These sights await you on the Upper Swabian Baroque Road

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Magnificent castles, monasteries and churches embedded in a lovely cultural landscape – this is what awaits you just a stone’s throw from the Swiss border on the Upper Swabian Baroque Road. A route that leads past numerous sights from Lake Constance to Ulm and offers the opportunity to experience living customs along the way.

On a wonderfully sunny June weekend, we explored a section of the Upper Swabian Baroque Road in the triangle of Ravensburg, Bad Waldsee and Bad Buchau by electric car and brought back numerous tips for an entertaining detour to southern Germany.

The Upper Swabian Baroque Route at a glance

The Upper Swabian Baroque Route was launched in the 1960s, making it one of the oldest cultural and holiday routes in Germany. In addition to a 360-kilometre-long main route that stretches from Friedrichshafen through the Upper Swabia-Allgäu holiday region to Ulm, there are three other secondary routes that connect over 50 baroque adventure stations. Among them are more well-known sights such as the island of Mainau or the Hohenzollern Castle Sigmaringen, but also numerous pretty villages that are not quite so familiar to us Swiss, such as the monastery town of Bad Schussenried. The ideal source of inspiration for all those who like to combine nature and cultural experiences.

A discovery tour along the Upper Swabian Baroque Road can be implemented – classically – as a road trip. Most of the sights can also be reached by train. And alternatively, the Lake Constance region or Upper Swabia-Allgäu is criss-crossed by a well-developed and signposted network of cycle routes. The counterpart here can be found in the Upper Swabia-Allgäu Cycle Path, which starts from Ulm and leads clockwise around in eight stages to the baroque highlights of the region.

The top sights between Lake Constance and Federsee

Of course, it would be purely “theoretically” possible to drive the entire main route of the Upper Swabian Baroque Road in one weekend. But since we didn’t just want to visit as many sights as possible, but also wanted to experience something of the Upper Swabian way of life, we concentrated on the area between Lake Constance and the Federsee near Bad Buchau, which is close to the Swiss border.

A routing where you don’t spend too much time in the car and thus all the more time for strolling, discovering and enjoying. Below is a selection of the places and sights that we visited during the two days “en route”.

1. The pilgrimage church of Birnau on Lake Constance

After picking up our rental car – a fully electric Seat Cupra Born – at Avis Zurich, we first drove a little more than an hour east to the German shore of Lake Constance. The Birnau pilgrimage church already caught our eye in 2019 from the Lake Constance cycle path. Apart from the impressive baroque furnishings, which can be admired inside the church, which was built between 1746 and 1749, the pilgrimage church scores on beautiful and clear days with a magnificent view over Lake Constance to the snow-capped Alps.

2. The lively old town of Ravensburg

We take in the magnificent panorama and then continue our journey towards Ravensburg. The former Free Imperial City is still familiar to me from my childhood. My parents had visited the local “Spieleland” twice with us at the time and I thought it was great. This time, too, I am very positive about Ravensburg. And I wasn’t even aware of what a pretty and lively old town center Ravensburg has. Directly below the centrally located Marienplatz is an underground car park that has a good dozen electric charging stations. Park your car, plug it into the charging station and then take a leisurely stroll through the cobblestone streets.

A highlight that should not be missed in the summer months from May to September is the ascent to the 51 m high Blaserturm. This is usually open from Monday to Saturday from 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. (admission for adults 3.50 euros). And while it doesn’t actually look that high from below, I feel the 212 steps in my thighs after the climb. Afterwards, we treat ourselves to a portion of Maultaschen in the adjacent Kupferle restaurant – after all, enjoyment should not be neglected.

3. The “Old Town for All” of Bad Waldsee

On the way from Ravensburg to our destination for this day – Bad Waldsee – there is another short stopover in the neighboring town of Weingarten (which is the third largest city in the district of Ravensburg after Ravensburg and Wangen im Allgäu). The Basilica of St. Martin, which is one of the largest baroque church buildings north of the Alps, is particularly worth seeing. Unfortunately, during our visit, a large part of the interior was covered for renovation purposes.

Bad Waldsee is located about 20 kilometres north of Ravensburg. The small town, made up of five villages, boasts an enviable location between two idyllic lakes and a pretty old town centre. In Bad Waldsee, however, it was not only the half-timbered buildings and the striking neo-Gothic façade of the Holy Spirit Hospital that caught my attention, but also the current renovation work as part of the international project “Old Town for All“.

We check in here at the centrally located Hotel-Restaurant Grüner Baum and are personally introduced to the art of spaetzle by the owner Berthold Schmidinger. To be hired as a kitchen assistant, I would probably have to invest a few more hours in practising the correct “scraping technique”.

At least we appreciate the work of the kitchen crew during the subsequent tasting of the “Swabian Viererloi“. The “Viererloi” is also the chef’s recommendation for all those who want to try their way through an excerpt of the typical Swabian fare consisting of Kässpätzle, Krautkräpfle, Maultäschle and onion roast.

4. The city lake of Bad Waldsee

After this hearty fare, an evening walk around the city lake just behind the old town comes in handy. A beautiful walk leads around the lake (duration of the circumnavigation approx. 45 to 60 minutes).

5. The Upper Swabian Museum Village of Kürnbach

The next morning we follow the Upper Swabian Baroque Road for another 15 kilometers in a northwesterly direction to Bad Schussenried. Before we take a closer look at the monastery town, we head for the Upper Swabian museum village of Kürnbach, located on the outskirts of the village. Just this Saturday, the annual steam festival takes place here. This allows steam engine enthusiasts from all over Europe to make a pilgrimage to Kürnbach with their tremendously loud stomping machines.

Of course, traditionally prepared steamed dumplings should not be missing from the menu at a steam festival. Here, too, I get to put my steamed dumpling molding skills to the test.

In any case, the Museumsdorf Kürnbach attaches great importance to making a stroll through the almost 40 buildings from six centuries an interactive experience. In the originally furnished parlours, you can listen to the everyday worries of a farming family that lived here 250 years ago during the Baroque period. Pomp and splendour? Not at all! There are also colourful blooming cottage gardens, vintage tractors (or as we call them: tractors) and an exhibition on the subject of how the car has changed life in Upper Swabia in recent decades. In addition to the steamed dumplings, you should definitely try a piece of “dinnete” from the wood-fired oven. The Upper Swabian version of the tarte flambée tastes delicious!

The museum village Kürnbach is open daily from the end of March to the end of October. Admission for adults costs 6 euros, while children aged 6 and over pay an entrance fee of 3 euros. For children, the large playground including adventure tree house should be a highlight. Further information can be found here: Museumsdorf Kürnbach

6. Schussenried Monastery

While you can get an insight into the everyday life of rural society in the Upper Swabian Museum Village of Kürnbach, you can hardly help but be amazed by the baroque “opulence” during the subsequent visit to the Schussenried Monastery. The highlight of the former Premonstratensian abbey is the library hall, which is considered one of the most beautiful baroque library halls in southern Germany. In addition to the library hall, the baroque convent building also houses a museum dedicated to the history of the monastery and changing art exhibitions. An exciting and informative mix (entrance fee for adults 5.50 euros).

Furthermore, during a walk through the monastery complex, it is worth taking a look at the monastery church of St. Magnus.

7. The “most beautiful village church in the world” in Steinhausen

Bad Schussenried also includes the rural district of Steinhausen. And this also knows how to score with an imposing baroque building: the pilgrimage church Steinhausen. Modestly dubbed the “most beautiful village church in the world”, the building appears completely oversized in the midst of the loose collection of one- to two-storey farmhouses and single-family houses and catches the eye from afar. After seeing the church, I recommend a stop at the cozy beer garden of the traditional Landgasthof zur Linde directly opposite the church. Built in the 17th century by the Schussenried Monastery, the inn is one of the oldest inns in Upper Swabia and has been owned by the Heinzelmann family for almost 150 years.

But there is definitely nothing dusty here. In recent years, the owner family has built a new building with modern hotel rooms as an addition to the historic building wing. Here we spend the second night on our road trip along the Upper Swabian Baroque Road.

8. The magical Federseesteg

The next morning, the alarm clock rings early from the comfortable beds of the Landgasthof zur Linde. We want to use the early morning hours for a detour to the nearby Federsee nature reserve. Together with the surrounding moorland, the Federsee forms one of the largest contiguous moorland areas in southern Germany and is an important habitat and resting place for migratory and waterfowl.

Built at the beginning of the 20th century, an almost 1.5-kilometre-long footbridge leads from Bad Buchau through the protected landscape to the lakeshore. The jetty is open all day – and it’s worth taking a walk here at any time of the day. Although you might be able to understand why we decided to take the early morning hours when you look at the following pictures. It was simply magical!

If you stop in Bad Buchau, you can plan a visit to the Federsee Museum (an archaeological open-air museum dedicated to the first settlements on the lake) and a detour to the wobbly forest in addition to the walk on the Federseesteg.

You can find more information about the Federsee here: Federseesteg Bad Buchau
Please note that an entrance fee of 2.50 euros must be paid during the regular opening hours.

9. Salem Monastery and Castle

From Bad Buchau we follow the western route of the Upper Swabian Baroque Road via Bad Saulgau (in the café in the Klosterhof Siessen there are very delicious cakes) back towards Switzerland. As a last stop, we saved the monastery and castle Salem. Conveniently, there are also two charging stations for electric cars here in the parking lot. So we can once again combine a visit to a sight with battery charging. Built by the Cistercians in the 12th century, the monastery complex came into the possession of the Margraves of Baden in the 19th century. Since 2009, it has been part of the State Palaces and Gardens of Baden-Württemberg. In addition to magnificently blooming gardens, there are also some architectural gems from different building eras to marvel at.

The view into the representative “Marstall” (horse stable), built in the 18th century, is impressive. Two hours should be planned for a tour of the entire site, including a visit to the various buildings. Several times a day, there are also one-hour guided tours, which give you an insight into the rooms of the prelature and convent buildings (including the library, the emperor’s hall and the abbot’s apartment).

Salem Monastery and Castle is open daily from the end of March to the end of October. The entrance fee for adults is 9 euros. The one-hour highlight tour “Miracle of the Stucco” takes place several times a day and costs 13 euros (including regular admission). Further information can be found on the website of Salem Monastery and Castle.

While our road trip comes to an end at this point, you may now be in the mood for a discovery tour along the Upper Swabian Baroque Road. If so, the corresponding themed website of the Upper Swabia-Allgäu holiday region offers you a perfect overview of the various routes as well as the sights and baroque adventure stations.