Lindau is an island that behaves like a postcard, and the amusing thing is that it knows it. The old town sits on a small island in the eastern end of Lake Constance, the Bodensee, linked to the mainland by a causeway and a railway embankment, and the harbour at its south side is guarded by two monuments: a tall lighthouse and a stone lion of Bavaria on a pillar. The lighthouse was built in the nineteenth century, and from its top you see the whole lake, with the Austrian and Swiss Alps behind. About twenty-four thousand people live in the municipality, and most of them are on the mainland.
For centuries Lindau was a free imperial city, trading in grain and linen across the lake, and the old streets keep that confidence. Tall gabled houses with painted fronts stand along the Maximilianstrasse, a pedestrian street, and the town hall has a facade covered in frescoes. Every summer, Nobel laureates in medicine, physics and chemistry gather in Lindau to meet young researchers, a tradition that has run since 1951. The lake itself is a mild place: the water holds the heat, vines grow on the slopes above, and palms stand along the waterfront in sheltered spots.
This is the western end of the German Alpine Road, which runs from here to Berchtesgaden, about four hundred and fifty kilometres along the northern edge of the Alps. The first leg to Walchensee goes through the Allgäu, a region of green hills, dairy farms, onion-domed churches and a skyline of limestone peaks, with winding roads, gentle gradients and cheese dairies on every hill. The first miles from Lindau, though, are busy with lake traffic, and the road climbs quickly into the foothills.
Lindau has fuel, mostly on the mainland, and food is excellent. Order Bodensee Felchen, whitefish from the lake, grilled or fried in butter, and drink a glass of the local Müller-Thurgau. Austria is five kilometres away, and the border at Hörbranz is quick, but you need a vignette for motorways there. Summer weekends are crowded, and the best time is May, June or September, when the light on the lake is soft, the ferries are running and the foothills are bright and green.