CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Ordered leg totals agree within rounding. Stop distances are approximate sums of rounded legs. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
From Zürich it runs 307 km to Zürich; allow about 5 h 15 of riding. It goes by way of Konstanz-Hinterhausen, Bodman-Schachen / Löchle, Litzelstetten-Krähenhorn 32 and Sipplingen-Osthafen. It crosses from Switzerland into Germany - carry ID and check vignette or toll rules. It suits an unhurried touring pace.
Expect company on a summer weekend. Early is better than fast. For about 30 km this is Grand Tour of Switzerland, a road with a name of its own and a reason for it.
Zurich is the polite, prosperous kind of city that keeps its history discreet. It lies at the northern end of Lake Zurich, where the Limmat river runs out of the lake and through the old town, and it began as a Roman customs post called Turicum on the hill now known as the Lindenhof. By the sixteenth century it was a centre of the Reformation under Huldrych Zwingli, who preached at the Grossmunster, the twin-towered church that still dominates the skyline. Across the river, the Fraumunster holds stained glass windows by Marc Chagall, and the light inside on a bright morning is worth a short detour.
Read the complete Zurich write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Zurich is where the day begins. Next is Konstanz-Hinterhausen.
There is nothing to see at Konstanz-Hinterhausen, and that is precisely the point. Below the surface of Lake Constance, along the shore near the city, lie the remains of prehistoric pile dwellings: wooden posts, floors, pottery and food remains preserved in the mud for thousands of years. They are part of the Prehistoric Pile Dwellings around the Alps, a World Heritage site that spans six countries and over a hundred locations. Archaeologists dive to study them, but the rest of us have to make do with the view of the lake and a bit of imagination.
Read the complete Konstanz-Hinterhausen write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Konstanz-Hinterhausen comes up about 72 km into the recorded legs. Next is Bodman-Schachen / Löchle.
Lake Constance takes its German name, Bodensee, from this village. Bodman, at the western tip of the Überlinger See arm of the lake, was the site of a royal palace in the early Middle Ages, and the name of the place spread to the water. Below the village, in the shallows at Schachen and Löchle, lie the remains of prehistoric pile dwellings, part of the transnational World Heritage Site of Prehistoric Pile Dwellings around the Alps, inscribed in 2011.
Read the complete Bodman-Schachen / Löchle write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
At least about 102 km into the recorded legs you reach Bodman-Schachen / Löchle. Next is Litzelstetten-Krähenhorn 32.
The Bodanrueck is a wooded peninsula that sticks out into the western end of Lake Constance, between the Uberlinger See and the Zeller See, and Litzelstetten is a small village on its southern side, close to the city of Konstanz. The Krahenhorn is a little promontory on the shore, and the whole area is an easy, gentle mix of orchards, forest, reeds and quiet beaches. Mainau Island, the flower island, lies just off the coast, with its palm trees and rhododendrons.
Read the complete Litzelstetten-Krähenhorn 32 write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Litzelstetten-Krähenhorn 32, about halfway. Next is Sipplingen-Osthafen.
At Sipplingen the north shore of Lake Constance changes character. The Überlinger See, the long north-western arm of the lake, is hemmed in here by steep molasse cliffs and wooded slopes rising to the Sipplinger Berg, and the village sits on a narrow strip between the hill and the water. Below the surface off the eastern harbour lie the remains of prehistoric pile dwellings, villages of wooden houses built on stilts along the shore some five to six thousand years ago. They are part of the World Heritage site of prehistoric pile dwellings around the Alps.
Read the complete Sipplingen-Osthafen write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Sipplingen-Osthafen sits at 139 km, about halfway. Next is back through Litzelstetten-Krähenhorn 32.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Litzelstetten-Krähenhorn 32 write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Litzelstetten-Krähenhorn 32 comes up about 183 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Bodman-Schachen / Löchle.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Bodman-Schachen / Löchle write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
about 206 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Bodman-Schachen / Löchle. Next is back through Konstanz-Hinterhausen.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Konstanz-Hinterhausen write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Konstanz-Hinterhausen, late in the day. Next is Zurich.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Zurich write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
The route ends here after 307 km.
Zurich → Konstanz-Hinterhausen is 72 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Konstanz-Hinterhausen → Bodman-Schachen / Löchle is 30 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Bodman-Schachen / Löchle → Litzelstetten-Krähenhorn 32 is 23 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Litzelstetten-Krähenhorn 32 → Sipplingen-Osthafen is 29 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Sipplingen-Osthafen → back through Litzelstetten-Krähenhorn 32 is 29 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Litzelstetten-Krähenhorn 32 → back through Bodman-Schachen / Löchle is 23 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Bodman-Schachen / Löchle → back through Konstanz-Hinterhausen is 31 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Konstanz-Hinterhausen → Zurich is 71 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.