Excursions

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.

This hilltop fort is the undisputed landmark of Feldkirch, originally built in around 1260 to protect the town and its residents. It’s also the ancestral seat of the Counts of Montfort who rose in the Middle Ages to become the reigning aristocratic family in the region known today as Vorarlberg.

There’s truly something to do on this picturesque lake all year round. From the start of April to October there are daily trips to the most beautiful destinations on Lake Constance. During the high season there are evening trips with music and dancing, as well as round trips to and from Bregenz. 

This interactive centre is the region’s most visited museum and one of the most high-tech nature museums in Europe, with underwater cinema, avalanche simulator, science centre, and more. 

Here in Dornbirn, experienced Austria Guides offer fascinating views of the city and stories from its industrial past. This walking tour takes visitors through Dornbirn’s most beautiful and impressive places.

The Jewish Museum Hohenems, located in the former Heimann-Rosenthal Villa, commemorates the rural Jewish community of Hohenems and its contributions to the development of Vorarlberg and surrounding regions. 

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. 

Formerly a humble stable, this building now houses one of the world’s foremost collection of cribs. The exhibition presents an astonishing variety of widely differing specimens from places as diverse as Austria, Italy, Spain, Lapland, Africa and China. 

Hohenems is a small city with grand stories. Testament to this are sites such as the stately Palace of the Counts of Ems who founded an Israelite community. 

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.

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.

Vorarlberg is blessed by an abundance of water. From glacial ice to the shores of Lake Constance, the crystal-clear wet stuff seeks its way, is collected, filtered, drunk and – increasingly – is converted into electricity.

The truly picturesquely Lünersee (“Lunar Lake”) at an altitude of 1,970m sits at the foot of the Schesaplana mountain and is surrounded by various peaks. There’s a wonderful circuit along the lake’s shore that takes about three hours and is relatively flat.

A fine nose for flavours and the sheer pleasure of cooking were what, back in 1911, first drove founder Richard Bösch to establish a mustard production business: Lustenauer Senf Bösch GmbH.

Around 130 animals from 23 different species live here spread across an area of 10 hectares. Visitors can experience and observe numerous alpine animals first-hand during a walk in the Ardetzenberg Wildpark.