Altenrhein: the Swiss side of Lake Constance

The Altenrhein lakeside, overlooking Lake Constance, offers a view of the Swiss and Austrian Alps looming across the water.

Within minutes, the Altenrhein Pagoda Tower, an architecturally unconventional building constructed in the nineteen-sixties, remains a striking and eccentric local architectural landmark.

Heading inland, you reach the vineyards of eastern St. Gallen region, which produce white wines appreciated throughout Switzerland.

As evening falls, restaurants along the lake serve freshwater fish caught directly from Lake Constance.

Lake Constance, shared between Switzerland, Germany, and Austria, remains one of the rare European lakes without an officially delimited aquatic border among the three bordering nations, a tacit agreement lasting for centuries.

The Pagoda Tower of Altenrhein, built by an eccentric Swiss car collector in the 1960s, remains an unusual example of Orientalist architecture in the heart of Central Europe, today a destination for the curious and vintage car enthusiasts.