"Explore the local area" Villingen-Schwenningen Things to Do Tip by Dianthus

Villingen rail station is on a good local route for several places. We went to Konstanz, on the German/Swiss border, about 1/2 hour train journey from Villingen. It's a lovely town, even in the winter, with the beautiful old painted houses found all over the region. The Bodensee (local name for Lake Constance) was frozen for quite a way out at this time of year, but Konstanz is well worth a visit at any time. The main photo here shows the pier with the revolving statue of Europa at the end of it.

Konstanz rail station is in two halves - the Swiss Rail and the German Rail!

Konstanz, too, was geared up for Carnival. Lots of people were dressed up and there were flags and posters everywhere. A VERY nattily dressed couple very kindly posed for me (see the photo).

From Konstanz we took a bus to Mainau, home of the Bernadottes (a branch of the Swedish royal family). There are extensive grounds to stroll around in and if you want to go indoors there is a butterfly house - which was open but, although there were several species of butterflies flying around among the tropical plants, there were not as many as in the summer.

The cafe in the Palm House at Mainau was open and we had a very welcome coffee each to warm us up after our wanderings around the garden.

Mainau is - like everything else it seemed - so much better in the Spring when all the flowers are out, but I found it had a certain beauty even with everything covered with snow and ice as the photos show.

Directions: Come out of the rail station at Konstanz and turn right to get to the pier. Turn left and wait outside the station for the bus to Mainau.