Excursions

Only 20 minutes from the centre of Dornbirn lies a unique playground in the midst of a magnificent mountain paradise. The Ebnit sports club has a variety of activities on offer, overseen by outdoor specialists. 

This palace is regarded as one of the most important Renaissance buildings in western Austria. Its construction dates back to Cardinal Markus Sitticus III of Hohenems. The palace is now owned and lived in by the Waldburg-Zeil family: Countess Stephanie Waldburg-Zeil can even give a personal tour of the palace on request.

Karren is Dornbirn’s emblematic local mountain, towering over the city and offering panoramic views of the Swiss mountains, the Rhine Valley, and over to Lake Constance. It can be reached on foot in around an hour, or by a few minutes’ cable car ride lifting passengers up to a height of 976 metres.

Situated right in the city centre, Feldkirch’s Montforthaus hosts various congresses and events all year round. Stunningly renovated in 2015, the building’s ultra-modern façade nestles smoothly between the city’s medieval structures. A new range of tours offer a fascinating glimpse behind the scenes, giving visitors insights into the hosting of exhibitions, congresses, concerts and trade fairs.

The Bregenzerwald railway line, affectionately known locally as the Wälderbähnle, used to link Bregenz to the mountain village of Bezau. This 35-kilometre stretch was covered by a narrow-gauge track just 760 millimetres wide. 

This unique project arose out of a collaboration between the planning of seven international architecture firms on the one hand, and local construction know-how on the other. The result perfectly combines internationally designed architecture with the know-how and skills of regional craftsmen in the Bregenzerwald.

The Bregenz Festival is a must for any culture vulture, with a varied programme of opera performances, orchestral concerts, music and poetry presentations at its outdoor stage, the Festspielhaus (festival hall) and the Lake Studio.

Mainau, the botanical “Flower Island”, nestles like a multi-coloured jewel within the blues and greens of Lake Constance. The majestic castle complex, an outstanding example of southern Germany’s baroque style of architecture, harmonises effortlessly with one of Europe’s most beautiful botanical parks.

The Zeppelin Museum has long drawn visitors to Lake Constance. Here you can experience the varied developments in the history of aviation and even walk through a model Zeppelin. In fact, the museum offers the world's most extensive and important collection on the history and technology of Zeppelin airship travel. 

Milk and dairy products have been produced on this farm for four generations, but in recent years it has developed into a company of considerable size, specialising in goat's milk products. Whey is a healthy by-product of cheese production which Metzler use to produce natural cosmetics. 

The Stoffels Sawmill Museum is an open-air museum in Hohenems with a unique cultural-historical documentation of 2000 years of mill technology. On display here is the historical and technical development of saws and mills from their origins to modern times.

The little sister of the elegant Hohentwiel steam ship has been back gracing the waters of Lake Constance since May 2019. The MS Oesterreich is a motor ship first launched during the 1920s golden age, and was considered a luxury liner at the time. 

The cheese cellar in Lingenau is the place to not only buy and taste cheese but also to see it mature. Cheese and wine tastins with a sommelier is available to groups on inquiry.

This charming steam train began life as a genuine service railway, but today is used solely for visitor trips. The track runs along the Rhine embankment from the Rhein-Schauen Museum in Lustenau and through the nature reserve to the mouth of the Rhine at Lake Constance. 

Bregenz's local mountain towers over the city at 1,064 metres, offering panoramas of three countries across the lake in one direction and the Bregenzerwald in the other.