Lake Constance Cycling Adventure

Itinerary

• Day 1: Arrival in Überlingen

  Make your way to the Parkhotel St. Leonhard, a beautiful hotel just above Überlingen. Aim to arrive by 4 pm, as that’s when you’ll meet your guide and your team in the hotel lobby. You will then immediately be driven to the city center of Überlingen to enjoy a guided tour of the old imperial city.

  The contours of this medieval city, which flourished in the 15th and 16th century, can be clearly seen even today—mighty gates and walls have been preserved to this day. We’ll take a stroll through the core of the old town and the Hofstatt square. We can also visit the Gothic cathedral of St. Nicholas and inside find the works of the famous woodcarver Jörg Zürn. Let’s return to our hotel for a delicious dinner—if the weather serves us, we will have dinner at the hotel terrace with wonderful views.

  Meals: Dinner
  Accommodation: Parkhotel St. Leonhard

  
• Day 2: Birnau church, Salem monastery, and Prälatenweg

  After breakfast, we’ll start our cycling journey with an easy descent, which is then slightly undulating and leading off the public roads, entering forest and meadow paths with beautiful views of the lake. We’ll make a stop at the rococo church of Birnau with, once again, wonderful views. Finally we’ll reach Meersburg, a romantic medieval town on the lake surrounded by steep vineyards, which has always been appealing to all types of artists.

  After an individual tour and a lunch break, we’ll hop onto our bikes and continue to Salem, the former Cistercian monastery. As we pedal through fields, forests, and meadows, we will see small glacial hills, or “drumlins” molded during the ice age. This section of the trail is part of the “prelate path”—a path where monks and priests moved from Salem Monastery to Birnau to hold mass there. We’ll soon see the walls of Salem’s monastery complex, and we can either go on a short tour or take a coffee break. We’ll transfer back to Überlingen and enjoy a dinner together.

  Meals: Breakfast and dinner
  Cycling: 22 miles / 35 km
  Accommodation: Parkhotel St. Leonhard

  
• Day 3: Markdorf town — Wasserburg — Lindau island

  After transferring to the small town of Markdorf, let’s start cycling! We will pedal along a little-known route through small villages, farmlands, and forests. Eventually we’ll descend down to Lake Constance and Wasserburg (literal meaning is castle in the water).

  Cycling onward to Lindau, we will enjoy a traffic-free route to the gates of our hotel at Lindau harbor. The port entrance with lighthouse and lions is one of the most famous parts of Lake Constance. Tonight you’ll have free time to explore, stroll along the harbor promenade, enjoy alpine views, and dine where you wish. We’ll spend the night at the beautiful and stylish Lindauer Hof.

  Meals: Breakfast
  Cycling: 32 miles / 51 km
  Accommodation: Lindauer Hof

  
• Day 4: Biking to St. Gallen town

  Following breakfast at the hotel, we’ll go on a guided tour to get a good overview of Lindau. It’s the most important port in Bavaria and its well-known entrance is guarded by a lighthouse and a huge stone lion. The bike path from Lindau to Bregenz takes you across the German-Austrian border. We’ll bike the winding paths near the shore, to the Bregenzer Ache, and finally to the biodiverse nature reserve near Rohrspitz, surrounded by the Rhine. This wilderness area is teeming with wildlife, especially birds. In May, the nightingale sings and the cuckoo calls.

  After we have passed the Swiss customs station, we’ll soon reach the town of St. Gallen. Because it is located on a hill, we can opt for a short train ride (or for smaller groups, bus transfer) to the top. It is then a 10-minute walk (650 m) from the train station in St. Gallen to our modern and very comfortable hotel, located close to the old town. We’ll have dinner and spend the night at the upscale Einstein Hotel, ideally located near St. Gallen’s famous cathedral.

  Meals: Breakfast and dinner
  Cycling: 20 miles / 32 km
  Accommodation: Einstein Hotel

  
• Day 5: St. Gallen monastery district — Gottlieben village

  Today we’ll go on a guided tour of St. Gallen, a medieval town with a huge, centuries-old monastery and a world-famous abbey library that’s a UNESCO World Heritage Site. At the end of the city tour,  we’ll go to a hillside residential and university district on the outskirts of Gallen, where our bikes will be ready.

  An undulating route leads down to the lakeshore, on which we cycle more downhill than uphill. In between, there will be a possibility of a transfer for a 7.5-km hilly section, but if you’re up for a challenge, you can cycle up the hill! Gottlieben, our overnight destination, is a tiny picturesque village which lies on the Seerhein, the short waterway between Lake Constance and Untersee. It is characterized by beautiful half-timbered houses from the 17th century. Our hotel for the night is a historic and lovingly restored 300-year-old building.

  Meals: Breakfast and dinner
  Cycling: 23-28 miles / 37-44 km
  Accommodation: Porto Sofie

  
• Day 6: Stein am Rhein

  Today we’ll get to know yet another island on Lake Constance, Reichenau, which we’ll reach by boat. Here we’ll find several Romanesque churches and see what the German abbot Walahfrid left behind, including a famous herb garden.

  Travel to the north bank of the Untersee to Allensbach, a well-known village due to its research institute. From there, let’s start cycling into the woods above the lake, and later downhill back to the shore and onto Stein am Rhein on the Swiss side. With its half-timbered houses and picture-postcard views, Stein am Rhein is a truly picturesque town. For the return trip from Stein am Rhein we will travel by train (for smaller groups by bus). Let’s enjoy our final dinner with the whole team in the hotel restaurant!

  Meals: Breakfast and dinner
  Cycling: 23 miles / 36 km
  Accommodation: Hotel Porto Sofie

  
• Day 7: Cycling to Überlingen

  We’ll end our adventure with yet another beautiful cycling tour! We’ll get on the cycling path and go into Konstanz, where a famous council, one of the most important ones in the Middle Ages, took place here in 1414. After a city tour, we will cycle through elegant residential areas from Konstanz to the south bank of Lake Überlingen. We’ll follow a quiet and picturesque path that leads you to the town of Wallhausen, and from the small port, take a ferry to Überlingen.

  We’ll arrive in Überlingen around lunchtime. We can either transfer you to the Parkhotel St. Leonhard or you can request to be transferred to the train station. If you’d like to stay longer and keep on exploring the area, just ask your guides for some recommendations!

  Meals: Breakfast
  Cycling: 13 miles / 22 km