There I was, naively thinking that we have visited all interesting places in about one hour drive from our home. You probably understand already that I was wrong. A few weeks ago, I received an ad about Mainau. I have heard that word already, but I had no idea what it meant. It turned out that it was an island in the lake Constance which seems to be very popular. I did a quick research and started to plan our trip.
Mainau is known for its beautiful parks, native as well as exotic flowers and an old Arboretum. There is also a palace from the 18th century and one of the cutest churches that I have ever visited. Today, we will see the architectural highlights, part of the gardens and beautiful views of the lake and its surroundings.
Let's start!
We booked the tickets online to avoid queues as I've read that the capacity of the island is 9000 visitors per day. That number is huge! The entrance fee is 26.50 EUR per person which sounds like a lot, but we spent there half a day and it wasn't enough, so if you come early in the morning you can stay until the evening and I guarantee you that you won't get bored.
When we arrived we were surprised to see a huge parking space consisting of multiple areas. We kept driving and driving and I was slowly getting frustrated as we were getting so far from the location. It took us ages to finally park the car.
When we finally checked in our tickets I started to relax. We crossed a long pedestrian bridge to get to the island. There were so many people, but the island is bigger than we thought, so all people spread out and we could easily find quiet places for ourselves. We decided to head to the palace first as there was a restaurant and we were hungry already. The self-service restaurant worked like a well oiled machine. It took some time to get the food, but it was simply because there were so many people waiting in front of us.
After lunch we walked towards the palace that is surrounded by beautifully groomed gardens. It was a lovely day and we enjoyed the sunshine. Unfortunately, the palace is closed and we could only enter a small part with a café and a shop, but it was not too bad as there were more than enough things to see outside.
The island is open almost all year long, and you can enjoy flower beds of all seasons, so visiting it once is not enough. We are planning to visit it again in summer. This time we could enjoy all the colours of the rainbow.
Next to the palace is a large greenhouse with exotic plants such as various plants, citrus trees and monsteras. I have a big monstera at home and I dream of having this kind of leaves one day. I got so excited when I saw it. Look at how many holes there are!
It was surreal to see such huge palm trees inside. I thought that it would be really hot in the greenhouse, but it was not much different from the outside temperature.
There is a part dedicated to the Mediterranean plants, and I loved to see the flowering bushes that I normally only see when I'm on vacation. It gave me that much needed vacation feeling.
We enjoyed a large variety of various trees, bushes, flowers and other lants. There were pathways all around and you could approach the plants easily, although it is forbidden to walk on grass.
At the entrance, we got a map, so we could decide what we wanted to see. Frankly, we wanted to see everything, but it's way too big for one day.
They even have banana trees, and I wonder if they produce some bananas too. Imagine there could be bananas grown in Germany.
The church next to the palace looks quite big from outside, but it's rather small when you enter it. However, it is worth your visit as it's beautiful. Let's have a look inside!
The church is decorated in pastel colours and has a calming atmosphere. People come and go, but we sat down and spend there a few minutes admiring the altars and decorations. It is an active church with one service on Sunday, and I can imagine that it can also be booked for weddings or other celebrations.
The ceiling frescoes date to the beginning of the 18th century. They capture various religious scenes, such as the birth of Christ, annunciation of Mary, or sacrifice of Jesus in the temple. I wish that they were wall frescoes as it would be easier to look at them.
From the church we went to the water...
As you can see it really was a beautiful day and we enjoyed as much sunshine as we could because this was the last sunny day for a long time.
I think it's the best time of the year to visit the island now - look at how green it is!
This is the bridge between the island and the main land...
It must be so cool to live on the other side and enjoy the views all day everyday.
The flowers are ever present on the island...
If you forget the mountains in the back this could easily pass as a seashore in The Netherlands...
Let's enjoy a few more photos of the surroundings...
One of the main paths on the island is lined with old trees. There are also a many benches to relax. Many people brought their lunch in form of a picnic from home and sat on the benches enjoying it. We also saw many families with kids who brought their lunches with them. It's probably much easier than eating at a restaurant with kids.
The sport season on the lake has already started. There were many people sailing or kayaking, and I'm sure that some of the 'extremist' were swimming in that cold water too.
We had such a great day on the island, and we might come back in July when our family will be visiting us. We will have 5 people with us for a week, so it will be good to let them walk around the island, so that we can have a bit of peace too 😊
See you next time...