Day 1: Bregenz, Austria to Schaan, Liechtenstein (65 km)
We left Berlin in the middle of the night on Thursday, 2 April, and took an overnight bus to Munich to kick off our journey. Arriving in the centre of Munich early on a frosty Good Friday morning was a surreal experience: the city was utterly dead. With a couple of hours to spare before we had to get the train out of town and start our tour in earnest, we took advantage of a rare opportunity to ride around this city of a million inhabitants completely unimpeded by traffic and pedestrians alike. It was chilly, but sunny and still. Good cycling weather as long as you’re dressed for it.
The plan was to take a train all the way to Lindau, on the northern shore of Lake Constance (or the Bodensee as it’s known to the locals), and barring a couple of hamlets the last corner of Germany on the lake. From there we were to cycle into Austria and thence to Liechtenstein, but public transport schedule changes and random cut-off points saw us thrown off the train in rural Bavaria and sprinting 15km along backroads, before catching a different train which took us directly to Bregenz. So it wasn’t strictly four countries in one ride, because it was interrupted in the middle, but we’re still counting it.
We enjoyed 20km or so of Austria, including the mystical medieval town of Feldkirch, before speeding downhill straight into Liechtenstein. Then the fun really started.
Some of the most beautiful scenery we have ever encountered in our lives is to be found here. It is quiet. Still. Peaceful.
A brief moment in Feldkirch.
The name of this path is “Beautiful view road”. They have a point.
