AUSTRIA  |  Bregenz, Austria Travel Guide
Thursday, November 21, 2024
images
3 Of 3

Sightseeing in Bregenz

Sightseeing in Bregenz

Any town tour should start with a lakeside stroll, wandering from the festival stage and out to the jetty along the Seepromenade. In the center along the lakeshore lie three of the main attractions. Farthest west, the Festspiel und Kongresshaus complex anchors the festival’s Seebuhne, or lake stage, the largest of its kind in the world. Farther east, across the main road from the jetty, are the Landesmuseum and Kunsthaus. The Bregenz Landesmuseum at Kornmarktplatz 1 documents the Vorarlberg’s history.

Nearby, the Kunsthaus Bregenz, or KUB, occupies a celebrated architectural landmark designed by Peter Zumthor and draws 60,000 visitors each year. The museum runs rotating exhibitions of contemporary artists. Behind the lakefront and east of Montfortstrasse road lies the modern pedestrian center. It’s lined with shops, cafés, and restaurants with pragmatic rather than tourist appeal and is a good place to taste “real life” in Bregenz.

Oberstadt: Old Town

Bregenz’s old town lies up hill from the center and is here known as the Oberstadt. Although it can be reached by car via Kirchstrasse, the most scenic route up is by foot along the Maurachgasse and the old-world Stadtsteig road, which leads up to the fortified old town. When you reach the walls at Martintor, don’t miss the petrified sea creature dangling above the gate – a delightfully scary sight during a midnight thunderstorm. The Oberstadt remains largely residential, but at the northern corner of the walled complex rises the Martinsturm, Bregenz’s signature landmark. Built in 1601, the tower boasts central Europe’s largest onion-dome; the Martinskappelle chapel next door is home to some interesting 14th-century frescoes.

Last updated June 13, 2008
Posted in   Austria  |  Bregenz
No votes yet
Explore the Destination
Amenities and Resources
Trending Themes:

Guides to Popular Ski Resorts

  • Ischgl is a small mountain village turned hip ski resort, with massive appeal among the party-hearty young crowds. It is... Read More

  • Andorra la Vella is its own little world, and not just because it’s a 290-square-mile independent principality (a fifth the... Read More

  • Bariloche (officially San Carlos de Bariloche) is the place to be seen. It is to Argentina what Aspen is to the... Read More

  • Aspen is America's most famous ski resort. And that's an understatement. For, as a ski complex, Aspen is unsurpassed. Its... Read More

  • Zermatt is a small but glamorous mountain resort town, with a population of approximately 5,700. It is one of Switzerland's... Read More

  • St. Moritz is a glitzy, alpine resort town in the celebrated Engadin Valley of Switzerland, with huge notoriety as the... Read More

  • Lake Tahoe is the premier lake resort of America, and the largest alpine lake in all of North America. It is an absolutely... Read More

  • St. Anton, Sankt Anton am Arlberg in German, is Austria's premier ski-bum resort! It's actually a small village cum... Read More

  • Kitzbühel, a small, Tyrolian resort town in the Kitzbüheler Alps, comes with international renown and huge snob appeal, and... Read More

 

Copyright © 2010-2013 Indian Chief Travel Guides. Images tagged as (cc) are licensed under the Creative Commons CC-BY-SA license.