Bike Tour Reviews Lake Constance Classic (11-nights)
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Lake Constance Classic (11-nights)
COUNTRY: Austria, Germany, Switzerland
Self guided from EUR € 1598
Self-guided:
Daily: Apr 9 - Apr 11, Apr 16 - 18, Apr 23 - Oct 3, 2025.
Description:
Embark on an enchanting bike tour through one of Europe’s most breathtaking landscapes. This unforgettable route takes you along the shimmering shores of Lake Constance, where crystal-clear waters reflect the majestic peaks of the Alps. With every turn…
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★★★★★ Christine Ritson 7 months agoFabulous 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
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★★★★★ Pierre C. 8 months 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
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★★★★★ Ann Abeles 8 months 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
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★★★★★ Barbara Dickson 8 months 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.
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★★★★★ Martha Scott 8 months 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
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★★★★★ Susan Ferrante-Collier 8 months 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
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★★★★★ Jo Ribordy-Christofferson 8 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
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★★★★★ 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
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★★★★★ 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
Friday, May 5th. Hung out at the house, pas mal.
Saturday, May 6th. Day trip with Burnetts to the tourist mecca of Colmar where, alas and alack, Curt was pickpocketed! Charge and debit card cancellations ensued, not good.
Sunday, May 7th. Auto trip to a German mountain hiking lodge, an intermediate stop on our way to Konstantz, the starting and ending point of our main event circumnavigation of the eponymous lake.
Monday, May 8th. Had to beat feet to get Burnetts’ rental car back by a 10:30 am deadline… made it with a full five minutes to spare. Checked in at the stunning four star Hotel Halm where the breakfast buffet includes champagne and cheesecake. Woolfs arrived by train, Gerry direct from Seattle via Zurich. Got our e-bikes.
Tuesday, May 9th. Pedaled forty some K to Gailingen, a bit of a shakedown cruise. Great scenery and picture postcard-worthy medieval villages. Adequate lodging, but not a Hotel Halm.
Wednesday, May 10th. Roundtrip to Rhine Falls, Europe’s largest. Second night in Gailingen, first of nearly nightly self-catered hotel room team happy hours.
On previous European bike tours we’ve grumbled about route instructions encrypted by by non-native English speakers. This time the tour operator-provided guidebook was completely devoid of route guidance… we were on our own, taking turns as Google Maps-assisted trail breaking pathfinders with plenty of navigational errors. But we always (eventually) got to where we were going.
Thursday, May 11th. Return to Konstanz for a Hotel Halm reprise. Got soaked during the last couple clicks of the day’s ride.
Friday, May 12th. To Radolfzell via Mainau Island, the latter a facsimile of sorts of Butchart Gardens.
Saturday, May 13th. A mere sixteen K to Ludwigshafen.
Sunday, May 14th. Forty K to Friedrichshafen, home of the Zeppelin Museum to which I made a solo afternoon excursion via city buses. Turns out the Hindenberg was 245 meters from stem to stern, almost three football fields.
Monday, May 15th. Day of my aforementioned parking lot tumble. Overnight in Bregnz, Austria. I was very sore, somewhat bruised, had marginal repose.
Tuesday, May 16th. Having shipped my bike with the luggage I patronized buses and trains to our next destination, St. Gallen, Switzerland. As it happened today was Jeanine’s turn to tumble, hard, while passing a path-blocking truck.
Wednesday, May 17th. Today was a scheduled non-cycling day so while others toured about (monastery, waterfalls chocolate factory, shopping) I rested my bruised corpus in the hope that I might be sufficiently healed for the morrow’s last lap back to Konstanz.
Thursday, May 18th. 14K of almost continuous downhill on the 46 K journey back to our starting point. Celebratory dinner, a bit melancholy to be soon parting ways.
Friday, May 19th. Train to Zurich for a twelve hour Swissair flight to San Francisco and a connection home to Seattle.
Great trip, a good time had by all (despite bumps and bruises).
D. Carlstrom. May, 2023
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★★★★★ 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
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★★★★★ 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
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★★★★★ 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
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★★★★★ 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
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★★★★★ 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
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★★★★★ 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!
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★★★★★ 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
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★★★★★ 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
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★★★★★ 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
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★★★★★ 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
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★★★★★ 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
