Starting the Ride

September 16, 2024 to September 17, 2024

Time to start our planned vacation!

Day 1 Monday continued - Sept 16, 2024

Constance, Germany

We managed to figure out the bus to our hotel from the FlexBus stop. It is a beautiful heritage hotel in the older downtown area, the Hotel Halm. We were surprised to have a huge room, which I thought was rare here.

We then used our free transit pass from the hotel to get to the bike rental shop. It was a big place with racking for around 600 bikes. We shared an ice cream treat from their well stocked lobby area. It started raining hard by the time we set out on the bikes, but we managed to enjoy the short ride.

We walked to a recommended restaurant for our first dinner in Germany.

Day 2 Tuesday - Sept 17, 2024

We were amazed at the breakfast. Quite a selection. A good start! We were happy to look forward to our return to this hotel twice more this trip.

We packed up our bags and left them for the bike rental guys to transport to the next hotel. This is a lovely service and well worth it. I’ve slogged through cycling trips carrying everything and it gets heavy, and is awkward at slow speeds.

We set out for our first day of real riding. The morning was cool at first but turned into a perfect day.
We were soon on the causeway to Reichenau Island with its quiet farm roads.

There we caught a ferry over to Gaienhofen, Germany where we made a quick stop to see the house of author Hermann Hesse.

Then on to Stein am Rhein, Switzerland, following the Rhine (Rhein) River downstream. We didn’t notice when we crossed into Switzerland. Weird.

The cycling is wonderful here. There are many separated paths, with some away from any roads at all.

Separate bike path through farm fields and later a forest.

Stein am Rhein is a beautiful medieval town. Our lovely family run hotel Alder was right in the large pedestrian area.
We had a waterside patio dinner - great view but basic food. A busker set up near us during dinner. He had a fabulous voice.

The large pedestrian area in Stein am Rhein.

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