Lindau (Lake Constance): Culture and Island Experiences

Civic Palace, Town Museum and Library

The Haus zum Cavazzen is a Baroque civic palace in the middle of Lindau’s market square. The civic palace was built in 1729/30 by Swiss master builder Jakob Grubenmann. Since 1930, it has housed the Lindau Town Museum, which also introduces children to the history of the region. Here, a historic building and a museum dedicated to regional history come together.

The Library Museum in the Old Town Hall offers another way to explore the region’s cultural heritage. It displays the Former Imperial City Library of Lindau. Founded in 1538, the collection contains around 13,000 volumes from the Early Modern period and is the largest historic council and civic library on the northern shore of Lake Constance. This brings two distinct focuses together: the town museum in the Baroque civic palace and a historic library displayed in the Library Museum in the Old Town Hall.

Walking Tour and Historic Sites

St Peter’s Church in Lindau is more than 1,000 years old and is one of the oldest churches on Lake Constance. It is also one of the stops on the classic guided tour of Lindau. On the island, the tour continues to other notable sites: the harbour entrance with the Bavarian lion and the New Lighthouse, the Old Town Hall with its historic murals, Maximilianstraße with its magnificent houses, and the Diebsturm tower. The route thus brings together the harbour entrance, town hall, streetscape and historic buildings in one tour.

The Diebsturm also has its own historical significance: built in 1380, it long marked the western end of Lindau’s town fortifications. If you are interested in local history, the tour offers not just individual buildings but also a glimpse into different aspects of the historic townscape. St Peter’s Church adds to this perspective with its long history as a church building.

Bike Tour, Lakeshore Access and Spaces for Peace

The panoramic bike tour in Lindau is 26 kilometres long and passes six viewpoints on Lake Constance. The distance and number of viewpoints offer concrete ways to think of the tour as a cycling activity in its own right, alongside a museum visit or guided tour. If you are looking for access to the water rather than a route, Gerberschanze on Lindau Island has a small pebble beach with steps leading down to the water.

Another offering with a very different focus is the “friedensräume” at Villa Lindenhof. This interactive forum invites visitors to engage with themes of peace through sight, sound and touch. This experience differs from the historical themes explored at Cavazzen and the Library Museum. When planning your trip, you can therefore weigh up local history, an interactive forum, a bike tour and access to a small beach without combining these different offerings into a single itinerary.

Other Places in the Wider Lindau Destination

The district of Lindau has other attractions at specific locations. Gestratz has a total of 8 kilometres of groomed cross-country ski trails; conditions may vary from winter to winter. In the Eistobel nature reserve, the water of the Obere Argen river cascades downhill over several waterfalls along a 3-kilometre hiking trail. The trails and the gorge offer different experiences from the island museums: cross-country skiing on the one hand, and a protected landscape with waterfalls on the other.

Transport connections in Nonnenhorn may also be useful when planning your trip around the region. The town has a centrally located railway station. From the boat landing, there are connections to Lindau, Bregenz, Meersburg, Konstanz and Mainau Island. Train connections and timetables may change; boat services are seasonal and also subject to change. So check the latest timetables if you plan to use these connections.

Discover more destinations: Argental, Maierhöfen, Weißensberg, Weiler-Simmerberg, Sigmarszell, Bodolz, Lindenberg Im Allgäu, Stiefenhofen.

Go to the main travel overview: Lindau District (Lake Constance).