Mainau, the flower island of Lake Constance

What it is

Mainau is a small island in Lake Constance near the city of Konstanz, joined to the shore by a footbridge. The lake softens the climate enough for palms and citrus to grow outdoors in summer. A grand duke of Baden planted the first trees in the nineteenth century, and from the 1930s Count Lennart Bernadotte, of the Swedish royal family, turned the whole island into a public garden. His family still runs it. The year is planned as a sequence: orchids in the palm house in early spring, then tulips, rhododendrons, an Italian rose garden in June, and thousands of dahlias in September and October.

Before you go

• Check the island's bloom calendar and time your visit to one main flowering.
• Arrive by lake boat from Konstanz or Meersburg for the best approach.
• Allow half a day. The butterfly house is worth the short queue.

The flowers you will see

TulipSpring-blooming bulbs with showy, cup-shaped flowers in many coloursRhododendronA vast group of shrubs and trees with showy blooms in many coloursRoseWoody perennial plants with showy, often fragrant flowers in many coloursDahliaA bushy perennial with tuberous roots and bright, star-shaped bloomsOrchidA vast family of colourful, often fragrant flowers found almost everywhere on earth

More in Germany

🇩🇪 Bonn · AprilThe cherry blossom street in Bonn's old townNarrow residential streets in Bonn where Japanese cherry trees meet overhead in a pink tunnel for about two weeks in April. 🇩🇪 Munich · All yearFlower stalls of the ViktualienmarktMunich's daily open-air food market, with a section of florists selling seasonal bunches, wreaths and dried flowers.