A Sunday Hike: Rheindelta, Austria

Rheindelta, Vorarlberg, Austria

This weekend we visited the Rheindelta, a nature reserve at the delta of the Rhein on the Bodensee (Lake Constance) on the Austrian (Eastern) side of the lake. It was a fairly quick drive for us being about a 20 minute drive to the border and so made the perfect day excursion for the whole family, kids, doggies and all.

 

We took the path going right after the parking lot, by restaurant Fischerheim in Hard.

Past the cute little restaurant: Fischerheim , (which was obviously very popular when we arrived back at the restaurant at lunchtime).

And off into the beautiful nature reserve, surrounded by rivers and the lake.

There were lots of interesting trees…

And lots of adventures to be had…

(Click to enlarge photo.)

And of course of lot of fishing to be done.

This fisherman looked like he had been camped there all weekend.

As always there were a lot of plants to admire …

Somewhere a long the way I discovered this little tree along the path. The flowers looked somewhat familiar, similar to something I have seen back home in Bermuda in my mom’s garden. I want to say the potato vine. But by the looks of these they are more like mini tomatoes than potatoes.

But eventually all the beautiful views, sun and fresh air were enough for the day as our stomachs started to growl and our feet grew tired.

“Fischerstüble” Fish Restaurant

After our ca. two hour hike, we were all happy to finally find room for 8 in this lovely restaurant in nearby Fussach, Voralberg. Located right on the harbor, it was a beautiful location and had this lovely conservatory where the roof came off so you could enjoy the sunny blue skies and mild weather, without the breeze off the water.

I loved the retro cloth napkin in the bread basket. 

And of course my main dish was absolutely delicious, the special of the day, white wine risotto with fresh scampi.

Everyone got lovely deserts, this one was Countryboy’s: Topfenkuchen AKA Quarkkuchen in Germany. Which is lighter and fluffier than, but nevertheless somewhat resembles, an American cheese cake.

I of course opted for the most typically Austrian dessert of all:  Fresh Apple Strudel accompanied by delicious vanilla ice cream on a bed of what we think was pistachios. Whatever it was, was divine. This one didn’t have too many raisins, which I don’t really appreciate in Apple Strudel, which was lovely and had a lovely noticeable note of cinnamon, which I loved.

We all enjoyed our meals, the atmosphere, our waitress who was dressed in the traditional Austrian Tracht (Costume- Dress), which of course was also interesting to see.

Fussach, Vorarlberg

We weren’t however the only Swiss visitors in the area, as this little place is obviously a beloved weekend and holiday destination for many Swiss visitors:  

A lovely MG for my mom.

 

Afterwards, you could pick up some fresh fish from this little place next door directly on the harbor:  Fränzle’s  which was also a nice little outdoor pub type place where you could get a number of fish dishes too.

Overall, it was a great day and really helped to get away from all the weeks stresses.

I would really recommend it for a day trip if you are in the area.

The links to the websites of the  respective places mentioned in this post are provided in bold throughout the text. Should you have any questions or comments, I would love to hear from you.

Jodie