Things to Do at Lake Constance

Lake Constance (Bodensee) borders Switzerland, Germany and Austria, and a single day can realistically take in two of the three. The Swiss town of Constance itself straddles the German border so closely that some streets cross it without a marker. Meersburg, on the German side, has a well-preserved medieval old town and one of the oldest inhabited castles in the country. Mainau Island, a short ferry ride out, is a private botanical garden with palm trees and flower displays that draws crowds in spring for its tulips; admission runs around EUR 25. Bregenz, on the Austrian shore, adds a lakeside opera stage and a cable car up the Pfänder; Lake Constance is about an hour from Zurich HB by direct train to Constance itself, making it doable as a long day trip.