Path 4/8: Lindau – Rorschach

From the station square, Zeppelinstrasse and Zwanzigerstrasse lead cyclists in a semicircle around the old town to the eastern approach to the island, which leads back to the mainland via the busy road bridge.

A little caution is in order here.

Beyond the bridge, a cycle path leads to the right along Bregenzer Straße to the railway line. Before the tracks, turn right and from now on drive purposefully to the right along the railway line in the direction of Austria.

At the Leiblachbrücke the border is passed without noticing it.

A little further you pass the small community of Lochau.

Always on the bike path between the main road and the railway line on one side and the lake shore on the other, the route circles the wide, winding bay towards Bregenz.
The marked cycle path literally leaves Bregenz on the left and continues between the bank and the railway line to the lake stage of the Bregenz Festival.

Nevertheless, it is worth planning a little time for the city yourself. To do this, leave the cycle path at Seemole 8, cross the tracks and drive down Rathausstrasse towards the city center.
You cycle past the floating stage from the Bregenz harbor out of the city.

With a view of the building complex of Mehrerau Monastery, one of the most important centers of the Cistercian order, a pleasantly quiet and contemplative route leads along the lake shore and past camping sites and bathing establishments to the mouth of the Bregenz Ach.

The mountain stream, which comes deep from the heart of the Bregenz Forest, can be foaming wildly or lazily babbling, depending on the prevailing weather. Along it it goes away from the lake towards the interior until the road bridge enables the crossing.

On the other side of the stream, it goes back to the lake shore and in a curve around the municipality of Hard to the Rhine canals.

In order to master the white water of the Alpine Rhine, the Rhine was channeled. Thus, although the floods that occurred several times a year were brought under control, the flow speed of the river has increased so much that it carries more sediments into the lake than ever, which can be seen particularly well from the Pfänder on the elongated clay flags of the Rhine delta .

On the road it goes over the canal of the Dornbirner Ach, over the Lustenau canal and finally over the actual Rhine to the village of Fußach.

Immediately after the bridge, Dorfstraße branches off to the right from 0 and leads to the Fußach church. Past this and in the continuation on the Hinterburgstrasse and Rohrstrasse back out of the community.

Clear signs announce the nearby Rohrspitz nature reserve.
From the campsite and inn on the Rohrspitz, an asphalt road leads in many bends and twists through the beautiful reed landscape towards Höchst.

Shortly before the first houses, the route branches off to the right into the Gaißauer Ried and heads purposefully towards the Austrian-Swiss border.

The only bridge over the Rhine is located in Gaißau, two kilometers to the south-east.

You always cycle on the embankment to the bridge with the customs office.

Over the Old Rhine, parallel to the heavily frequented road bridge, a new footbridge for pedestrians and cyclists crosses into Switzerland.
The Lake Constance cycle path, however, always leads on asphalt, then unsurfaced again between the floodplain forests on the Old Rhine and the motorway downriver towards Lake Constance.

Four kilometers after crossing the border, the path moves away from the oxbow lake of the Rhine and changes over to the nearby houses of Altenrhein.

In the village turn left, drive north along the airport to the church, turn left again and continue cycling to the Altenrhein market hall. The bizarre building was evidently created according to plans by Friedensreich Hundertwasser.

Turn right here, cross the freight railway and keep left along the lake to the B13. Cross this and the railway line to Blatten. Immediately turn right and drive along the railway line until a bridge in front of the cog railway to Heiden gives you the opportunity to drive back to the B13.

Turn sharply right here and cross over the SBB railway line and the federal road. To the right of the busy street, take a cycle path towards the city center, then again very close to the lake and finally along the railway line to the port and the center of Rorschach.

Variant: At Buriet, a good two kilometers after crossing the border, the motorway is crossed.

It goes through fields into the small town. From here on, the cycle path runs parallel to the Swiss Rhine Route No. 2 and is easy to find despite the somewhat winding route. On the main street, turn left shortly, but soon after the railway underpass, turn right again into Hegistraße.

Passing farmsteads and gardens, it goes out of Buriet, again under the motorway and immediately afterwards left into Gruebenweg. Drive along vineyards to the next town of Buechen.

From the church in the center of the village, keep left through Wilenstrasse, uphill slightly to Schloss Wartegg and then downhill again towards Rorschach and back to the main route.