Experience the best of Konstanz

Konstanz stands on the western shore of Lake Constance, where the Rhine leaves the lake, and its streets run straight into Switzerland at Kreuzlingen. The old town escaped the bombing of the Second World War and has kept its medieval towers, narrow lanes and a cathedral with a tall spire. At the harbour entrance the Imperia, a nine-metre statue of a courtesan that turns slowly on its base, stands beside the old Council Hall, where the Council of Constance met from 1414 to 1418.

Boats cross the lake from the harbour to Meersburg, with its castle and vineyards, to the island of Mainau, a garden island with a palm house and butterfly house, and to Reichenau, an island of old monasteries and vegetable fields linked to the mainland by a causeway. The university campus sits above the lake, so students are everywhere on bicycles.

Whitefish from the lake, called Felchen, is pan-fried and served with potatoes, and Kässpätzle, noodles baked with cheese and fried onions, is a Swabian favourite. Müller-Thurgau and Pinot Noir grow on the slopes, and orchards supply fruit schnapps. Carnival fills the streets in the weeks before Lent, and summer is for swimming and boats.