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Travel report: Around Lake Constance
From our guest Rolf
I would like to take this opportunity to put down on paper some of my impressions and observations from these active and eventful days, which may also contain some suggestions as to what you as the organizer could improve or even make you smile a little. I would like to start by saying that the tour I did with my best friend was a present from my children for my 70th birthday. As my daily reports back home were probably tinged with exhaustion, I was asked whether I considered the trip a gift or a punishment, but I was proud to report that it was: A gift, of course! I also took the risk of getting a weather forecast for the Lake Constance region for the end of August on the Internet when I booked at the beginning of July. In retrospect, it almost sounds like a miracle - it was 100% correct (with rainfall before and after our departure)! The weather conditions during the tour were really ideal for cycling.
On the day of arrival (after driving 820 km from Berlin to Constance), we wanted to pay a visit to old friends in Lengwil (CH). 8.5 km from the hotel in Constance was actually a good workout, but unfortunately our friends hadn't mentioned that there were about 150 meters of altitude to overcome and that Google Maps doesn't work if the roaming function isn't activated. Detours were therefore inevitable, so the host - with his e-bike - first looked for us and fortunately found us. The return journey - always downhill - was a small compensation for the arduous ascent.
In the end, it was 222 km, and although it was described as an easy tour, some sections were quite challenging and I had to push according to the motto "If you love your bike, you get off and push". I had also deliberately decided against the electric version in order to beat my inner bastard, even if I had doubts about this decision at times, especially when I was exposed to the pitying looks of the mostly older cycle tourists.
Coming from Berlin, we felt like we had been transported to another world. Everything was very clean and well-kept, gardens in bloom everywhere, vineyards, orchards, meadows and forests, green wherever you looked. Given the weather conditions in August 2022, this is a color that you have to look for with a magnifying glass in the Berlin-Brandenburg region, where you are more likely to find a yellow savannah or steppe landscape. At Lake Constance, everything grows and thrives as it should. The corn is 3 meters high almost everywhere. Not only the sun, but also the rain seems to have really spoiled the region in 2022. Apples, pears and grapes hang heavy on the trees and vines. The quality and taste of the fruit on offer everywhere therefore need fear no comparison this year, as we were able to see for ourselves. Countless tent and camping sites, bathing spots and many visitors who simply wanted to spend relaxing hours or days at Lake Constance. They did what we did and simply enjoyed the beauty of the region.
If this is the first time you have undertaken an organized tour by bike over such a distance of 200 km, you are naturally curious to see what awaits you. The answer is short and sweet: a paradise for cyclists! Wide paths, good signposting, with road signs that take a bit of getting used to ("Excluding abutters") and plenty of places to take a break and top up your water supply. Sometimes it was only the pedestrians on the road with their dogs that got in the way. In some places, e.g. in Constance, we had the feeling that cyclists had really taken over. Cycle lanes (not cycle paths) run through the city, which are used intensively not only by visitors but also by locals.
As a "slow cyclist", I was in the minority and was able to enjoy the landscape in peace and quiet. At the same time, I was repeatedly surprised by the sound of the sea coming from different directions. The sound of the sea on Lake Constance? Anyone being overtaken by battalions of e-bikers, wide-tyre cyclists or amateur athletes on racing bikes at high speed (painted speed limits of 20 or 30 km were purely tokenistic) was very happy about the noise, because otherwise I might not have noticed the sound of the sea at all with limited hearing.
Obviously I didn't study the offers from Radweg-Reisen intensively enough, because some people must have booked the round trip as a half-day or one-day tour, they passed us by at such a pace, and these were not isolated cases! Yes, sometimes there were so many people on the route (especially between Meersburg and Friedrichshafen) that traffic jams on cycle paths should also be included in the traffic reports on the radio.
Perhaps there is another reason for this speed? With the large number of global corporations based around the lake, such as ZF, Airbus, MTU and Stadler, all of which are somehow involved in drive systems, they are using the interest in cycling to test as many new developments and prototypes as possible. At least some of them could see that you could have easily swapped a small car for one. It is estimated that millions of euros were spent on all the bikes that were on the lake.
Another special feature of the route was that it runs parallel to the regional railway lines for at least a third of the way. Trains run at very short intervals, especially on the Swiss section. Crossing the tracks and closed barriers have certainly been planned to always give cyclists a welcome break. Sometimes I had the feeling that some particularly sporty riders were trying to keep up with the trains. As the distances between stops are relatively short, I'm sure some managed to do so.
Of course, there are lots of families with their children on bikes, most of whom overtook me without too much trouble. Most of them were packed full to be prepared for any problems, and often with trailers, but 80% of them were carrying dogs and not small children.
The activities of cycling travelers also have an impact on other branches of tourism. The ferries, e.g. the one from Wallhausen to Überlingen, had to remove all the benches below deck because 80% of all guests came by bike and they all had to be parked. The quality of the overnight stays (3*) was fine, the breakfast buffets plentiful so that we could take in enough calories for the day's tour ahead. I have never slept in a hotel that has been mentioned in documents since 1390 (Hotel Messmer in Bregenz). Sometimes even the parking spaces in the parking garages were scarce, but the fact that there was no second comforter to be found in the Ibis Konstanz, despite asking, seems a little unusual.
The sweat (for me) was pouring, shirts were therefore only ever intended for one-off use and every downhill section automatically brought a feeling of well-being due to the cooling headwind, which was only surpassed when we moved into our rooms after completing the day's stage, took a 30-minute nap and then had a shower. Almost like a new day!
There were also plenty of opportunities along the route to take a dip in Lake Constance. We particularly recommend the Holzensteiner Badi (just after Romanshorn) with excellent sanitary facilities, all free of charge. With a water temperature of 24°C and an unfortunately stony surface, it was a good opportunity to freshen up.
Due to the physical exertion, we were able to do without lunch - also due to a lack of appetite - but it tasted all the better in the evening, accompanied of course by the hissing of the various barley drinks. In culinary terms, there is a lot on offer that you would have to look for elsewhere. I'm thinking of the buffalo ice cream in different variations (I didn't have the courage to try it), the numerous farm stores, which had everything from meat or regional sausages, juices, fruit, jams (onion jam!) to various types of cheese on offer. Farmers in other regions would be happy about the raw milk price of 1.30 euros/liter. Obviously there were also current deficits: unpackaged strawberry ice cream was not on offer in Austria or Switzerland!
The inhabitants of the region in all 3 countries seem to be very attached to their homeland and nature, because so many open spaces directly on the lake that have not been converted into building land testify to an astonishing will to resist on the part of the owners. However, there is probably no detached house that can be bought for less than 1 million euros, we were not in the "poorest" area of Germany.
Our tour can also be seen as an excursion into the more than eventful history of Central Europe. Starting with the Council of Constance, the multitude of historical, but also modern, always well-preserved churches of different faiths or castles, the traces left behind by the rulers as they marched through the region, the technical feats such as the Zeppelin and Wanckel, right up to the end of the war in 1945 with its destruction, but also the fact that Lindau was only assigned to the Free State of Bavaria in 1955. We didn't know much of this and only found out about it here.
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Sacred Heart Church Bregenz
Montfort Castle
We also had to get used to some of the prices, e.g. a 30-minute Zeppelin tour for 290 euros, fuel price differences of over 40 cents between Berlin and the German Lake Constance region (there's no need to discuss Swiss prices) - you have to digest that first. The regular "water level reports" to our loved ones at home with pictures and comments served to convince them that we were coping well with the unaccustomed efforts. We only reported on the necessary treatments with rubbing alcohol or night-time calf cramps after our return. 2 kg less body weight (mainly converted into sweating), but that is not so noticeable and is compensated for in a few days.
On the last evening in Constance, sitting in a beer garden on the Rhine, enjoying the sunset at 27°C, a cool beer and Swabian onion roast with Spätzlen, we could only rejoice in the successful, eventful and highly interesting tour.
Some travel tips should be added to the excellent information material, such as:
- a visit to Lindau city center is only possible by bike from 06 - 10 am, after that you can only push it through the crowds;
- a visit to the Pfänder in Bregenz should be an integral part, because there is no better view of Lake Constance and its region. But don't put your bike in the cable car, as you won't be able to get up or down, especially in the late afternoon;
- check after each day whether the tires still have enough air. It's worth it, because afterwards it's much, much easier (personal experience), especially on the asphalted sections
- the Kunsthalle Würth in Rorschach with lots of modern, but very high-quality art (certainly with dizzying insurance sums) and a good cup of coffee on the terrace with a wonderful view of the lake
- Montfort Castle in Langenargen with the 134-step spiral staircase to the top of the tower. Perhaps the tourist information office will offer free blood pressure measurements as a special service so that visitors know whether they might need a break after all;
Pfänder Cable Car
What we definitely don't want to forget:
The friendly welcome from the staff (a colleague reminded us of Kim Clijsters) with drinks and ice cream, our amazement at the huge number of bikes and e-bikes ready for collection (no wonder, the red bikes were impossible to miss everywhere), the problem-free provision of parking (this had not been possible by phone for weeks beforehand), the free air pump we were given and the good mood we were put in, knowing full well what would be physically demanded of us over the next few days. The suggested route with progressively more strenuous stages proved to be exactly the right one, which allowed for a wonderful finale with a boat trip from the port of Constance and a meal in the beer garden on the banks of the Rhine. We will keep these days in very pleasant memory, the efforts are already forgotten, and with the quality of your work you have done advertising for traveling by bike in the best sense.
