Photograph: Meersburg from Lake Constance by Richardfabi, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
Meersburg is a small wine town on the north shore of Lake Constance, in the south of Baden-Württemberg, facing the city of Konstanz across the water. The town is built in two halves on a steep slope: a lower town along the shore and an upper town around an old castle and a baroque palace, with vineyards running away along the hillside on either side and a car ferry leaving for Konstanz all day and night.
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The photograph above is the view most people get first, from a boat on the lake. Above the shore stands the old town, with the Old Castle and the New Palace on the ridge above the lower town, and the roofs stepping up the slope between them.
What that one frame cannot show is how the town is actually walked. It does not show the stairs and the steep street that join the two halves, the inside of the castle, the poet's vineyard house above the upper town, the vineyards themselves or the ferry harbour. All are described below and none is pictured.
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Two Towns on One Slope
Meersburg is really two towns stacked one above the other. The lower town, the Unterstadt, is a strip of hotels, cafes and landing stages along the shore; the upper town, the Oberstadt, sits on the ridge around the market square, the castle and the palace. German Wikipedia puts the height difference between them at 40 metres, and both are pedestrian zones.
You get from one to the other on foot, and there are only three ways up. The Burgtreppe and the Rieschentreppe are stairways, and the Steigstrasse is a steep lane lined with half-timbered houses. Cars do not come through at all: drivers go round on the B 33, which winds down in bends to the ferry harbour and is the only road access to it. So every visit involves climbing: with luggage, book a room in the half of town you want to sleep in.
The Old Castle
The Burg Meersburg, the Old Castle, is considered one of the oldest inhabited castles in Germany, and it is worth knowing what that claim rests on. A tradition first written down in 1548 says the Merovingian king Dagobert I built its central tower in 630. The castle's first written mention is from 1113, and a second theory, based on the many castles built around the lake in the twelfth century, dates it to then. The large rough stones at the base of the Dagobert tower fit either story, which is why German Wikipedia says the "oldest inhabited" title holds only insofar as a first castle is assumed here in the seventh century.
It was a residence of the Prince-Bishops of Constance until they moved to the New Palace in the eighteenth century, and when Swedish troops attacked it in 1647 only the roof timbers burned. In 1838 it was sold into private hands, to the collector Joseph von Lassberg, and in 1877 to Karl Mayer von Mayerfels of Munich, who turned it into a museum of the Middle Ages. His descendants still live in the part that is not open.
The self-guided tour takes you through more than 30 furnished rooms, among them the old castle kitchen, the knights' hall, the dungeon, two chapels and the rooms where Annette von Droste-Hülshoff lived and died. Some walls are close to 3 metres thick, so bring a layer for the cool rooms. The castle sits at the top of the steps from the lower town, and the small Zeppelin museum is on the same stair.
The New Palace
Across the Schlossplatz from the castle is the Neues Schloss, the New Palace, built in the eighteenth century as the residence of the Prince-Bishops of Constance. They had it for only about 50 years before the bishopric was dissolved in 1803. Its grand staircase was built to plans by Balthasar Neumann, and its painted ceilings and baroque rooms are the reason to go inside.
Today it holds several museums. Behind it is a garden terrace with a view down over the lower town, the ferry harbour and the Swiss shore of the lake, and access to it is free.
Annette von Droste-Hülshoff
English Wikipedia calls her one of Germany's most celebrated poets, and Meersburg is where she spent her last years. Born in 1797 at Burg Hülshoff near Münster, she came to stay at the castle with her sister and her brother-in-law, von Lassberg, and from 1841 she spent most of her time here. Her best-known prose work, the novella Die Judenbuche, appeared in 1842.
When a small house among the vineyards went to auction in November 1843, she bought it with the profits from her poems. The Fürstenhäusle, the Prince's Little House, was built around 1600 as a vineyard house and stands a few steps from the Obertor, the upper town gate. She died at the castle on 24 May 1848, and her descendants opened the little house as a museum in 1923. The American wife of one of them later founded the Droste Prize for women poets, in 1957, which is a good reason for a library written for women to send you up the vineyard path to see it.
The Vineyards
Wine is the other half of Meersburg's living. English Wikipedia says the vineyards on this shore are famous within Germany, and German Wikipedia puts the area under vines in Meersburg and neighbouring Stetten at about 120 hectares. The lake stores the sun's warmth, gives the shore a long, mild autumn and, with the frequent Foehn wind off the Alps, makes wine possible here. The local speciality is Weissherbst, a rosé.
Some of the named vineyards are on extremely steep slopes, and the paths between them are the best walking in town: out along the hillside towards Hagnau or Unteruhldingen, with the lake below and the vines on both sides. The state winery, the Staatsweingut, has a shop in the upper town where you can taste before you buy, and the Lake Constance wine festival is held in September on the Schlossplatz and in the Vorburggasse. Vineyard paths are unpaved and can be muddy after rain, so they decide the shoe question below.
The Ferry to Konstanz
Meersburg is the northern end of the car ferry to Konstanz, and the crossing is part of the reason to come. The ferry runs 4.25 kilometres across the lake to Staad, a district of Konstanz, and saves a 53 kilometre drive around the Überlinger See. It takes about 15 minutes, and on weekdays runs every quarter of an hour through the day, every half hour from about 9pm and hourly through the small hours, and has run for close to a century. It is operated by the Stadtwerke Konstanz.
From the upper deck you see Mainau island, the whole Meersburg waterfront and, on a clear day, the Alps. In high season there are sometimes queues for cars. Foot passengers simply walk on, and two bus routes cross on the ferry: the 700 runs from Konstanz through Meersburg to Ravensburg, and bus passengers pay no extra for the crossing.
Konstanz is the obvious pairing and the opposite kind of place. Meersburg is a small terraced town you walk up; Konstanz is a city, flat, surrounded by the lake on three sides and with the Swiss border running through it. The ferry deck is also the windiest place you will stand all day, which is why a windproof layer comes into the packing list below.
When to Go
Summer is the long season: the boats run their full timetable, the lakeside Meersburg Therme, opened in 2003, adds a pool and spa to the shore, and the evenings are spent outdoors. It is also the busiest time, so stay the night to see the upper town quiet.
Autumn is the wine town's own season. The long mild autumn that the lake produces is the harvest, the September wine festival falls in it, and the vineyard walks are at their best. Winter is quiet, the ferry keeps running, and Fasnet, the Swabian-Alemannic carnival, fills the streets in the days before Lent. Meersburg's version includes an evening procession of townspeople in long white nightshirts carrying torches.
Getting There
By train, there is no station in Meersburg. The usual route is a train to Friedrichshafen or Überlingen and a bus into town, or a train to Konstanz and the ferry across.
By boat, scheduled lake boats link Meersburg with Überlingen, Lindau, Bregenz and Konstanz.
By air, the regional airport at Friedrichshafen is served by some buses on the route that runs from Friedrichshafen through Meersburg to Konstanz, and Zurich, reached by train through Konstanz, is the larger international airport.
Is Meersburg Safe for Women?
Meersburg is a small, quiet, prosperous town and an easy one to visit alone. The FCDO publishes no advised-against areas anywhere in Germany, and its terrorism wording is the strongest it uses: terrorists are very likely to try to carry out attacks in Germany, with restaurants, MARKETS, shopping centres, places of worship, sporting events and crowded public spaces named as possible targets. That is worth knowing in a country where a Christmas market is often the reason for the trip, and the response is awareness rather than avoidance. On crime the FCDO puts German levels on a par with the UK and names theft and pickpocketing at airports, railway stations and in crowded places, with the specific advice not to leave bags unattended. It also gives one unusually concrete warning: exchange currency only at banks and legitimate bureaux, because counterfeit notes are passed to visitors at street kiosks.
The crowds are a summer afternoon problem rather than a night one. The FCDO's terrorism wording names markets, cultural events and crowded public places, and the busiest Meersburg gets is a summer day, the wine festival in September and Fasnet. Awareness rather than avoidance is the response: keep a bag closed and in front of you in the lanes and on the ferry, and know where you are meeting people if you are separated.
Carry your passport or a copy you can back up. The FCDO says it is not a legal requirement to carry ID in Germany, but if you cannot show it when asked, police can escort you to get your passport. That matters more here than in most German towns, because Switzerland begins at the edge of Konstanz and a day trip can turn into a border crossing.
The stairs are the likeliest problem. The Burgtreppe, the Rieschentreppe and the Steigstrasse are steep and worn, and wet stone after rain or a dark winter evening makes them slower. If you walk the vineyards alone, tell someone your route, as the FCDO advises.
The Meersburg Packing List
Steep stairs, cool castle rooms, a windy ferry deck and vineyard paths.
Our merino base layers are 100% Australian merino at 17.5 micron, and a long sleeve merino wool base layer for women suits a town where you climb from the lake to the upper town in the sun, walk through thick-walled castle rooms that stay cool all year and then stand on a ferry deck in the wind. Wool handles all three without a change. For the winter and the Fasnet evenings, add a heavyweight merino base layer and a merino beanie.
A Columbia Fast Trek II fleece is the mid layer for a grey day on the lake, and a Marmot PreCip Eco rain jacket covers the rain and doubles as the windbreaker for the ferry crossing.
Walking shoes with grip and Darn Tough merino socks are the items that matter most here, because worn stone stairs and muddy vineyard paths are where a day goes wrong in the wrong shoes.
Not linked, and why. Glove liners for the ferry deck in winter and a refillable water bottle for the vineyard walks are both worth packing; they are unlinked only because this list has reached its limit of six product links, and the shoes matter more. Sunscreen and sunglasses for the bright water are unlinked because our affiliate register carries no sunscreen and no eyewear at all. And leave the heels at home: on these stairs that is a safety point rather than a style one.
Recommended Tours and Experiences
Essential Resources for Women in Meersburg
Emergency numbers: 112 for police, ambulance and fire, free from any phone including a locked mobile, with operators who will find an English speaker. It is the single number across the whole European Union.
Hospital: none of the sources read for this page names the nearest hospital, so this post does not either. Dial 112 and the ambulance service takes you to the right emergency department; for something that is not an emergency, 116117 reaches the medical on-call service, and any Apotheke posts the out-of-hours pharmacy rota in its window.
US State Department travel advisory: the Germany advisory. Read the current level there directly rather than relying on a figure printed in any guide.
UK FCDO travel advice: gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/germany, and read the safety and security page rather than only the landing page, because that is where the substance sits.
Official health authority: the Robert Koch Institute, Germany's public health body, covers national public health guidance, which is the right level for a visitor.
US Embassy: the United States Embassy in Berlin.
Official tourism authority: the German National Tourist Board, covers the national picture; for castle opening times, the ferry timetable and the wine festival dates, the town's own tourist office is the current source.
Germany is in the EU, so a UK Global Health Insurance Card or an EU European Health Insurance Card gives you state-provided medically necessary care on the same terms as a resident. That is not the same as free: German healthcare involves patient contributions and the card does not cover repatriation or private treatment, so travel insurance sits on top of it. German hospitals are excellent and English is widely spoken in them, particularly in university cities. An Apotheke, marked with a red A, handles minor problems without an appointment and the duty rota for out-of-hours is posted in the window. Tap water is drinkable everywhere. Dial 112 for an ambulance and 116117 for the non-emergency medical service.
Solo women safety assessment: Meersburg is one of the easier places in Germany to arrive alone. It is small and quiet, the lower town promenade is busy into the evening in summer, and the FCDO publishes no advised-against area anywhere in Germany and puts crime at levels similar to the UK. Ordinary care with bags in the summer crowds and on the ferry covers it. In winter the town is very quiet after dark, which is peaceful rather than risky; the real hazards are the steep stairs and muddy vineyard paths. 112 reaches police, ambulance and fire free from any phone.
Reading On
The ferry makes Konstanz the first place to go next. The Konstanz packing list covers the city on the far shore, fifteen minutes away by ferry, with the Swiss border running through it. East along the lake by boat, the Lindau packing list and the Bregenz packing list cover two more lake towns, the second of them in Austria, and inland on the bus line across the ferry, the Ravensburg packing list covers the old town of towers in Upper Swabia. Across the border, the Stein am Rhein packing list and the Zurich packing list cover the Swiss side. For the country, the Germany travel guide for women and the Germany packing list carry the rail network and the regions. For why wool handles a steep stair, a cold stone room and a windy deck in one shirt, read the guide to merino wool base layers for women. Every destination we cover is indexed at the travel packing guide for women, and the base layers are at the Roman Trail collection.
If the outer journey is calling you, the inner one usually is too. Explore SoulMap at romantrail.com/blogs/soulmap.
