Lindau

By far the best way to get to know this charming old island city is on foot. Walk across the bridge from the mainland and keep going, losing yourself in the maze of small streets and passageways flanked by centuries-old houses. Wander down to the harbor for magnificent views. You automatically look up to the Austrian mountains on your left. At just 13 km (8 mi) away, they are nearer than the Swiss mountains that appear in the distance on your right.

Lindau was made a Free Imperial City within the Holy Roman Empire in 1275. It had developed as a fishing settlement and then spent hundreds of years as a trading center along the route between the rich lands of Swabia and Italy. The Lindauer Bote, an important stagecoach service between Germany and Italy in the 18th and 19th centuries, was based here; Goethe traveled via this service on his first visit to Italy in 1786. The stagecoach was revived a few years ago, and every June it sets off on its 10-day journey to Italy. You can book a seat through the Lindau tourist office.

As the German empire crumbled toward the end of the 18th century, battered by Napoléon's revolutionary armies, Lindau fell victim to competing political groups. It was ruled by the Austrian Empire before passing into Bavarian control in 1805. Lindau's harbor was rebuilt in 1856.