Bodensee-Radweg

Pass through customs and you’re in Tägermoos. One special thing about this area is that although it’s in the canton of Thurgau and therefore part of Switzerland, various administrative duties are performed by the German city of Konstanz. People are hard at work in the fields in the heart of this vegetable growing area, where cabbages and onions were cultivated as far back as the 18th century. This district is known as Paradies (paradise) – and it really is for cyclists. It’s a leisurely ride through this delightful area of Lake Constance.

When the ears of grain sway in the breeze, you’ve reached Gottlieben. Whether or not the artists’ colony that formed here at the end of the 19th/start of the 20th century chose this location due to the delicious “Hüppen” (wafer rolls) is unproven. Leaving behind the picturesque, somewhat sleepy town, also known as “Lake Constance’s forgotten gem”, a further old fishing village – Ermatingen – awaits. The half-timbered houses are impressive. People once built pile dwellings in the sheltered bay at Ermatingen. Today, it is part of a fen and amphibian breeding ground of national importance. The last major floods in 1999 and 2024 resulted in comparatively little damage – flooded cellars and damage to buildings – versus the dramatic consequences of previous floods. The most severe flood in the Lake Constance region in 1817 stemmed from the 1815 eruption of Mount Tambora in Indonesia. It resulted in famine and turned the climate upside down in large parts of the world.

Storks circle majestically over the heads of cyclists; blue dragonflies hum through the reeds and grasses. The cycle route continues by Lower Lake Constance. Reichenau Island is not far from here, surrounded by Lower Lake Constance and the Zellersee and Gnadensee lakes. The 16th century Arenenberg Castle lies slightly elevated between Ermatingen and Berlingen. It houses the Napoleon Museum, Switzerland’s only museum of this period. You continue on through Berlingen and Steckborn, always between the lake and railway tracks, greeted by more fishermen’s houses and half-timbered buildings.

The soil here is particularly fertile and rich in nutrients. Conditions in this almost mediterranean climate are excellent for Pinot Gris, Pinot Blanc, Riesling, Bacchus or of course the famous Müller-Thurgau grape variety. Lower Lake Constance becomes narrow heading towards Stein am Rhein. It will soon become the Rhine. The monastery island of Werd has been inhabited since 1200. Here, too, there are traces going back to pile dwellings. The last highlight of the stage is approaching: St. George's Abbey, on the right before the Rhine bridge. It’s now a museum and also marks the entrance to the well-maintained small medieval town of Stein am Rhein. To say this is well visited would be a huge understatement.