Lake Constance

The Rhine comes in at the eastern end of the Bodensee and leaves at the western, and in between the lake is wide enough that the far shore is usually just a line. Germany holds the northern side. Lindau puts its old town on an island with a harbour guarded by a lion and a lighthouse; Meersburg stacks itself above vineyards; Konstanz sits at the outflow; and the flat market-garden island of Reichenau, World Heritage for its monastic churches, lies just offshore. A cycle route of about 260 kilometres circles the whole lake, passenger ferries cut across it and a car ferry runs between Konstanz and Meersburg all year. On clear days the Alps stand behind the southern shore.

History

The lake was formed by the Rhine Glacier in the Quaternary ice age, and after the end of the last glacial period, about 10,000 years ago, the upper and lower lakes were still one, until the erosion of the High Rhine lowered the water and a sill emerged at Konstanz. Pomponius Mela, around AD 43, called the upper lake Lacus Venetus and the lower Lacus Acronius, and Pliny the Elder, around AD 75, named both after Brigantium, later Bregenz; the German name Bodensee comes from Bodman, a Frankish palace and ducal seat at the western end of Lake Überlingen, recorded in Latin from 833 or 834. In the 19th century the shores kept five different local times, all within 46 kilometres, until in 1892 the German territories adopted Central European Time (Wikipedia, Lake Constance).

The landscape

• Lindau - an old town on an island, with the harbour lion and lighthouse at its mouth.
• Meersburg - a stepped town above vineyards, with the year-round car ferry to Konstanz.
• Reichenau - the flat market-garden island and its three medieval churches.
• The lake path - roughly 260 kilometres of cycle route around the entire shore.

When to go

May and June bring blossom, long light and water still too cold for most people. July and August are warm, swimmable and thoroughly full. September is the best compromise, with the vineyards working and the cycle path quieter. Winter is grey and often fogged in, though the Alps view is at its clearest on a cold, bright day.

Things to know

The shore road is congested all summer and the cycle path is shared with many other cyclists, so it is rarely a solitary ride. Lodging in July and August is expensive and books out early. The water only becomes comfortable from late June. Long stretches of shoreline are private or built over, which limits where you can reach the water, and the Alpine backdrop appears on a minority of days.

Nearby

Mainau island, the pile dwelling museum at Unteruhldingen, and the Rhine falls further west.

Key facts