Lake Constance

By AARON O. PATRICK

Staatsweingut Meersburg

The town of Meersburg features a cobbled town square and a medieval castle -- with some rooms open to the public.

What to do: Lake Constance stretches 40 miles from West to East, wedged between Germany, Switzerland and Austria. The German towns along the lake are laid-back, prosperous and well-preserved. The charming Meersburg has a row of restaurants around a cobbled town square and a medieval castle that is a private residence with some rooms open to the public. The town also has a winery called Staatsweingut Meersburg specializing in the Spätburgunder grape -- a pinot noir -- grown on the hills overlooking the lake. There are regular tours and tastings, including some in English. For children, there is a big fun park called Spieleland near the pretty town of Ravensburg, famous in Germany for producing board games and puzzles. In Friedrichshafen, one of the lake's larger towns, there is a museum on the Zeppelin Airship, which was invented in the area. There are also hundreds of sign-posted walks and cycling tracks around the lake. Some wind through vineyards with signs in German indicating the type of grapes.

Staatsweingut Meersburg

The town winery Staatsweingut Meersburg

Where to eat: Countless small restaurants along the Lake path serve delicious perch and traditional German food. For more formal dining, the Staatsweingut Meersburg winery has a restaurant set near a cliff overlooking the lake. On a clear day diners can see the Alps (Tel. 49-7532-446744; www.staatsweingut-meersburg.de).

Where to stay: Meersburg's See Hotel Off is on the bank of Lake Constance, about a 15 minutes walk from the town center (€93 to €126 a night for a double room facing the lake; Tel. 49-7532-44740; www.hotel.off.mbo.de). The Steigenberger Inselhotel is on a small island near the center of Konstanz, a historic city on the German-Swiss border (Starting from about €199 a night for a double room during peak season; Tel. 49-7531-1250; www.steigenberger.com).

Write to Aaron O. Patrick at Aaron.Patrick@wsj.com