German Road Trip: 48 Hours in Lovely Konstanz

Gary Crallé
Sep 4
2 min read

Updated: Sep 10

Tour boats churn past the Konstanz harbour entrance, Lake Constance, Germany.

From our family visit in Schwäbisch-Gmünd we drove south to Konstanz (English: Constance), a university and resort town on the lake of the same name. Curiously, it sits on a knob of land which should logically be part of Switzerland but isn't.

Germany and Switzerland share the 3-part Lake Constance at its eastern end with Austria. Travelling among all 3 countries is seamless, with borders marked only by a road sign.

Map of route from Schwäbisch-Gmünd to Konstanz, Germany — Our route from Schwäbisch-Gmünd to Konstanz. Click to view.

In a rare occurrence, we pulled into a parking spot when reaching Konstanz to see where our B&B Hotel Konstanz was and discovered it was just 1 block away! Hotel parking was full, so we found an unrestricted spot on a side street for the duration of our stay.

Our room was small, clean and modern, though not quite as colourific as pictured on the hotel website. Also, we could open the window for fresh air, something I always appreciate. A poster above the bed displayed a fanciful view of the harbour. More about that peculiar statue in a minute...

Hotel room poster of Konstanz harbour — An aerial harbour view on the wall of our hotel room.

Complimentary local bus fare during our stay was an unexpected hotel perk which we used for the 15-minute ride back and forth to the town centre. The stop was almost at our hotel entrance.

City bus interior, Konstanz, Germany — Local buses were prompt and frequent.

2 people lying on a boardwalk — We made an introductory walk along the Rhine to where it flowed into the lake. People were everywhere enjoying the warm weekend evening.

Our bus ride next morning passed Paradiesbäckerei (bakery café). We liked the look of it enough to walk back from where we alighted near the train station. It became our chosen breakfast place, frequented mainly by locals and a couple of tourists.

Bakery café interior — Paradiesbäckerei.

The days were warm and hazy. Watching tour boats depart for and return from Austria was a common past time.

Cyclist viewing the harbour of Konstanz, Germany — A cyclist enjoys the harbour view.

Girls enjoying the sun, Konstanz, Germany — Suntanning at the docks.

Sex, politics and religion. Dominating the entrance to Konstanz harbour is the 9 metre / 30 foot high statue 'Impéria'. It's probably the most unusual harbour figure in the world. Like the Eiffel Tower in Paris, it was controversial when created in 1993, then gradually accepted as a distinguishing feature of the town.

The artist Peter Lenk says it represents a short (tall?) story by Balzac of an Italian courtesan named Impéria who seduced cardinals and princes at the 15th century Council of Constance. She has them in hand.