Lake Constance
Central Europe'S Third Largest Lake, Shared With Switzerland And Austria; The Monastic Island Of Reichenau (UNESCO 2000), The Garden Island Of Mainau, The Zeppelin And Prehistoric Pile Dwelling Museums, And A Lake Wide Ferry Network · Konstanz, Baden-Wurttemberg
Lake Constance, the Bodensee in German, is a 63 km sheet of water on the north side of the Alps shared by Germany, Switzerland and Austria, so a single day can take in three countries by ferry. The German shore runs from Konstanz, whose old town survived the war largely untouched because of its position against the Swiss border, east past Meersburg and its ferry, the gardens of Mainau, the reconstructed prehistoric pile dwellings at Unteruhldingen, the rococo pilgrimage church at Birnau, Friedrichshafen with the Zeppelin Museum, and Lindau on its own island in Bavaria. Two separate UNESCO inscriptions touch the lake: the monastic island of Reichenau, listed in 2000, and the prehistoric pile dwellings around the Alps, a serial site whose best-known museum is at Unteruhldingen. The water is warm enough to swim in high summer and lidos line both shores. Practical truths: a cycle circuit of roughly 260 km rings the lake, the ferries are the real transport, the lake has its own flashing storm-warning beacons, and in late autumn the shore can sit under fog for weeks.
The German shore of the lake from Konstanz east to Lindau, with the Reichenau and Mainau islands and the Swiss and Austrian shores opposite, Konstanz, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany
The lake, the shore paths, the cycle circuit and the public bathing places are open all year. The main season runs roughly April to October: the white-fleet passenger ships, the Konstanz to Friedrichshafen catamaran, the pile-dwelling museum and most lidos work then and close or go to a skeleton timetable afterwards. The Konstanz to Meersburg car ferry is the exception and runs all year, around the clock, every day. Mainau is open daily year round with shorter winter hours and far less to see. Museums in Friedrichshafen and Konstanz tend to close Mondays, as most German state and municipal museums do, with last admission about an hour before closing - confirm all of this locally.