Garden dreams on Lake Constance

The rural canton of Thurgau surprises visitors with imperial parks, monastic gardens and beautifully landscaped green spaces on the shores of Lake Constance and across the Seerücken ridge down to the Tannenzapfenland. This year, the green oases are being specially celebrated and invite you to discover, enjoy and linger.

Thurgau garden highlights

The lovely landscape of Thurgau itself resembles a large natural garden, a patchwork of expansive orchards, sprawling vineyards, fields, forests, and the glittering Lake Constance. But there's also a more urban dimension: towns like historic Bischofszell have embraced the theme of flowers. As early as the 18th century, the town was known as the city of roses. The baroque gardens of that time are still cherished and cared for today. The legendary Bischofszell Rose Week takes place here every two years.

Rose Week in Bischofszell

Rose dreams and imperial flair

Speaking of roses: In early summer, over a thousand historic shrub and climbing roses transform Ittingen Charterhouse into a fragrant sea of flowers. They are almost poetically placed in the time-honored monastery grounds, overgrowing walls and gates and forming a trellis along the paths. Arenenberg Castle, on the other hand, boasts a truly imperial garden. It was shaped by Louis Napoleon lll, the last emperor of France, and his mother Hortense. They brought Parisian flair to rural Thurgau and laid the foundations for a magnificent landscaped park with features such as grottos, ice cellars and fountains.

“The lovely landscape of Thurgau itself seems like a large natural garden.”

Garden diversity in the Lake Constance canton

Hard-working gardeners have been sowing, planting and weeding around Lake Constance for centuries. From castle parks to cottage gardens, Thurgau is now home to a number of charming green oases. The Seeburgpark in Kreuzlingen, for example, provides family fun with a playground, mini golf and small animal zoo right on the lake. The Archaeobotanical Museum Garden in Frauenfeld and the associated nature museum bring the diversity and history of cultivated and useful plants to life. The Regena medicinal plant garden or the medicinal plant garden of Zeller Vitaplant, on the other hand, are dedicated to the medicinal use of plants and show visitors which herb helps with which ailment. They can be discovered via guided tours or information boards. The Echinapoint experience center in Roggwil, where everything revolves around the red coneflower of naturopathy pioneer Alfred Vogel, is another example.

"The gardens tell of bees and flowers, emperors, healers, and prehistoric agriculture."

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The «Bluescht» and the apple

The green canton of Thurgau, Switzerland's fruit supplier par excellence, is rightly known as the India of cider. Extensive orchards and the most beautiful blossom paradise in Switzerland await the astonished visitor during the "Bluescht", the fruit tree blossom in spring. The journey of the apple from the tree to the Shorley bottle can be experienced in the MoMö, the new Swiss cidery and distillery museum. With the accompanying orchard and wild bee paradise, the MoMö literally traces the development of the apple from the bees and flowers.

To the MoMö cidery and distillery museum

Garden Rendezvous at the Untersee

If you want to talk shop with passionate hobby gardeners, make an appointment for a garden rendezvous at Untersee. Various garden owners open up their private oases here. Some gardens are even accessible without prior arrangement. Guests can discover the most beautiful cottage gardens on the various Thurgau cottage garden routes, either guided or on their own.

To the Thurgau Farmers' Garden Route

Garden-complementary cultural experiences

Fischingen

Hotel Fischingen Monastery

Past and present merge at Fischingen Monastery. The baroque rooms are perfect for celebrations and events and guests stay overnight in former monks' hermitages. The Tannzapfenland is a green paradise and the Fischingen monastery is nestled in it.

Warth

Ittingen Charterhouse

Nestled in the former monastery grounds, stylish, modern hotel rooms invite you to take a break from the hustle and bustle of everyday life and recharge your batteries. A unique hotel for short breaks, seminars, parties, weddings, courses and excursions.

Warth

Ittingen Museum

The Ittingen Museum provides a lively insight into the history of the buildings and their inhabitants. In the sparse monks' cells, you can experience how the Carthusians sought God's presence in silence and solitude.

Warth

Thurgau Art Museum

With its top-class collection and attractive temporary exhibitions, the Thurgau Art Museum provides an exciting counterpoint to the idyllic past of the former monastery.

Salenstein

Napoleon Museum Arenenberg

The Arenenberg in Thurgau is one of the most beautiful places on Lake Constance with its elevated position above Untersee, Arenenberg Castle and the park. The castle is home to the Napoleon Museum. Here you can see the original living quarters of Napoleon III's imperial family.

Frauenfeld

Thurgau Nature Museum

Thurgau's nature and its inhabitants at a glance at the Thurgau Nature Museum. Exciting special exhibitions, interactive tours and the museum garden complete the experience and turn a visit into a nature discovery trip.

Frauenfeld

Museum of Archaeology

The Museum of Archaeology, together with the Museum of Nature, is located in the heart of Frauenfeld's old town. The exhibition shows the rich archaeological heritage of the canton of Thurgau from the pile dwellers to the Celts and the Romans. Admission is free.