Why this ride
An 82 km round trip from Reichenau - roughly 1 h 55 in the saddle. On the way it passes Unteruhldingen-Stollenwiesen, Sipplingen-Osthafen and back through Unteruhldingen-Stollenwiesen.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Monastic Island of Reichenau and Sipplingen-Osthafen
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 82 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 1 h 55
- Journey
- Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
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.
Scenic road chapters
Grand Tour of Switzerland
Expect company on a summer weekend. Early is better than fast. For about 25 km this is Grand Tour of Switzerland, a road with a name of its own and a reason for it.
Chapter facts
- Length
- 25 km
- Named road
- Grand Tour of Switzerland
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Monastic Island of Reichenau
Reichenau is a flat, green island in the Untersee, the western arm of Lake Constance, connected to the mainland by a long causeway lined with poplars. A wandering bishop named Pirmin founded the monastery here in 724, and over the next centuries it became one of the great centres of learning and art in Europe, famous for its scriptorium and its illuminated manuscripts. The island's three Romanesque churches survive, and UNESCO listed the whole as a World Heritage Site in 2000.
Read the complete Monastic Island of Reichenau write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Monastic Island of Reichenau is where the day begins. Next is Unteruhldingen-Stollenwiesen.
2. 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
Unteruhldingen-Stollenwiesen comes up about 25 km into the recorded legs. Next is Sipplingen-Osthafen.
3. 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
about 41 km into the recorded legs you reach Sipplingen-Osthafen. Next is back through Unteruhldingen-Stollenwiesen.
4. back through Unteruhldingen-Stollenwiesen
Return visit. Read the place description above.
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
back through Unteruhldingen-Stollenwiesen, late in the day. Next is Monastic Island of Reichenau.
5. Monastic Island of Reichenau
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Monastic Island of Reichenau write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back at Monastic Island of Reichenau. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Monastic Island of Reichenau to Unteruhldingen-Stollenwiesen
Monastic Island of Reichenau → Unteruhldingen-Stollenwiesen is 25 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Unteruhldingen-Stollenwiesen to Sipplingen-Osthafen
Unteruhldingen-Stollenwiesen → Sipplingen-Osthafen is 16 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Sipplingen-Osthafen to back through Unteruhldingen-Stollenwiesen
Sipplingen-Osthafen → back through Unteruhldingen-Stollenwiesen is 16 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Unteruhldingen-Stollenwiesen to Monastic Island of Reichenau
back through Unteruhldingen-Stollenwiesen → Monastic Island of Reichenau is 25 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.