Alpenloge

Worth getting out of bed for

In both topography and attitude, there’s nothing flat about the Allgäu region. From Alpenloge’s windows you feel like you could reach out and prick your finger on a peak, but aside from monstrously proportioned mountains that provide ample opportunity for hiking, snowshoeing and climbing, plus various kinds of skiing in winter, there are deep Hansel-and-Gretel-y pine forests, Disney castles (no, really, Neuschwanstein was the inspiration for Disneyland’s centrepiece), and crystal-clear lakes. A 20-minute drive from the hotel is Lake Constance, where you can swim, sail and windsurf, and on its banks are the kind of villages portrayed on the fancier biscuit tins. You don’t need crampons to get a view from the top – Naturerlebnis Park’s Sky Walk is the easy option if you want peak panoramas; and there’s satisfying treks to be had through Wildrosenmoos and Hausbachklamm reserves – the latter has zipline swings too. Back at the hotel you can steam, sauna, take a massage, or nurse a hot spiced wine round the lounge’s fire (there’s a selection of drinks too). But if you want to actually do something, chef Mark hosts cooking classes for groups of up to four; your session might be themed around fish caught from Lake Constance, meat from local beef farms, or veggies from the back meadow. You can try your hand at archery too, or local herbalist can be called on to give guests a guided tour, and in summer barbecues are held on the grassy lawns.

Local restaurants

The hotel is very community-minded, and perhaps this is why their restaurant is closed on Thursdays and Sundays – because otherwise you’d be there seven nights a week. But, it opens up the opportunity to try the local cuisine. Bio Postwirt Scheffau down the road is very sweetly dressed, with heart cut-outs in chairs and a chalet feel. Food is all organic, and the menu is more traditional, with sausage salad, local cheese spätzle with fried onions, and pot roast with cabbage and dumplings. Plus, there are cheesecake pots for dessert. Cross over into Austria (about a 25-minute drive) for elegant and imaginative dining in a stylish redbrick space at Restaurant Mangold. Meals here might kick off with beef tartare with pickled chanterelles and mountain-cheese profiteroles, followed by venison with a vegetable risotto and chestnuts, and finish triumphantly with a buttery apple and cheese-curd crumble topped with sour cream. In Bregenz, dining gets a saucy French accent at Petrus Café Brasserie, an all-day diner serving up the likes of duck with kumquat, moules in white wine, coq in red wine, and a rich bouillabaise. And, if you want something with a Michelin glint in its eye, head to Schattbuch for multi-course menus of Campari-sloshed seabass, lobster with shiitake and finger lime, and deer with wild broccoli in a cranberry jus. 

Local cafés

Charming 18th-century eatery Margit & Fehl has painted its doorframe red as an augur of luck, and – it so happens – slices of delightfully creamy cakes (and vegan picks), warming coffee, and some savouries chalked up on the board outside. In Lindau, Kunst Café is part antiques shop (browse the walls while you sip) and part eatery; they have their own coffee brand (Trieste 1892), and lunches consist of grilled paninis and flambéed tartlets, followed by a selection of cakes that are art, indeed.