Lake Constance

This year we decided to take advantage of living in Germany and go on vacation locally. We had originally considered going to Bavaria; however, I found a fabulous campsite, Ferienpark Orsingen, near Lake Constance, which fitted all the criteria we were hoping for; family friendly, good outdoor pools, interesting day trips (for 3 year olds!) and not too expensive.

We were very lucky to choose a week where Germany was hit by a heatwave, the weather was truly fantastic for the whole week. On our first night, when we were settled in and the children were asleep, we enjoyed a beautiful sunset from our holiday home balcony, glass of wine in hand.

We were pleasantly surprised by how stunning Lake Constance and the town of Konstanz was (considered the German Rivera).  It really feels like you are somewhere special with the gorgeous, sprawling lake, with tree lined paths and parks surrounding the lake. 

The city of Konstanz was beautiful, with boat hire available to join the ducks mid-lake and see the city from a different viewpoint.

Our boys love boats - well they love anything that moves, cars, trains, planes, boats, motorbikes - you get the idea!  So we decided to hire a boat.  Rather than go for the extravagant yacht or expensive speed boat, we went for a leisurely pedalo (leisurely for the boys and me, not so much my husband who had to drive).

While on the boat, the boys were thrilled to see the boats and ducks up close, Bob D kept telling us how excited he was.  With the blue lake surrounding us, large boats passing you by and the quacking ducks providing a soundtrack to our journey, it was a really special experience.

We all thoroughly enjoyed our boat trip and loved sampling the delights of the ice cream afterwards. 

Lake Constance borders Switzerland and Austria which means that both were easily accessible for day trips. 

On our second day we went over to Switzerland to see the Rheinfall and Schloss Laufen. This waterfall is the largest plain waterfall in Europe and it didn't disappoint. The waterfall was easily accessible by car as well as public transport. If you are feeling brave you can even take a boat trip to the bottom of the waterfall, something we thought better of with two toddlers in tow.

After walking through a pretty entrance, we came to the many, many stairs that take you on a walk down the side of the breathtaking waterfall, leading to spectacular views and unforgetable experience (and yes there is a lift back up to the top for those that don't fancy climbing back up afterwards). 

We would highly recommend this day out to anyone, although Bob D did complain that the waterfall was 'too loud', we cant blame him the sound of the rushing water was very intense.

A few days later we ventured to a little town called Meersburg; this was slightly more touristy than what we had come across before in the area, with little shops selling souvenirs lining up along the lake, alongside lots of eateries and drinking establishments. We stopped for ice cream (as that was a must most days due to the heat!) and found this expensive in comparison to other places we had visited. We didn't mind though as the views were, once again, stunning. However, this would put me off staying there for the whole holiday should we return in the future. 

We thoroughly enjoyed our holiday - our first as a family of four - and would highly recommend this often overlooked, by Brits anyway, paradise.