Hard-Schleienlöcher-Hard

It is cold, grey and windy and snowing higher up, so no day for the mountains. On a day like this, the lake is a great alternative to get some fresh air. Due to the weather we choose a rather short stroll. But even if we are outside only for a short time, we like to enjoy lovely views. So we decide to go to the Schleienlöcher near Hard.

We start our walk at the Cafe am See because there is plenty of parking around and where better to end a walk than a place that sells ice cream and hot chocolate?!
We make our way to the lake shore from where we can see Sankt Sebastian church. Then we round the little harbour and walk through Stedepark to reach the Dornbirner Ach.

Here we turn left around the Binnenbecken and soon reach the beautiful Sender bridge. We cross the Dornbirner Ach stream and continue to the Fischerheim, a restaurant that specializes in fish dishes. We walk past the restaurant, turn right and start our walk along the Schleienlöcher.

The Schleienlöcher is a combination of small lakes named after the Schlei, which is German for tench. The fish is said to favour these lakes which probably pleases the fish restaurant next door.

The lakes are also a Nature reserve and home to about 300 different types of birds. A lot of them can be seen on the lakes which offers cover between clusters of reed.

At the end of the lakes we cross a few small bridges where we have a great view across Lake Constance towards Lindau island. From here we walk along a dam, which leads us back to the Sender bridge.

Since the weather promises to stay dry for a little longer, we walk along the Dornbirner Ach towards Grüner Damm after crossing Sender bridge. We round the large meadow from where we have views of the lake in one direction and of the Swiss Alps in the other.

Here you can extend the walk along the Grüner Damm (green dam) but we turn back towards Hard as the clouds get darker. We round the Binnenbecken and walk past the small harbour in Hard.

After about three hours of walking we are back at the cafe and enjoy a hot chocolate. A great finish to a wintery walk.