Dive, Swim, Sail, Surf or Fly - Lake Constance / Bodensee

The Lake Constance located at the tripoint of Austria, Switzerland and Germany has been popular touristic spot for ages. Around 4 billion euros is earned from tourism yearly, with over 18 million overnight visitors and 70 million daily visitors. It is also the biggest lake in Austria, although only 12 percent of it belongs to Austria. Why is it so popular? The Lake offers a lot: beautiful lakeside towns in three countries, nature, wild life, numerous sport activities in winter or in summer, camping, magnificent views, pilgrimage spots etc.

The Lake Constance is located in the foothills of the Alps, to the east they reach the the lake itself and from the hill tops you can have astonishing view over the lake. Directly from the town Bregenz, the capital city of Austrian westernmost federal state Vorarlberg, you can use cable car the Pfänderbahn that takes you to the top of the mountain Pfänder.

Out of numerous activities in the summer time, swimming is the most popular among the tourists. You can swim at the Lake Constance from June until September, depending on your resistance to coldness. The water temperature reaches up to 25 degrees Celsius in August. The beaches are mostly gravel; however you can find some very nice sand beaches such as the Rohrspitz.

Diving that is very attractive and challenging on this Lake is also offered to the visitors. For divers the most interesting would be to dive to a depth of 39 meters and see probably the most known freshwater wreck in Europe the paddle steamer Jura that sank 1864 after a collision with the Swiss steamship Stadt Zürich.

Sailing, surfing and boating is a big deal at the Lake Constance. Especially important for locals is boating; which is confirmed by the fact that around 60.000 boats have been registered at the Lake. The largest ship procession in Europe is held here yearly for 40 years to the assumption of Mary.

The Lake Constance is a birth place of European long-distance hiking trails, with the idea of connecting European nations. In the summer of 1972, the first European long-distance hiking trail was handed over to the public use here. Today out of twelve European long-distance hiking trails three E1, E3 and E5 pass beside the Lake. If you are into hiking it is possible to go around the Lake on a pedestrian trail that goes around entire Lake as well. Bikers are not neglected here and around 260 kilometres of bike paths are available for them to use; the most famous one is the route going around entire lake that passes lot of tourists’ sites.

All modes of transportation are at disposal to tourists even flying on modern Zeppelin airships. Lake Constance is one of the rare places where you can experience this attraction. On a Zeppelin 12 to 14 guests can take a trip above the lake.

For believers among you Lake Constance is a hub for long-distance hikers and pilgrims. Since ancient time the Lake has been an important reference point of famous pilgrimage routes. Four different pilgrimage routes meet at the Lake Constance.

As you can see if you decide to visit the Lake Constance you will definitely stay in motion.