Rhein Route

Stage 5: St. Margrethen – Kreuzlingen

Lake Constance, situated within the magical scenery of the Alpine foothills, is the soul of Europe. Despite a very active shore life, the ancient cultural landscape is still a peaceful area with interesting castles and large orchards.

On Lake Constance you feel like you have wings, but what you will have for sure is a tan. E-bike rentals are easy and available in many places. You’ll pedal effortlessly along the lake enjoying lots of sunshine. But not all is perfect on the bike path: you just passed a section closely following the water, and without warning a bypass takes you away, if only for a short while. Away from the paradise you imagined yourself in when you cruised through Europe’s largest freshwater delta.

Despite its channels, the Alpine Rhine is often considered to be a «wild torrent». Enormous quantities of sediments are constantly changing the area of the river mouth. This is how approximately two or three hectares of new land have been created every year for thousands of years. With lowland forests, wetland meadows and reeds the Rhine delta offers valuable living space to a wide variety of plants. Due to its ecological significance it is a wetland of international importance – and a fantastic section of this route for both walkers and bikers! The Saurer Museum in Arbon is also important, at least regionally. It is a delight for fans of vintage cars and for those interested in textile and embroidery machines of the first generation. The town began to boom in the 17th century with the production of linen. From the middle of the 19th century on, the Saurer factory’s positive impact on the local economy was significant, but the production of motors and embroidery machines was discontinued in 1987– a bitter end for the town on the Rhine.

Water, beaches, harbours, campgrounds, colourful flowers, ruddy shelducks, cormorants, laughing gulls, kingfishers, dunlins, sandpipers, and lots and lots of fruit – this is what you will find along the lake here, and sometimes even beautiful sunrises or sunsets. When the weekend is nice or during the summer holidays, there are plenty of visitors from Germany, Austria, Switzerland and elsewhere. And there is good reason: Nothing could be more pleasant than to pass through all the pretty towns in the Thurgau region, such as Egnach, Romanshorn, Uttwil, Kesswil, Güttingen, Münsterlingen and Kreuzlingen, the largest Swiss town on Lake Constance. The heart of Seeburgpark, the largest public nature park on Lake Constance, is Seeburg Castle, which has been under federal preservation protection since it was renovated in the 1980s. The castle is over 400 years old and currently houses a restaurant, a ballroom for events and offices of the University of Constance. Kreuzlingen and the neighbouring German town work closely on many community and technical projects.