Bike Tour Reviews  Lake Constance Classic (11-nights)


Lake Constance Classic (11-nights)

COUNTRY: Austria, Germany, Switzerland

11 nights
4.7/5 (34)
Rider Level: Recreational Electric bike tours Primarily bike paths Family-friendly bike tours
Rider Level: Recreational Electric bike tours Primarily bike paths Family-friendly bike tours

4.7/5 (34)
11 nights

Self guided from EUR € 1399

Self-guided:
Daily: Apr 14 - Oct 3, 2024 | Apr 9 - Apr 11, Apr 16 - 18, Apr 23 - Oct 3, 2025.

Description:
The Lake Constance cycle route is one of the most popular bike routes in Europe. On this tour you will cycle around the entire lake and discover three countries - Austria, Germany, and Switzerland - and four islands - Reichenau, Mainau, Lindau and Werd.

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  • Lake Constance Classic
    (5/5) Christine Ritson 4 weeks ago

    Fabulous trip!

    It was a great way to travel to see the beautiful country side and small towns with friends. The accommodations and breakfasts were always good. The only issue we had being a self guided tour was the information given in the guide book was sometimes not clear and found ourselves lost a few times. We did not receive the gps track. Luckily we had some data on our phones and good navigators. Overall a fabulous trip!

    What was the date of your tour?
    September 2024
    How many tours have you completed?
    2
    Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
    Somewhat easier
    Who is this tour suitable for?
    Families with teens
    Do you recommend this tour?
    Yes
    • 4/5 Value
    • 4/5 Included meals
    • 4/5 Bikes + equipment
    • 5/5 Hotels or boat
    • 5/5 Scenery
    • 3/5 Ease of navigation
    • 3/5 Tour documents
    • 4/5 Local tour company services
    • 4/5 Route selection
  • (4/5) Pierre C. 1 month ago

    nice trip but some advance planning is required

    Hotels and views were excellent for the most part. A couple of things to note: 1. Bikes are heavy duty and therefore very heavy, we upgraded to e-bikes 3 days into the trip, that was a big help. 2. Trails are not well marked, we met a few different groups during our tour of the lake and everyone was complaining about the written directions and even the gps tracking. Be prepared to have to stop, take an assessment and even back track a few times a day.

    Crucial items if you want to use GPS tracking; buy a phone holder that can attach your phone to the bike before leaving on the trip, otherwise you will have major issues setting up your phone so you can see it properly (I tucked mine into the front basket which had a protective transparent cover, however with the glare, it was hard to read). Also, make sure that you bring a backup battery pack as 2 -3 hours of tracking and your phone will be dead.

    Be prepared to bike some busy roads and gravel roads. One hotel (Bergenz) was located in a residential neighbourhood, there was ooe other restaurants within 600 meters, the rest were in town, 1.5 km away. Although the hotel restaurant was very nice, we spent more on dinner than we anticipated. Note that in St. Gallen almost all businesses and restaurants are closed on Sunday and many are also closed on Monday. Choices for meals and things to do become scarce if you are there during that time.

    Finally, be prepared to spend lots of money in Switzerland $50CAD hamburgers in a sit down restaurant seems to be the norm, not for the faint of heart. If you want to save some money I suggest flying into Germany before and after, accommodations and meals will be a lot cheaper (we spent 3 days inSwitzerland before and three days after, we figure that those 6 days cost us at least an extra $1K compared to what Germany prices would have been).

    What was the date of your tour?
    Sept 2024
    Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
    Somewhat harder
    Who is this tour suitable for?
    First-time bike tourists
    Do you recommend this tour?
    Yes
    • 4/5 Value
    • 5/5 Included meals
    • 4/5 Bikes + equipment
    • 4/5 Hotels or boat
    • 5/5 Scenery
    • 1/5 Ease of navigation
    • 2/5 Tour documents
    • 4/5 Local tour company services
    • 1/5 Route selection
  • (5/5) Ann Abeles 1 month ago

    A beautiful and mind expanding tour around Lake constance

    This tour brought one through beautiful scenery and past interesting sites around Lake Constance. The distances for each day's travel were short enough to allow one to visits sites along the way as well as churches and museums in the destination towns.

    What was the date of your tour?
    September 12-24, 2024
    How many tours have you completed?
    More than 20
    Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
    As expected
    Who is this tour suitable for?
    First-time bike tourists, Solo travelers, Families with teens
    Do you recommend this tour?
    Yes
    • Even n September the gardens on the Island of Mainau are magnificent (photo by Ann Abeles)
    • The old city gate and beautful buildings n Stein-am-Rhein (photo by Ann Abeles)
    • All the hotel breakfasts were feasts for the eyes and stomachs (photo by Ann Abeles)
    • Entering the old Meersburg castle (photo by Ann Abeles)
    • The Swiss countryside is neat and green (photo by Ann Abeles)
    • Fred thought that the electric bicycle should be the next stage in the progress of man (photo by Ann Abeles)
    • 5/5 Value
    • 5/5 Included meals
    • 5/5 Bikes + equipment
    • 5/5 Hotels or boat
    • 5/5 Scenery
    • 5/5 Ease of navigation
    • 5/5 Tour documents
    • 5/5 Local tour company services
    • 5/5 Route selection
  • (5/5) Barbara Dickson 1 month ago

    Girls on Bikes

    The 6 of us really enjoyed our trip. We downloaded the KoMoot App for navigation and so glad we did. The paper instructions were much more difficult to follow and the digital instructions worked perfectly. The hotels were quite nice and the luggage went like clockwork. It was a great trip.

  • (5/5) Martha Scott 1 month ago

    Perfect trip!!!

    My husband and I have been wanting to do this cycle tour for 10 years, and finally were able to do it. We chose e-bikes, and it was super enjoyable. There are so many things to see and do along the way. We were constantly exploring and learning new things. And the scenery, beauty, and fresh food if the area is unparalleled!

    What was the date of your tour?
    September 2024
    Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
    As expected
    Who is this tour suitable for?
    First-time bike tourists, Solo travelers, Families with teens
    Do you recommend this tour?
    Yes
    • Beautiful Lake Constance with Alps in background (photo by Martha Scott)
    •  (photo by Martha Scott)
    • 5/5 Value
    • 5/5 Included meals
    • 5/5 Bikes + equipment
    • 5/5 Hotels or boat
    • 5/5 Scenery
    • 1/5 Ease of navigation
    • 5/5 Tour documents
    • 5/5 Local tour company services
    • 1/5 Route selection
  • (4/5) Susan Ferrante-Collier 1 month ago

    Girls on Bikes

    It was an amazing trip, we are very appreciative for the assistance of bike tours in making the trip as lovely as it was. My only complaint is that one of the hotels was in the middle of a huge construction situation and there were unpleasant septic issues. Choosing another hotel would have been preferable

    What was the date of your tour?
    September 4-16
    Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
    As expected
    Who is this tour suitable for?
    First-time bike tourists
    Do you recommend this tour?
    Yes
    • 4/5 Value
    • 4/5 Bikes + equipment
    • 4/5 Hotels or boat
    • 5/5 Scenery
    • 4/5 Ease of navigation
    • 3/5 Tour documents
  • (4/5) Jo Ribordy-Christofferson 2 months ago

    Not for the inexperienced traveler

    The trip itinerary was very good, the bikes were good, the motels were good, the luggage transport was good. The biking instructions were terrible. We only received a very small undetailed map for each day. We needed to use Google maps to navigate for most days of the trip and we were definitely lost on many occasions. International phone service is a must for this trip! Cycling along the lake was easy but getting in and out of towns was very challenging.

    What was the date of your tour?
    Sept 2024
    How many tours have you completed?
    10+
    Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
    As expected
    Who is this tour suitable for?
    Families with teens
    • 5/5 Value
    • 5/5 Included meals
    • 5/5 Bikes + equipment
    • 4/5 Hotels or boat
    • 4/5 Scenery
    • 2/5 Ease of navigation
    • 3/5 Tour documents
    • 4/5 Local tour company services
    • 4/5 Route selection
  • (5/5) Julane Anderson September 29, 2023

    One of our favorite bike tours!

    We've been on many bike tours in Europe and this tour has it all: excellent, centrally located hotels; beautiful scenic routes; variety of activities and experiences included in the price (gondola cable car ride, three museums, cog railway trip, boat trip, bus tickets provided by the hotels); and reliable bikes--we used "acoustic" rather than electric bikes and only had to walk two short hills. The tour company has gone above and beyond to make this tour a memorable and interesting one.
    A cyclist doing a self guided tour for the first time should be confident about riding with (rare) city traffic and navigation; we were glad that we had downloaded the GPX tracks before we left the States.

    What was the date of your tour?
    mid-September, 2023
    How many tours have you completed?
    12+
    Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
    As expected
    Who is this tour suitable for?
    Families with teens
    Do you recommend this tour?
    Yes
    •  (photo by Julane Anderson)
    •  (photo by Julane Anderson)
    •  (photo by Julane Anderson)
    •  (photo by Julane Anderson)
    • 5/5 Value
    • 5/5 Included meals
    • 5/5 Bikes + equipment
    • 5/5 Hotels or boat
    • 5/5 Scenery
    • 5/5 Ease of navigation
    • 5/5 Tour documents
    • 5/5 Local tour company services
    • 5/5 Route selection
  • (5/5) Dave Carlstrom June 10, 2023

    On the road again... our third Biketours.com adventure

    Thankfully I’m not unduly worse for wear after almost three weeks and hundreds of kilometers of European cycling… though I did take four tumbles. The most serious (and ignominious) was in an Austrian grocery store parking lot when my pants cuff caught on the pedal and over I went – hard, attracting the immediate attention of several shoppers (“Carnage on lane one”) who with some difficulty got me back on my feet. At first I was pretty sure I’d broken something important, but all limbs are yet attached and seemingly intact… albeit a bit looser.

    I pedaled the balance of the day’s distance but at my compatriots’ urging skipped the following day’s segment in favor of bus/train passage to St. Gallen, Switzerland. The next day was a scheduled no biking day so I had two days to recover, sorta. The next day – our last of actual cycling – with some anxiety I got back on my trusty velocipede and, sure enough, one click later fell again… though this time comparatively softly albeit in front of a bus. I made it the remaining 45K to destination without further incident.

    Our merry band included Seattleites Curt and Brenda Burnett, Gerry Champagne, and friends until recently from Fairbanks Ron and Jeanine Woolf. Fine folks all, we really did have a good time together.

    Our odyssey began with six days at a rental house in Eguisheim, France, followed by an eleven day clockwise circumnavigation of Lake Constance that touched Germany, Austria, and Switzerland.

    Here are a few day-by-day snippets of my adventure:

    Sunday, April 30th. Aloft en route to Paris Delta served the worst dinner I’ve ever ingested on an international flight: the “beef” entre was the consistency of spam, reminiscent of the mystery meat of junior high cafeteria days, and dished out in a biodegradable cardboard clamshell.

    Monday, May 1st. Having hobbled off the plane I was semi-involuntarily consigned to a wheelchair for the lengthy transfer to the airport train station. Manly hombre that I am, I dared not disclose to the friendly pusher that I had come to Europe for three weeks of cycling. Arrived Colmar, in Alsace, just before midnight via a 180 MPH TGV with a transfer in Strasbourg and, coincidentally, six minutes prior to the Woolfs’ arrival. Settled into our very nice rental house.

    Tuesday, May 2nd - Thursday, May 4th. Daily e-bike excursions to nearby picture-perfect towns with eat-in dinners crafted by chefs Burnett and Woolf. Imbibed copious amouints of wine, certainly did our part for the local viticulture industry.

    I developed a serious case of ABC – Asymmetrical Butt Chafing – which was ameliorated by liberal bi-daily nether regions applications of Bag Balm – my personal favorite posterior palliative, see https://bagbalm.com/.  SHOW MORE 

  • (5/5) Jeanine JeffersWoolf May 23, 2023

    Great

    Love the route planned and the suggested sites to see. Beautiful area. Responsive organization. Some of the directions were tricky

    What was the date of your tour?
    May 2023
    How many tours have you completed?
    4
    Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
    As expected
    Who is this tour suitable for?
    First-time bike tourists, Solo travelers, Families with teens
    Do you recommend this tour?
    Yes
    • 4/5 Value
    • 5/5 Included meals
    • 5/5 Bikes + equipment
    • 4/5 Hotels or boat
    • 5/5 Scenery
    • 3/5 Ease of navigation
    • 4/5 Tour documents
    • 4/5 Local tour company services
    • 3/5 Route selection
  • (5/5) Robert Hardies November 7, 2022

    Fantastic service and a great tour

    Radweg Reisen is by far the most organized and efficient tour company we have used. The ride was fun and interesting. The path is fairly simple to find and the grade is level and easy. Each hotel and transportation ticket worked perfectly. I just want to rave about a job well done.

    How many tours have you completed?
    Five or more
    Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
    Somewhat easier
    Who is this tour suitable for?
    First-time bike tourists, Solo travelers, Families with teens
    Do you recommend this tour?
    Yes
    • 5/5 Value
    • 5/5 Included meals
    • 5/5 Bikes + equipment
    • 5/5 Hotels or boat
    • 5/5 Scenery
    • 5/5 Ease of navigation
    • 5/5 Tour documents
    • 5/5 Local tour company services
    • 5/5 Route selection
  • (5/5) Robert Hardies August 25, 2022

    This isnabgreat and fun trip!

    Radweg Reisen did a fantastic job. The bikes were in excellent condition and were great bikes. Luggage transfer was seamless. The hotels and meals were great. The guide books were comprehensive. I feel like I cannot rave enough about how well organized this tour was. Thanks!

    How many tours have you completed?
    Five or more
    Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
    Somewhat easier
    Who is this tour suitable for?
    First-time bike tourists, Families with teens
    Do you recommend this tour?
    Yes
    • 5/5 Value
    • 5/5 Included meals
    • 5/5 Bikes + equipment
    • 5/5 Hotels or boat
    • 5/5 Scenery
    • 5/5 Ease of navigation
    • 5/5 Tour documents
    • 5/5 Local tour company services
    • 5/5 Route selection
  • (5/5) Dorothy Richards August 24, 2022

    Great Trip!

    We really enjoyed our trip around the Bodensee! Our bikes were in good working condition, the hotels were nice and typically had great breakfasts. The route took us by many highlights and even some places off the beaten path. I would absolutely recommend this trip and I would use this tour company again.

    What was the date of your tour?
    August 2022
    How many tours have you completed?
    4
    Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
    Somewhat easier
    Do you recommend this tour?
    Yes
    • 5/5 Value
    • 5/5 Included meals
    • 5/5 Bikes + equipment
    • 5/5 Hotels or boat
    • 5/5 Scenery
    • 4/5 Ease of navigation
    • 4/5 Tour documents
    • 5/5 Local tour company services
    • 4/5 Route selection
  • (5/5) Mark Ivkovich August 23, 2022

    Wonderful bike tour experience

    The hotels were very nice and morning meals excellent. The cities on the bike tour were all very interesting and offered many historical points of interest. I would highly recommend the bike tour to friends and family.

    What was the date of your tour?
    August 6, 2022
    How many tours have you completed?
    3
    Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
    Somewhat easier
    Who is this tour suitable for?
    First-time bike tourists, Solo travelers
    Do you recommend this tour?
    Yes
    • 4/5 Value
    • 5/5 Included meals
    • 5/5 Bikes + equipment
    • 5/5 Hotels or boat
    • 5/5 Scenery
    • 4/5 Ease of navigation
    • 4/5 Tour documents
    • 4/5 Local tour company services
    • 4/5 Route selection
  • (4/5) Merry Beckel August 2, 2022

    Nice trip!

    The hotel stays were great! We felt the maps could have been much better. Thank goodness for the friendly local people who were willing to help us! Getting in and out of St. Gallen was scarey and difficult. A couple people in our party said they will never do another bike tour!

  • (4/5) Wes G October 2, 2019

    Lake Konstanz Bike Tour

    My first bike tour in Europe. The area is beautiful to ride through and each city had its own uniqueness. We really enjoyed sampling local beers and wines along with our favorite snacks and dinners. Generally, our accommodations were satisfactory with some better than others. Thankfully, mid-September is not too warm because many small hotels do not have airconditioning. The bikes from Radweg Reisen were in excellent condition and never once gave any of us any concern.

    Just a few suggestions that would have made the trip more memorable. First of all, our tour was self-guided and we used the maps provided by Radweg. Because of some areas that had poor signage, we could have used a GPS with the routes loaded into it. There was a lot of road construction and repairs going on. We got lost several times and ended up way off course and walking our bikes up steep hills to get to our destination.

    Second, although all four of us are in excellent condition, two of us are not regular cyclists. So, we trained with spin classes. Even then, we were wishing on many occasions that we had opted for the e-bikes,especially on the St Gallen to Konstanz segment (absolutely crushing)!

    Third, the hotel in Manzell was too far away from Friedrichshafen and absolutely nothing to do in that area. The only saving grace was the restaurant.

    Overall, a lovely ride, although I would caution against novice cyclists doing the eleven night tour without e-bikes.

    What was the date of your tour?
    Sept 13-25
    How many tours have you completed?
    1
    Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
    Somewhat harder
    Who is this tour suitable for?
    First-time bike tourists
    Do you recommend this tour?
    No
    • 5/5 Value
    • 5/5 Bikes + equipment
    • 4/5 Hotels or boat
    • 5/5 Scenery
    • 2/5 Ease of navigation
    • 4/5 Tour documents
    • 5/5 Local tour company services
    • 4/5 Route selection
  • (5/5) lenzylamb September 27, 2019

    Wonderful!

    We had a wonderful time! We got lost a few times due to lack of understanding the road signs(our fault) but once we got the hang of everything we were good to go! Wouldn’t hesitate booking through BikeTours again!!!

    What was the date of your tour?
    September 2019
    Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
    Somewhat easier
    Who is this tour suitable for?
    Solo travelers, First-time bike tourists, Families with teens
    Do you recommend this tour?
    Yes
    • 5/5 Value
    • 5/5 Included meals
    • 5/5 Bikes + equipment
    • 5/5 Hotels or boat
    • 5/5 Scenery
    • 4/5 Ease of navigation
    • 5/5 Tour documents
    • 5/5 Local tour company services
    • 5/5 Route selection
  • (4/5) Waterdog September 24, 2019

    Wonderful tour

    The bike, accommodations, and breakfast where all very good. I rented an eBike and am so glad I did. Some parts of the route were
    harder than I had anticipated. The eBike made those times considerably easier to endure. My only negative about this trip was that the maps and directions were extremely poor at times...numerous times. The worst was when we were trying to find the hotels in the afternoon or leaving town in the mornings. The good news is we were usually able to find pedestrians or other cyclists to ask, but we could ask three people and get the different directions. That being said, it was still a wonderful adventure. I'll definitely book another trip through biketours.com.

    What was the date of your tour?
    Sept 6-15
    How many tours have you completed?
    3
    Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
    Much harder
    Do you recommend this tour?
    Yes
    • Photo 1 (photo by Waterdog)
    • Photo 2 (photo by Waterdog)
    • Photo 3 (photo by Waterdog)
    • Photo 4 (photo by Waterdog)
    • Photo 5 (photo by Waterdog)
    • Photo 6 (photo by Waterdog)
    • 5/5 Value
    • 5/5 Included meals
    • 5/5 Bikes + equipment
    • 5/5 Hotels or boat
    • 5/5 Scenery
    • 1/5 Ease of navigation
    • 2/5 Tour documents
    • 5/5 Local tour company services
    • 3/5 Route selection
  • (5/5) Tom on a Bike August 26, 2019

    A beautiful ride!

    Cycling around Lake Constance (Bodensee) was a lovely experience. Every day brought more beautiful views and villages. I chose this 11-day self-guided tour with lower kilometers to allow me to experience the villages and people more intimately. The tour did just that. You could very well choose another tour with more daily distance and get nice experience. This area presents many opportunities for the cycling tourist. I was never bored on my cycling days.

    The tour was relatively flat. The only challenge was on the day cycling to St. Gallen. There was a considerable climb. It was walkable when needed. The tours mostly followed the Lake Constance cycle path. When roads where used, they ware almost always quiet roads with low traffic.

    Some things that could be improved: Radweg Reisen did not give an orientation at the start of the ride. I was fitted for a bike that was nicely outfitted although it was heavy as a tank. On this vacation, I did some Swiss touring on a self-guided tour from another provider. That tour provider gave me a nice orientation on signage, routes, the bike, and Swiss cycling. I was also given a tour support person’s mobile phone number to use when I needed help. Radweg could improve on their orientation process.

    The Radweg Reisen books were very nicely done in a size that fit in the handlebar bag map holder. What was lacking were detailed instructions on navigating to ticketed attractions and hotels. I would suggest a small insert map on these pages. I was able to use Google Maps and the map the Radweg Resiaen gave me to get to my destination.

    In conclusion, I was very satisfied with the tour. I felt the hotels were nice. The tickets to the attractions were very nice. The only suggestion is for Radweg Resien to work on their customer focus and interaction.

    What was the date of your tour?
    August 2019
    How many tours have you completed?
    15
    Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
    As expected
    Who is this tour suitable for?
    Solo travelers, First-time bike tourists
    Do you recommend this tour?
    Yes
    • Photo 1 (photo by Tom on a Bike)
    • Photo 2 (photo by Tom on a Bike)
    • Photo 3 (photo by Tom on a Bike)
    • Photo 4 (photo by Tom on a Bike)
    • Photo 5 (photo by Tom on a Bike)
    • Photo 6 (photo by Tom on a Bike)
    • 5/5 Value
    • 4/5 Included meals
    • 3/5 Bikes + equipment
    • 4/5 Hotels or boat
    • 5/5 Scenery
    • 3/5 Ease of navigation
    • 4/5 Tour documents
    • 3/5 Local tour company services
    • 5/5 Route selection
  • (5/5) Nellyyy91 July 18, 2019

    Amazing experience

    Such an incredible way to explore parts of Germany and Switzerland I feel I would’ve never visited had it not been for this bike tour. Amazing views and a different experience (I am not an avid biker). Some trails were more intense than others, but it added to the fun. Anytime something came up the staff at Radweg were super helpful, friendly and readily available. Would absolutely recommend this trip to friends and family, and also participate in another one somewhere else.

    What was the date of your tour?
    02/07/2019-12/07/2019
    How many tours have you completed?
    0
    Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
    As expected
    Who is this tour suitable for?
    First-time bike tourists, Families with teens
    Do you recommend this tour?
    Yes
    • 5/5 Value
    • 4/5 Included meals
    • 5/5 Bikes + equipment
    • 5/5 Hotels or boat
    • 5/5 Scenery
    • 4/5 Ease of navigation
    • 5/5 Tour documents
    • 5/5 Route selection