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

From Lake Constance to the Danube and the Allgäu by bike. Our guests Ute, Elke, Franziska and Sven opted for this cycle tour through the Lake Constance hinterland. In their report, they talk about their great experiences and adventures. With two cars and their own bicycles, the four of them drove from Stuttgart to Litzelstetten, above Constance, to the Hotel Volapük. They had already stayed at this hotel the year before on their first cycle tour around Lake Constance.

Day 1 Litzelstetten - Schaffhausen

After a hearty breakfast, we left the Hotel Volapük in the direction of Switzerland. First, we drove to Constance and made a detour to the very lively harbor. We then cycled upstream on the left bank of the Rhine towards Stein am Rhein. In between, we stopped briefly at the beautiful Rhine promenade. At Hemishofen, we switched from the left bank of the Rhine to the right bank. After a strenuous climb through the forest and a beautiful descent towards Gailingen, we arrived at the beautiful wooden bridge in Diessenhofen. After a short break to talk things over, we quickly set off on the last 20 km, as we feared a rain shower. After almost 60 km, we arrived happily and safely at the Hotel Sorell in Schaffhausen, where our luggage was already waiting in our rooms. The bikes are parked here in the backyard, which is not covered and is not locked during the day. After relaxing in our small but clean rooms, which were a great compromise of modern rooms in old walls, we set off to explore the beautiful old town of Schaffhausen. We then fortified ourselves for the next day with a good, expensive dinner.

Attention: In Switzerland, everyone accepted our €, but it is often "converted" 1:1 so that you have to pay a lot more. In addition, you will then only be given out in Swiss francs. Tip: Either exchange beforehand or pay by card.

Day 2 Schaffhausen - Radolfzell

We were warmly welcomed and served breakfast by a very attentive "waiter", who almost read our wishes from our eyes and was able to fulfill them all. After breakfast, we set off for the Rhine Falls in glorious weather. Once we arrived at the Rhine Falls, we parked our bikes at the top of the steps and walked down them to the jetty.

Attention: There are always lots of tourists at the Rhine Falls! and there are warnings about pickpockets.
Important note: The vouchers for the boat tours MUST be exchanged at the ticket office (even if the staff say otherwise, as we did). E-bikes can be charged here in public.

Back at our bikes, we first had to climb the steep slope that leads to the Rhine Falls before we could really start our tour to Radolfzell. We crossed the border at Öhningen for the last time and then cycled along the lake all the way to Radolfzell. We took a break that day at a lido that we had already visited the year before. On our second day, we cycled just over 50 km. In Radolfzell, we spent the night at the Hotel zur Schmiede. The hotel is close to the train station and has a large garage with plenty of space to store our bikes.

An insider tip in the city center is the Oma Liesele restaurant where we had dinner. Oma Liesele is a quaint restaurant with lots of charm, very good food and fun staff. Highly recommended!

Day 3 Radolfzell - Mühlheim

After a good night's sleep in beautiful rooms - we even had a suite - we were treated to a good, hearty breakfast. As the morning was already very rainy, we decided to travel part of the way by train. So we took the train from Radolfzell to Immendingen. Once we arrived there, we first had to struggle up the stairs from the platform before we were able to set off towards Tuttlingen in the light rain. We stopped in Tuttlingen to warm up, as we were repeatedly caught in rain showers during the journey. When we arrived in Mühlheim, after almost 25 km and a steep climb, we unfortunately met NOBODY at our accommodation, the Gasthof Hirsch, and the telephone numbers given were also empty at first. After a long wait, we received a call back and were told that we would find our room keys under the doormat in an envelope. As we had our own bikes with us, we were allowed to leave them in the cozy boiler room (enough for 4 bikes). According to the phone call, however, the "red bikes" (from Radweg-Reisen) would have to stay outside on the unpaved bike racks. Unfortunately, the restaurant belonging to the accommodation had closed unexpectedly, so we ended up stopping for dinner at Gasthof Linde and had a great evening with very good food.

Day 4 Mühlheim - Sigmaringen

The next morning, a spartan breakfast awaited us after a good night's sleep in the rustic and spartan rooms. Once we had freed our bikes from the boiler room, we were able to set off on our most beautiful stage to Sigmaringen. Although we only had mixed but dry weather that day, we were more than compensated by a beautiful ride through the Danube Valley. Unfortunately, we didn't find anywhere to stop for a break and refreshments along the entire route. We only made a brief stop at Beuron Abbey. In Sigmaringen, the beautiful castle awaited us in full sunshine. After ice cream and cake in the boathouse, we drove up to our accommodation Jägerhof. Our luggage, a friendly owner and some of the nicest rooms of the entire tour were already waiting for us here. The rooms are newly renovated and modernly furnished, have a balcony and a super nice bathroom. There is a large garage for the bikes, even with a bike rack and plenty of charging points for e-bikes. Free coffee and tea are available in the entrance area until 10 pm. After dinner, we took a short walk to the castle and then back to the Hotel Garni Jägerhof, where we were able to play cards in a lounge.

Day 5 Sigmaringen - Bad Waldsee

In contrast to the super nice, modern rooms, the next morning a rather simple breakfast buffet awaited us in a rustic ambiance. Nevertheless, we were able to start our longest stage to Bad Waldsee (approx. 60 km) refreshed, and we stopped off in Bad Saulgau in glorious weather. We found the Hotel Grüner Baum in Bad Waldsee very quickly, the entrance to the hotel and the bike room was just around the corner, where the restaurant for hotel guests is also a little quieter. The bikes were parked in a guest/bar room that was no longer in use, under a chandelier - how classy. However, the way there is very arduous, as it goes over the seated terrace and through two doors. The cleanliness of one of our rooms also left a lot to be desired at first, but was cleaned after we complained. After dinner at the hotel, we took a leisurely stroll through the beautiful little town and along the lake.

Day 6 Bad Waldsee - Wangen im Allgäu

Before we set off on the shortest route in bright sunshine, we were able to fortify ourselves with a good breakfast. On the beautiful route to Wangen, you also pass a Zeppelin memorial and there are some great descents along the way. Due to the short distance, we arrived at the Hotel Alte Post for the first and only time that day before our luggage. But we received a very warm welcome. The beautiful and very individual rooms have a lot of charm, as does the entire old post office building. The bikes are parked behind the hotel in a kind of inner courtyard, which is locked. The luggage arrived at the hotel at around 4 pm. Around the hotel, there are plenty of options for finding a suitable restaurant.

Day 7 Wangen im Allgäu - Litzelstetten

We enjoyed a solid breakfast with super friendly and attentive service in a lovely room. We then set off on our last stage. We had decided to take the direct route to Friedrichshafen. This route took us past beautiful hop fields, where we took a break in a lovely brewery beer garden. We then continued through the hop fields to Friedrichshafen. In Friedrichshafen we had to wait for a while as the first catamaran we wanted to take for the crossing to Constance was already full of bikes. So we got straight back into the waiting line for the next catamaran - an hour later. After the almost hour-long crossing to Constance, we set off to climb the last few kilometers past Mainau up to Litzelstetten to our beautiful starting hotel Volapük - phew.