Hornstaad-Hörnle and Unteruhldingen-Stollenwiesen

Scenic road chapters

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Hornstaad-Hörnle

   On the Höri peninsula, the long finger of land that pokes into the Untersee arm of Lake Constance, the shallow water off the point of Hornstaad hides the remains of a village burned some six thousand years ago. Hornstaad-Hörnle is one of the most important Neolithic sites in the region: the settlement was destroyed by fire, and the charred remains, sealed in lake mud, preserved an extraordinary record of daily life, including food, textiles, tools and house timbers, which dendrochronology has dated with great precision. It is part of the World Heritage inscription of the prehistoric pile dwellings around the Alps, and finds from the site are displayed in museums around the lake.

   Read the complete Hornstaad-Hörnle write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Hornstaad-Hörnle is where the day begins. Next is Sipplingen-Osthafen.

2. 2. 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.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Sipplingen-Osthafen comes up about 29 km into the recorded legs. Next is Unteruhldingen-Stollenwiesen.

3. 3. Unteruhldingen-Stollenwiesen

   Unteruhldingen is where most people first meet the prehistoric lake dwellers of the Alps, thanks to the Pfahlbaumuseum, an open-air museum of reconstructed houses on stilts standing in the shallow water of Lake Constance. It started in the 1920s and has been adding houses ever since, and walking along the wooden walkways between thatched huts gives you a vivid idea of village life thousands of years ago. The real archaeological sites, like Stollenwiesen just offshore, lie underwater, a series of settlements preserved in lake mud and listed by UNESCO in 2011 as part of the Prehistoric Pile Dwellings around the Alps.

   Read the complete Unteruhldingen-Stollenwiesen write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   about 45 km into the recorded legs you reach Unteruhldingen-Stollenwiesen. Next is back through Sipplingen-Osthafen.

4. 4. back through Sipplingen-Osthafen

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Sipplingen-Osthafen write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   back through Sipplingen-Osthafen, late in the day. Next is Hornstaad-Hörnle.

5. 5. Hornstaad-Hörnle

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Hornstaad-Hörnle write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Back at Hornstaad-Hörnle. That is the ride.