Sipplingen-Osthafen and Monastic Island of Reichenau

Scenic road chapters

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. 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 is where the day begins. Next is Unteruhldingen-Stollenwiesen.

2. 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 16 km into the recorded legs. Next is Monastic Island of Reichenau.

3. 3. 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

   about 41 km into the recorded legs you reach Monastic Island of Reichenau. Next is back through Unteruhldingen-Stollenwiesen.

4. 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 Sipplingen-Osthafen.

5. 5. 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 at Sipplingen-Osthafen. That is the ride.