Organic Friedrichshafen/Lake Constance

The Bodenseeradweg bicyle route around Lake Constance is arguably one of the finest (and most frequented) bicycle routes in the German-speaking part of Europe. But despite being such a tourist hotspot the region is surprisingly badly accessible by train as not even the major university town of Konstanz is serviced by frequent fast long distance connections. Bound to local and regional trains with almost no reasonable interconnections you'll easily end up with a nightmare of six or more train changes back to the origin of your journey if you happen to have a flat tyre or accident along the bike route or the weather is turning bad. From Munich the only reasonable connection are EC and regional trains to and from Lindau, and Constance can reasonably be reached from Karlsruhe or Zürich.

There are a handful daily long distance connections to and from Friedrichshafen like the daily ICE service from Berlin, and there are more frequent options to and from Stuttgart.

While a trip on a Bodensee ferry boat should definitely be part of your stay (the BSB boats even sport bicycle racks) you cannot rely on them as a fast and high-frequent means of transport between railway stations.

Combined with the fact that bike tickets on long distance trains are rare during the nice seasons, the sad fact is: A bicycle tour around lake Constance requires much more careful planning well in advance than you might think at first.

Eat, drink and sleep

If you wish to wake up to a gorgeous organic breakfast in a pleasantly decorated sustainable hotel, while your bike is safely locked to a roofed parking spot, Hotel Maier is the place to stay. The hotel is not located in the very city centre, but in the neighbourhood of Fischbach (between the industrial areas of MTU/Rolls Royce in Manzell and Airbus in Immenstaad). A nice side effect of the hotel's approach to avoid food waste: breakfast is served at your convenience. Order to your liking and have a chat with the friendly staff. The combination of a traditional farm house with a rough concrete building (housing a few bigger and more expensive suites) gives the place a very urban touch.

Unfortunately the hotel's organic restaurant, Die Speiserei, was closed during our stay, but the menu suggested fine local dining on predominantly local produce, an extremely tempting way to spend holiday money.

There's another, 100 percent organic restaurant in town: The V2O on the premises of the Zeppelin museum in the city centre. Located on the second floor of a former station building it sports a gorgeous view on the city port and is accessible to the general public. The place serves organic lunch, and, during the tourist season, dinner. While the kitchen is closed in the afternoon between 2 pm and 5 pm, you may spend the time waiting for a ferry boat here with coffee and cake or a little snack. The restaurant is closed on Mondays, but there's a no-frills organic bistro a few steps away serving simple lunch on weekdays.

If you fancy a partially organic, artisanal ice-cream or feel for a coffee break, pay a visit to cosy Mina Gelato, the ice-cream parlour cum cafe in the town's traditional West-German pedestrian shopping street. Despite the name, the gorgeous ice-cream isn't trying to play Italian, but, very exotic, is made following a Bulgarian recipe. Best ice-cream in town!

Food and necessities

The people behind V2O restaurant and bistro are also running an organic supermarket, Greenbox, which seems to offer lunch, too.

There are very likely more organic groceries in town and in its vicinity, but none of them are located along the very bike route. An exception is the beautiful Biohaus am See in Langenargen, a neat small town building offering a parking spot in the shadow for your bike while you refill provisions or replenish some calories. With its wooden furniture the shop has the air of a traditional organic neighbourhood grocery, but given the omnipresence of Lake Constance fruits in organic shops throughout the country I was a little disappointed to not find more local products here.

• Hotel Maier, Poststr. 1–3, w/ restaurant Die Speiserei Mon–Sun 12–14,18–23
• V2O, Seestr. 22, Tue–Sun 11:30–17, from January 24th, 2024 also Thu–Sat 17–22
• V2O Bio-Bistro, Buchhornpl. 1, Mon–Fri 11:30–14:30
• Mina Gelato, Karlstr. 36, Tue–Sat(Sun) 10(11)–18, May through Sep also Mon 10–18
• Greenbox, Allinger Sr.54, Mon–Fri(Sat) 8:30–19(16)
• Bio-Haus am See, Obere Seestr. 7, Langenargen, Mon–Fri(Sat) 8:30–18(13)