Meersburg to Unteruhldingen and Birnau by the Gehautobel

The walk starts at the harbour in Meersburg, where the lake boats call, and climbs through the old town's lanes to the Droste-Hülshoff-Weg. A forest path then runs west above the lake through the Gehautobel, a wooded gully, and on through the woods towards Uhldingen. After about 6 km it comes down to the lake at Unteruhldingen, by the Pfahlbauten pile-dwelling museum, and goes on north-west by footpaths between the village and the lake and a short climb to the Birnau pilgrimage church, where the walk ends at the bus stop.

It is 9.2 km one way with 108 m of ascent; allow about 2½ hours. The grade is Easy: the going is mostly flat to gently rolling, after a climb of about 50 m out of the old town and with a short climb at the end to Birnau. More than a third of the way is on village streets, and some paths are shared with cyclists. The stretch from the Droste-Hülshoff-Weg to Unteruhldingen is 4.6 km; the Wildganz walking site gives 4.7 km for its 'Mittlerer Waldweg' from the Droste-Hülshoff-Weg to Uhldingen.

The Basilika Birnau is a Baroque pilgrimage church built in 1746 to 1749 for the imperial abbey of Salem, on a hill above the Mauracher Bucht, says the Uhldingen-Mühlhofen tourist site.

The pile-dwelling museum's site says the Seelinie 7395 bus runs all year round and connects the shore towns every 15 minutes, and that there is a ship connection between Konstanz and Meersburg all year, after which you change to the 7395; the map shows the 7395 stopping at Wallfahrtskirche Birnau, but check the timetable for the stop you need. OpenStreetMap marks the Seepromenade car park by the harbour, four spaces all reserved for disabled drivers, as charged.

Route drawn by Global Adventurer along OpenStreetMap paths (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL), with figures worked out from it. Check the forecast and the ground on the day: paths change.