Lindau to Gottlieben

June 16, 2022

following the north shore of the Bodensee

Nice ride today although "damn hot, real hot" in the immortal words of Robin Williams (Good Morning Vietnam!). We also weathered a thunderstorm, but got to chat with a nice couple from Stuttgart, so you never know what is misfortune or good luck.

The paths vary considerably, as it appears each community builds and maintains their own. We did follow some low-traffic roads a good portion today.

We started riding along the north shore of the lake, cool and blue sky with lots of shady trees. We thought "no problem"!

beautiful tree-lined cycle paths just out of Lindau

Quickly though, we moved away from the lake and paths, and shared roads with the occasional cars and oodles of bikers.

So many fruit trees along here, and berries for sale along the route. This was a single-track bike path, but luckily very few coming the other way.

We passed through many smallish villages, all with unique looks. There were guest houses everywhere, and some towns were quite busy with tourists.

there's always something to take a photo of!

At Friederikschaffen, we decided to look for a Deutche Post office, and went about 8 km thru the city looking unsuccessfully for one, in spite of google maps. We did find one which was closed. Hmmm. This city is a bit famous for being the city where Mr Zeppelin is from, and there is a Zeppelin museum here, and a Zeppelin flies over the Bodensee quite often. We did see it occasionally, but I never got a good picture of it.

After giving up on Deutche Post (we wanted to mail home some of our cold weather clothes - since we are practically melting now), we headed back to the lake and discovered the zillions of sun worshipers. It turns out that today is a holiday (Corpus Christi day) and that is why the post office is closed.

So we ate our lunch here (a purloined repast from breakfast at the hotel) and then got riding again. It was getting well over 30 degrees by now.

Just north of Friederikschaffen, the rain drops started coming. No problem we thought, then boom! OK, lightening is a different story, and we found a bus stop already occupied but gladly shared by a nice German couple.

Very entertaining across the way at their bus stop, 3 men practically strip down out of their wet clothing and let it dry. We were more protected on our side due to the angle of the rain. Plus we were shy, and stayed clothed!

About 45 minutes later, it stopped quickly, the clouds moved on, and the temps went back up. NOW IT WAS HOT! AND HUMID! Nice cycle paths though, and again back towards the water. Most of the way there were grapes growing in vineyards.

just a guess, but I'm thinking this vineyards are doing pretty well

Meersburg, where you catch the ferry was CRAZY. So many people, we had to push our bikes, not ride them, and I didn't want to stop to take a photo. Since this is a holiday, it gives us an insight into what a weekend is like there. Thank goodness it is Thursday today.

Got to chat with a few people again on the ferry. Many Germans speak English rather well. Sometimes we feel so impoverished when it comes to language.

Once in Konstanz (or Constance), we moved away from the Bodensee which you can glimpse in the photo below. You can see Marjory in pink way down the hill. It was so hot, and she was feeling the heat.

Konstanz is a good sized city, and the people lined the shores in bathing suits, and out on the water in boats of every variety.

You can see the appeal of this place, it is really photogenic. The Rhine passes thru the Bodensee, then leaves it here - considerably larger.

We biked only about 8 more km to a village on the Rhine called Gottlieben (got-LEE-ben), which seems to be basically a collection of guest houses and restaurants right on the river. Tomorrow we have to decide how to travel. There is a boat option, we can cycle, and there is a stop we would like to make in Stein am Rhine which is the best preserved medieval town we will pass through. Decisions, decisions!

north side is Germany, south is Switzerland, Austria at east end

Today's ride: 62 km (39 miles)
Total: 489 km (304 miles)

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Steve Miller/GrampiesStein am Rhein is really pretty, but a cycle through to have a look should be fine. Enjoy all there is to see near the Bodensee.
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2 years ago

Patrick ParnoSteve, I find I agree. Lots of pretty towns, Stein am Rhein is one but is so crowded! Not my style. I actually thought Rheinfeld even prettier, and not crowded, but it was just waking up when we blew through there so maybe later in the day.....
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2 years ago