Neukirch and the hop-growing areas with their characteristic poles, then on to Langnau and Degersee. There we decided, as it was still early, to take the detour via Lindau Island. There, in the harbor with its characteristic lion and tower, we again enjoyed the view of Lake Constance. After a brief look at the town hall in the old town, we continued along the Lake Constance cycle path via Wasserburg, Kressbronn and Langenargen to Friedrichshafen. We arrived there just in time for the departure of the catamaran, which took us to Constance at high speed. The catamaran trip was another highlight and a wonderful end to this varied cycle tour.

Of course, we had to visit the Constance inn again for our farewell meal. During a stroll through Constance in the evening, we discovered even more unknown corners and visited the harbor lit up at night with its lights reflected in the water.

Day 10 - Departure

The next morning, we set off on our journey home with many wonderful memories of this extraordinary cycle tour in our luggage.