Eurovelo 6 – Cycling around Lake Constance

We’ve left the Danube and are now staying in Moos on Lake Constance, which is called the Bodensee in German. However, we’re still on the Eurovelo 6 route from the Atlantic to the Black Sea. Two years ago, on our way home from Croatia, we spent a few days cycling around Schaffhausen and Stein am Reim, where the famous Reinfall waterfalls are to be found.

The Eurovelo 6 route from the Atlantic Coast to the Black Sea

We arrived late afternoon yesterday and had time to cycle to Hornstaad for dinner and back. Our hotel, Gasthaus Schiff, is so close to the cycle path that we can see it from the terrace! It’s wonderful to be able to be able to set out directly on our bikes and not have to take the car. When we were staying in Niederleierndorf, it took us thirty to sixty minutes to get to the cycle path, depending on where we wanted to go.  We now realise that we shouldn’t stay more than 3 nights in one place.

Our hotel from the Eurovelo 6 bike path – 1st floor on the right

Initially, we were supposed to stay in Moos five nights, but we were able to cancel the last two so we can go further along the bike path, this time in France, near Dole where our chambre d’hôte is also very close to the Eurovelo 6 route. We’re very happy with Gasthaus Schiff, which is spacious, has a desk, a sofa, a low table and a terrace. It also has excellent soundproofing and opaque curtains that keep the light out. In Niederleierndorf, we were woken by daylight at 4.30 am! It also has the best breakfast we’ve had yet.

Breakfast on the terrace of Gasthaus Schiff

The village of Moos is very quiet and peaceful and reminds me of Magnetic Island, even though they are nothing alike. To get to our restaurant last night, we rode through hay fields full of storks, with reeds and Lake Constance in the distance.

Hayfield full of storks with the lake in the distance

We rode back into a magnificent sunset.

Sunset over Lake Constance

Today we went to the town of Konstanz, which is nothing out of the ordinary, but our ride back along the Swiss side of the lake was very pretty.

The pretty village of Ermatingen

We took the ferry over to Reichenau Island after having a very expensive lunch in Ermatingen because it was 2.30 pm by then and the normal, already pricey, menu of the only restaurant we could find was no longer available. We then discovered that the ferries only run every two hours, unlike the little ones on the Danube that cross when they see someone waiting on the other side.

Two little Swiss girls selling cherries in front of their house – with Mum sunbathing in the background!

So we continued on to Mannebach where there was a ferry at 4.40 pm, buying cherries on the way from two little Swiss girls with their own little stall. As soon as we reached the Island, I checked we’d have a ferry to take us back to Iznang, which is only a couple of kilometers from Moos. Reinenau is connected by a bridge to the mainland on the east so we wouldn’t have been stuck on the island but it would have meant a 40 km trip back home and we’d already clocked up over 50 by then.

Our corner of Lake Constance, with Moos on the left and Konstanz on the right. The main lake is to the east of Konstanz.

And it’s a good thing I did check because the last ferry left at 6.40 pm. The island was a little disappointing. It mainly seems to consist of market gardens and nondescript villages. I was looking forward to visiting a church with 1000 year-old  wall paintings but it’s only open for a few hours a day for guided tours in German and we were obviously too late.

The Swiss side of Lake Constance from the ferry

We enjoyed the 30-minute ferry ride back across the lake even though and by the time we got back to Gasthaus Schiff, we had ridden a total of 968 kilometers since starting our holiday on 17th July so we will definitely be reaching the 1000 kilometer mark.