Vorarlberg: Discover Lake Constance, mountains and culture

Vorarlberg combines Lake Constance with mountains reaching heights of up to 3,000 metres. This opens up a destination where cultural attractions, protected natural areas, hiking trails, cycling tours and regional cuisine provide different focal points for your stay. You can therefore choose your accommodation based on whether you would like to focus on architecture and museums, landscapes and outdoor activities, or regional specialities.

Vorarlberg between Lake Constance and the Alpine landscape

Vorarlberg’s natural diversity extends from high Alpine areas and wooded valleys to species-rich meadows, moorlands and river landscapes. Vorarlberg has 39 Natura 2000 sites. Verwall is Vorarlberg’s largest protected European nature conservation area within the Natura 2000 network. These different landscapes give a stay a broad profile: high-Alpine surroundings are followed by wooded valleys, open meadows or protected wetlands, without this implying a single type of landscape for the entire region.

A specific example is the Wiegensee European protected area. It lies northeast of Partenen at an altitude of 1,920 metres, at the foot of the Versalspitze, and is a raised bog. From the mountain station of the Tafamunt cable car, moderately difficult day hikes with scenic views pass by the Wiegensee European protected area. In summer, Montafon Tourism also offers guided day hikes. Those who do not want to explore nature entirely on their own can learn about biodiversity as well as rare animals and plants from specially trained nature guides, who offer tours through Vorarlberg’s protected natural areas.

Getting there and regional orientation

For travel by train, Railjets, ICEs and other high-speed trains stop in Bregenz, Dornbirn, Hohenems, Feldkirch, Bludenz and Langen am Arlberg. This provides several possible starting points for planning your stay. The accommodation that suits you may therefore also depend on whether you want to combine a cultural focus on Lake Constance with destinations in the Rhine Valley or landscapes in the Alpine region. No single location represents Vorarlberg as a whole.

Culture, architecture and history

Vorarlberg has a dense and varied cultural infrastructure with historic architectural monuments, more than 80 museums, numerous stages, public art installations and modern architecture. Werkraum Haus presents regional craftsmanship and serves as an exhibition and meeting place that combines global and regional perspectives. The Architektouren through Vorarlberg comprise a total of seven themed day tours compiled by the Vorarlberg Architecture Institute and Vorarlberg Tourism.

Bregenz is home to several independent cultural attractions with different focal points. Kunsthaus Bregenz was built from 1994 to 1997, opened in 1997 and designed by Swiss architect Peter Zumthor. Every year, Kunsthaus presents exhibitions by four different contemporary artists. On a guided tour of the Bregenz Festival, you can discover the floating stage, look behind the scenes of the performances and learn interesting facts about the history and development of the Bregenz Festival. A panoramic room on the fourth floor of the vorarlberg museum in Bregenz offers views of Lake Constance.

There are also notable cultural and historical attractions outside Bregenz. The Women’s Museum in Hittisau is described as Austria’s only women’s museum. The medieval Schattenburg above Feldkirch is considered one of the best-preserved castles in Vorarlberg. The Martinsturm in Bregenz is described as Central Europe’s largest onion-domed tower. These examples show how varied the cultural points of interest are: from contemporary art and architecture to stage and museum topics, as well as medieval architectural history.

Hiking, cycling and nature exhibitions

For longer hiking plans, Min Weag leads around Vorarlberg in 31 stages. Themed hiking trails in all Vorarlberg regions explore history, culture and ways of life, traditions and special natural features. On the Brüggelekopf, the music hiking trail has 10 stations where hikers can experience songs and pieces of music. The different formats therefore range from a multi-day circuit divided into stages to a trail that combines nature and music at individual stations.

The Vorarlberg Cultural Cycle Tour is a cycling journey of around 252 kilometres across Vorarlberg. For families or mixed travel groups, it can be helpful to organise each day not only according to the length of a route but also according to its particular theme: the music hiking trail has a different focus from a multi-day series of stages or a journey across the region.

In Dornbirn, inatura offers an interactive nature exhibition with touchable exhibits in a modernised industrial building. The exhibition covers topics from nature, people and technology, and offers interactive games, videos, as well as live and preserved animals that visitors can touch. It also includes more than 40 interactive stations on technical and physical phenomena. inatura thus combines observing nature with accessible topics from technology and physics.

Regional products and the Bregenzerwald

KäseStrasse Bregenzerwald is a brand for a rural region, a network of producers and marketers, and an experience area for visitors and local residents. Members of KäseStrasse Bregenzerwald offer programmes, tours and products, or serve specialities made from regional ingredients. For planning your stay, this means a clear regional focus on production, marketing and culinary experiences, without every member necessarily having the same offerings.

Those looking for modern architecture can find different perspectives in Kunsthaus Bregenz, Werkraum Haus and the seven Architektouren. Those who prefer landscapes and outdoor activities can choose between Min Weag, themed hiking trails, the Vorarlberg Cultural Cycle Tour and the hiking options in Montafon.

Regional classification

For more detailed orientation within Vorarlberg, you can select the relevant districts directly: Dornbirn District, Bludenz District, Bregenz District and Feldkirch District.

To the overview of destinations: Austria.

More about the destination

Relevant information for planning your trip:

Skiing in Vorarlberg - Ski holidays in Vorarlberg | Ski holiday information, skiing in Vorarlberg: plan ski areas and ski holidays.

More destinations

More places within the same destination:

Burgenland, Upper Austria.