….
(post contains affiliate links/ad/Werbung/Ortnennenung-nicht sponsored)
The month of May has been a very busy one. We squeezed in 2 vacations and a ton of day trips cause my husband was on paternity leave for 4 weeks and you never know when you will get this much time off again plus when the weather will be this gorgeous to things outside every single day.
As you may have seen we have spent a few days at Lake Constance (Bodensee) at the beginning of May and I wanted to recap our trip plus share what to do with little ones.
We stayed at Constance the biggest city on Lake Constance (like the name already gives away). Since we had a ———– at Lake Garda we opted for one again cause it was just super easy with the little ones and we did not get dissapointed. We stayed at Appartmens Constance and it was a very well equipped aparment big enough to stay in for four days. You can check it out here.
What to do at Lake Constance
Visit the Stilt Houses in Uhldingen
We went there on our first day to break up the drive in two halfs so it wouldn´t be too much for the girls. The Stilt Houses are super cool. They are out on the water which gives you a great view onto the lake plus you can follow a guided tour or do some exploring on your own. Each house has new things to see inside like a family home, a carpentry and so on. It might not seems for small children at first but Emilia really liked it and had a lot of fun so I would suggest to just try it. It is 12 Euro for grown-ups and free for children under 5.
You can enter easily with a stroller or a wheelchair. It is open every day of the week. The city of Uhldingen is also very picturesque with a small harbor, a few restaurants (you have to stop and eat fish at some point cause it is very popular and super fresh) and overall such a Disneyland Main Street feel to it. There is also a huge playground as well as a mini golf course.
Visit the Rhine Falls in Switzerland
The water falls are across the border in Switzerland. Is is a super quick drive from Constance across the border to Switzerland (about 10 minutes) and then there may be 45 minutes left to get to the Rhine Falls.
A ticket for the highway costs 40 Euro a months no matter if you want to go for only one day or more often so I would suggest to take the secondary road around. Also no matter what you want to buy in Switzerland EVERYTHING costs a lot more than in other countries here (I´d say at least double).
You can buy a ticket to the viewing platform or a ticket to a boat ride as close to the Rhine Falls as possible. We just got the ticket for the viewing platform and it was totally worth it. It wasn´t too crowded and we could take all the pictures we wanted. You can reach the platform with a stroller as well as with a wheechair cause you go down by an elevator. There is fine dining in small castle as well as snacks in the fast food restaurant. For children there is a great playground as well as a miniature world (we didn´t go in cause it was 23 Euro per person).
Just strolling around the Falls is pretty as well. We spent about 5 hours here which we have never thought would be possible but it was a great way to spend the day and Emilia had a blast from the beginning to the end.
Visit the Flower Island of Mainau
Anyone ever seen an island full of flowers with a little castle in the middle ? This is Mainau. It is very easy to get to if you are coming from Constance – you can walk over a small bridge – takes about 5 minutes and you are at the main entrance. If you are coming from Meersburg (which is on the opposite side of Lake Constance) you can take the ferry. The entrance fee is 25,50 Euro per person. There are several restaurants. One for snacks, one for fine dining, one on top of the hill in the castle and one right outside the castle. So there should be something for everyone.
There are flower themes around the whole island. Tulips in April and May and then Peonies for June and July and so on and so on.
Visit the old City of Meersburg with its Castle
I have never seen such a cute, clean and colorful old city. There are flowers everywhere and so many pretty half-timbered houses. Meersburg itself has an old castle we wanted to visit but there is no chance to get in there with a stroller (or wheelchair). It is an old castle and has many stairs and narrow aisles. The tour takes about 45 minutes so this would have been to much too carry our little girl the whole time. Maybe next time.
Also the city of Meersburg comes closest to all of the cities from Lake Garda with its little promenades on the water and all of the little cafés and shops. It has a cute harbour to sit and look out on the lake.
Visit the Monkey City of Salem
This was a suggestion from friends of ours but we just didn´t have any time left to do this. There are lots of things to do at Lake Constance so we could have easily spent two more days here.
There is a little zoo in the city of Salem where monkeys are everywhere and they run around free.
