Bregenz Summer Festival

Bregenz is a very old roman town (Brigantium) and the political center in Vorarlberg, Austria. Around 30.000 people live here and call the lake of Constance the best reason to be a citizen there: after work, many Bregenzer enjoy a short walk to the lake for a swim or just to relax on the beach.

Bregenz is not a shopping city like her bigger sister town of Dornbirn, but it offers many cultural attractions as well some nice sport and recreational possibilities. The Casino is just at the lake, and you can use the giant lift to transfer to the Pfänder, the main peak overshadowing the bay of Bregenz at aroung 1.000 m altitude.

Link: http://www.bregenz.at

If Bregenz is known for something except the fact that it is the capital of Vorarlberg, than you can bet it is for the cultural event called Bregenzer Festspiele. For good 50 years the Bregenz Summer Festival is a collection of cultural events in and around the festival area in Bregenz, right on the Lake of Constance. The main event takes place at the Seebühne - a stage built on piers in the lake. But this is just one of many attractions around the festival. Many operas and theatre events are played indoors, as well as outdoors in the old core of the city. The range of cultural performances is broad - from classic theater to musicals and musical performances in the Bregenz Gardens.

The Bregenz Festivals attracts more than 100. 000 visitors every year. If you want to enjoy this atmosphere, you should book your room early enough. The hotel rooms fills up quickly during the weeks of the festival (July-August).

Link: http://www.bregenzerfestspiele.com/en/

Mountainbiking and hiking are popular sports in Vorarlberg, Austria. Bregenz is no exception, and you'll find many kilometers of walking paths and bike routes around and in Bregenz. You can choose the lake-coastal ways as well as some routes along the River Bregenzer Ach or against the Pfänder, a solid block of mountain forest ranging 600 m above the city.

One very nice mountain bike tour goes from the Vorarlberger Landesbibliothek (Library of Vorarlberg) to Fluh. You can follow the paved road which is steep but nice to drive in the morning as there is almost no traffic and the air is very fresh. Or you can follow some tracks through the forest which offer spectacular views to the Rhine Valley. Both ways meets just before the next small village (Fluh) where you follow the road for one kilometer. Before diving down a hefty 19% fall in direction to Langen, you will turn left and follow the signs to Wirtatobel, a great trek which continues steady uphill close to the Alpe Hirschberg. You will have the chance to drive along waterfalls on remote bike routes.

At Jungholz you will leave the forest and follow a paved road to the Gasthaus on the way to the Höhenstrasse to Möggers, a very nice and decent up and down trail. In Möggers, you don't enter the village but turn left to Ried and enjoy some off-road downhill race-style challenge. After Ried, you will continue at fast space downhill toward Schloss Hofen and Lochau, before connecting to the Lake of Constance and finally Bregenz.