Explore Lake Constance (Bodensee) in Germany

Categories: Family and Kids, Sightseeing, Cultural and History

Bodensee (Lake Constance)

[ source: Flickr]

Lake Constance (Bodensee) is a lake on the path of the Rhine River that is shared between Austria, Germany and Switzerland.

Getting Around

By boat

Crossing the Bodensee - Driving your car onto a big boat to cross a wide body of water is very civilized excitement. It's a delightful quarter-hour ride with cars, trucks, motorcycles, motorbikes, bicycles, and pedestrians. The upper-deck lounge sells coffee, sandwiches, snacks, and cold drinks. What more could you want? The fare depends on the size of your vehicle. A compact car like a Ford Focus or an Opel Astra costs nine euros, about $11 (in September 2005). Crossings are frequent and you shouldn't have to wait long as there is often a ferry loading when you drive onto the slip. Even at night times, ferries cross the lake hourly. If you travel by foot, be aware that buses might not be available all night, while ferries still are. There are usually taxi cabs waiting around the ferry docks though.

By train

All cities and many towns on the Bodensee are serviced by the three national railroads of Germany, Austria and Switzerland. The best service (amount of time spent between stops) is by by far better in Germany and Austria than on the Swiss side. Lindau (Lindau vacation rentals | Lindau travel guide), Friedrichshafen (Friedrichshafen vacation rentals | Friedrichshafen travel guide), Konstanz (Konstanz vacation rentals | Konstanz travel guide) and Bregenz all offer major connections further on into Germany, Austria and Switzerland.

Things to See

The Bodensee and its shores are very beautiful in a quiet, cultivated way. The views are serene, not spectacular. If you want dramatic scenery, drive a couple of kilometers south into Switzerland or south-west to Upper Bavaria (Allgäu) and Austria, (Vorarlberg) and visit the Alps. The area sits in a kind of bowl and tends to be very foggy in the winter months. Konstanz, the city on the German side of the German-Swiss border, is a beautiful city, noteworthy for its cathedral and ancient houses and shops. Its vibrant centre (in which live music almost always plays during the day) and harbor, dominated by the statue of Imperia (who holds the Kaiser in one hand and the Pope in the other) make Konstanz a fantastic city to visit. Konstanz has a palpable Mediterranean feel to it.

[ source: Wikitravel ]

Location, Map, and Driving Directions

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Browse Related Photos (Interactive Slideshow)

The pictures shown are part of our Live Like a German Travel Guide to Germany group on Flickr. If you have great Germany pictures please consider joining that group and sharing them on Flickr. If you tag them with bodensee (and they got approved) they will also show up in the slide show above.

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