It took us years of living in Switzerland before we visited Constance for the first time. Although it's less than an hour away we always found some other place to go. I honestly thought that it was a small city that had not so much to offer, and I have to admit that I was wrong. We finally gave in and drove to Constance because one of our friends told us about a restaurant that was so good, so we had to visit it. In the end, the restaurant was not that good, but the city was absolutely worth of our visit. Now, we keep coming here almost every month and we love it.
Constance lies directly at the lake Constance. This is one of well-known lakes in Europe as it's shared among three countries: Switzerland, Austria and Germany. The city lies at the border of Switzerland and Germany. It's a smaller city with about 85000 inhabitants. You can walk around the city, visit one of its countless shops, have a good meal at one of its many restaurants, visit various museums, churches or walk along a long promenade along the lake.
This time we stayed in the city and on the way home we walked towards the lake as well.
Let's have a look!
We always drive to Constance as it's faster than the train and the parking is ridiculously cheap. First we have lunch, and then we go for a walk. Usually we would walk along the lake, but this time I wanted to show you a bit of the city, so we walked around the old time.
It was a nice day and many people were sitting outside. I didn't find it warm enough to do that, but I have experienced that Germans as well as Swiss like to have a drink outside as soon as the sun is out. They don't care much about the temperature 😊
There are many charming corners in the city like this one which was super cute because of the retro minibus parked in the back.
There are several architectural styles in the city, and I find it interesting to see how they blend together and somehow make one piece.
There are also many traditional Baden-Württemberg houses. Well, at least I think that such houses are traditional there as we saw plenty of them around this federal state.
We came across the city model which also had names in Braille...
The main square is filled with tables and chairs. It was almost full in April, so I think that it's bursting with life in summer.
One room per floor - it must be annoying when you need to use the bathroom at night which is on another floor 😊
The Minster is the central point of the city and you can see it from almost everywhere...
I would love to learn more about this house as it's so different than the rest of the city. Sadly, I didn't see any signs, so it's probably not that special.
The main street leading to the lake is a wide boulevard with hotels on both sides...
My favourite place here is a large bookstore. It's such an amazing place with 4 floors (if I'm not mistaken) and a large selection of books in English. There is also a café, so you don't need to wait to get home to read your new books, but you can start as soon as you pay for them.
On the far end of the street is the Emperor's fountain or Kaiserbrunnen. There are many small statues around the fountain which refer to various historic events related to Constance.
I wanted to wait for a bit to get a better photo, but there were many kids constantly climbing on the iron horse next to the fountain.
Let's see some facades that caught my attention...
Here we can see that the lower part of the house comes from different period than the upper part. It's not only the colour of the details, but the upper part is much more decorated that the lower part.
This roof reminded me of churches in Italy. I wonder how the space looks like inside...
This house makes me think of the Louis XVI style. I love the golden details!
There are not as many painted houses as we have where we live, but those that we found were stunning. This is the old City hall from the 15th century.
The house itself dates back to the 15th century, but the paintings are not that old. They were created in the 19th century. These paintings show events related to the council.
Let's walk to the lake now...
We came across some beautiful paintings on the way, but I only took a couple of photos and ran away as they are located next to the public toilets and the smell there was horrible.
And here we are!
We come to the lake Constance quite often in summer. There are many beaches and at some places it looks like you were at the sea. It's a popular weekend destination for many Swiss people as it gives you a holiday feeling without travelling. Unfortunately, it wasn't a clear day as otherwise we would see the Alps in this direction.
One of the most important landmarks of Constance is the Imperia statue. It's a rotating statue which marks the entrance to the harbour. I didn't realize that it was rotating in the beginning, and I was trying to get closer so that she would 'face' me until I found it strange that the angle was changing constantly. It is moving very slowly, and you don't notice it at first. Then I waited a bit and realized that this was all what was needed to get the perfect angle 😊
On the other side of the lake is a long promenade with many restaurants and bars - great place in summer!
There is also a retirement home hidden in the back with beautiful gardens and lovely views of the lake and the mountains.
It was getting late and we had a few things to do that day, so we started walking towards the car...
But the only thing that I really wanted to do was sit down in the park and read a book. Well, maybe next time...
The houses on the left are perfect as a wedding location. I guess they are booked all year long...
I hope you've enjoyed a day in Constance with us.
See you next time!