Gardens of Lake Constance

Our stay in Uberlingen was one of the highlights of the holiday.  The Hotel Rosengarten was excellent and the floral displays along the streets and promenades were fantastic.  We were lucky enough coincide with the last day of a Baroque music festival, attending Sunday worship in a church where the choir and orchestra performed several pieces by JS Bach.

The gardens of Mainau were the best we have seen.  We hadn't realised that there are so many varieties of dahlias!

The Zeppelin Museum at Fredrichshafen was fascinating, especially walking around the reconstruction.

An important part of our holiday is enjoying the local cuisine, unfortunately on this trip this was a disappointing. The restaurants closed early, some kitchens shut at 8.30pm.  At Bodman especially there was not a lot of choice of places to eat.  Menus at all places seemed to include a lot of pasta dishes  and pizza , nothing other than schnitzel which seemed German.  We also had difficulty buying a bottle of wine.  Generally it was served in carafes or people drank beer.

However we can recommend the Café Hasler where we had a good meal, on the terrace, in a thunderstorm!

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This is a lovely holiday to take in the spring - not only the formal gardens at Mainau and Überlingen, but most of the gardens of the houses you walk past as well, are so well-maintained and colourful. It is not only about the gardens, however. As ever, the hotels are well chosen for their location and atmosphere, and the impeccable walk notes take you to beautiful views, interesting geology, and a number of fine churches and museums. The only thing wrong with it is that six days is not really enough. There were some difficult choices to make, and an extra day would have reduced the feeling that we were missing out on something.

We found Bodman rather quiet but that may have been because we were late in the season. But as we also found the hotel below what we would expect you may wish to change either the venue or the hotel. At Uberlingen we tried to take public transport to Schloss Salem but couldn't find the right bus. It may be worth your including the trip as an optional suggestion, as the Schloss looks interesting (from a brochure) and transport is better in season. We loved Mainau Island and that was the highlight of the tour for us.  

This was our first holiday with Inntravel, we were extremely impressed with the quality of the holiday and the smooth operation. This is a lovely part of Europe and the walks gave us a chance to explore. In Überlingen we ate at Reiners Schäpfle Restaurant, very enjoyable!

We did the trip in the middle of a heat wave which reduced our appetite for walking. There is plenty of public transport and regular lake boat trips (free or reduced with hotel guest cards) and plenty to do and see as alternatives to walking. A beautiful region.

Beautiful scenery and really helpful walk suggestions which gave us a good mix of ideas. The area is also well signposted if you decide to do some extra walks. Visit to the Pfahlbauten (lakeside open air museum) was a highlight as was the visit to Mainau Island. Lovely hotels.  

We both thoroughly enjoyed the trip. We travelled during a very hot spell (30°C+) and I was glad we had added a couple of R&R days (one in Überlingen and one in Konstanz)

The walking was highly enjoyable and the excursion to Insel Mainau was a real highlight. The notes were extremely helpful with only a couple of minor errors. Links to bus and train timetables would be helpful. Moving our luggage from one destination to another went flawlessly. Overall, a superbly arranged and well thought-out itinerary. Definitely good for beginners!

PS learn some German before you go!

We enjoyed the beautiful scenery, towns and villages of Lake Constance. On several days, we did 2 of the walks to make the most of the holiday. On day 2 we walked from Ludwigshafen to the Rosengarten hotel (rather than split this over 2 days). Then used a day to visit the stilt house museum and Meersburg, which were both interesting and beautiful locations.

This was the first time I traveled with Inntravel so I did not know how much time to allow for communication and document delivery.  In spite of the worries of delays with printing, expensive international telephone calls and long distance postage, our actual tour experience was highly enjoyable.   I would rate your agency very highly and would recommend you to friends and family.  Our holiday experience was very enjoyable.  I must point out that Inntravel sent duplicate travel documents to our first hotel in the event that the one sent to my residence did not arrive in time.  All hotels were comfortable, very easy to find and in desirable parts of the village or city.  Walking directions were accurate and clear.  It was nice to have several options for travel or activities each day.  I intend to look into travel with your agency again.

A most enjoyable holiday pottering around the Bodensee. The walks were gentle, well-chosen, varied and very enjoyable: the alternatives by bus, train and boat are also amazing. The gardens at Mainau were certainly a highlight - we went on to Konstanz by bus as it was hot and late! The hotels are all excellent, welcoming and different. Our room in the Hotel Rosengarten in Uberlingen over-looked the amazing rose garden. In the hot sunny weather, the opportunity for a morning or evening dip in the Bodensee was also ideal. Highly recommended, particularly if you just want gentle walking with public transport alternatives.

HIGHLIGHTS & TIPS: Konstanz closes on a Sunday- NO museums, shops and cafes all closed. A lost opportunity when following a town trail. Excellent public transportation vouchers throughout lake. Brilliant. Most locals eat early between 5-7pm and restaurants closed 9/10pm. Choice of accommodation was excellent and the folder invaluable. 

Unreservedly recommend this trip. Easy walking on well-signposted paths, often through the trees giving some welcome relief from the sun. The provided routes are good and could easily be extended, should you wish. The views are spectacular. In June everyone's gardens, and the roses, in particular, were absolutely fabulous. This area doesn't receive many English-speaking visitors, so the menus, signs etc are all in German - Google Translate was very useful! The provided Guest Cards give free access to the excellent train and bus services, which we used extensively. With hindsight, I would have liked an extra day at Bodman and two extra days at Uberlingen. We enjoyed Konstanz but didn't need more time there. The train journey to/from Zurich airport was really pleasant and added to the enjoyment of the holiday.

Some very enjoyable walks with lovely views of the lake.  Bodman is a sleepy spot, Uberlingen was probably the highlight: a lovely hotel, historic town for a stroll, lots of places to eat and a park where you could swim in the lake right opposite the hotel.

Hotel Villa Rosengarten - its name conjures up the spirit of the place and lovely family owners providing a superb service to visitors. Bodensee is a pretty, scenic area of Germany. Swathes of colourful spring tulips to behold around the lake but especially on Mainau Island. An inspiring time of year to go for garden enthusiasts. Great to have the flexibility of the regional travel cards provided by the hotels - a real bonus.

There are so many reasons that we would have no hesitation in recommending Inntravel for walks in Europe:

1. Inntravel's customer service, from pre-sale to post-sale, was exemplary in every respect: friendly, responsive, timely .... and thoroughly professional. (Will, with whom we made initial contact, was especially helpful and responsive.)

2. Pre- and post-walking travel arrangements proceeded far more smoothly and easily than we had expected.

3. The location and quality of hotels also exceeded our expectations.

4. The walking routes and terrain were in total accord with out expectations (and abilities) and provided a range and variety of experiences.

5. Luggage and taxi transfers proceeded flawlessly.

6. The institution of WhatsApp-enabled communication and App-based maps and walking guides will only enhance what is already an excellent set of services

The only problem was our luggage transfer from Uberlingen to Konstanz. Our luggage did not arrive until after 6pm which was really late as we had a restaurant booked for 7pm.

Overall an excellent holiday. All 3 hotels had their own unique charm with excellent breakfasts and staff. We enjoyed the fact that we did not meet a single Brit the whole time we were there, giving us a chance to see the true Germany and try out our Duolingo German.

In Uberlingen we found a charming park above the Rose Garden that had some great views and a deer enclosure who were very tame and would come up to you to be fed, so it would be could to mention that as an extension of the park walk.

We thought Konstanz was a lovely city that was a tourist hot spot but does not have the usual tasteless attractions that so often accompany these type of places.

We were pleasantly surprised by the standard of food as Germany is not renowned for its cuisine. To celebrate my birthday we had a wonderful meal in Konstanz at a Michelin starred restaurant called San Martino. Yes it was expensive, but if anyone is looking for a meal for that special occasion we couldn't recommend it enough.

Bodman was a nice place to visit but options for eating out were fairly limited. The Fish restaurant appeared to be closed.
We enjoyed a visit to the Therme at Uberlingen. It's very near the hotel and very relaxing with distant views of the Alps. 
We were a bit underwhelmed by Meersberg. It was so crowded with day trippers.
We loved Mainau island and the floral displays were amazing. 

it was good to have the travel passes in each location and be able. To hop on and off public transport. 

Beautiful locations with endless walking possibilities. Hotel Hotel Villa Rosengarten was particularly stunning. Calm and peaceful, very close to the lake and lovely friendly service. Despite a very steep climb up from Sipplingen it was worth getting up high to see the views.

This was our first walking holiday and our first with Inntravel. Very reassuring to have everything arranged for us, but really enjoyable to be a bit independent too. It's worth learning a few words of German, as not everyone spoke much English. The people were friendly and we had a laugh getting by with pigeon German/English.

Pretty surroundings and a stunning view of the lake and distant snow capped mountains from the Haldenhof restaurant, where we ate our packed lunch of chicken schnitzel sandwiches, as the restaurant was closed that day. The whole area is so clean, neat and fresh. Paths are well maintained; ideal for walking and cycling. Late May is a lovely time to go to appreciate the beautiful wildflower meadows and enjoy some warm sunshine.

We were amazed by the gardens in Uberlingen, which were Chelsea standard, plus the cliffs of the old town moat created drama and atmosphere. In fact, most private home gardens were stylish and well looked after.

One of our many highlights was seeing a beaver swim near the shore. Twice! Other wildlife included plenty of black kites and buzzards, courting grebes, deer and the sound of a cuckoo. We also saw several foxes in Swiss fields from the train.

Bodensee wine is definitely worth a try, as are all the cakes and excellent icecreams. Zander was delicious at the Hotel Barbarossa.