Nature Hot Spot:
Lake Federsee
Lake Federsee is located in the German federal state of Baden-Württemberg, located approximately 60 km north of the Lake Constance. The lake has emerged from a snow water reservoir following the ice age, and today is the largest moor of south-western Germany, and a very important area for breeding and migratory birds.
It is recommended to stay over night in the town south of the lake, Bad Buchau. The town is lovely by itself, featuring a health resort, and a nice old center, with cozy restaurants and some nice shops. I stayed in Hotel Kreuz, which was simple, but nice and adequate, and I can easily recommend it.
The lake can be accessed via an extensively long foot bridge. For birders, the place is quite well known as a good spot to watch bearded tits. Especially in the times of September to October, they can be seen reliably. Hint: They are feeding from the sand that is scattered between 2 fisher cabins along the footbridge, but only in morning times until around noon. Bearded tits besides, there is a huge variety of water fowl you can see. It is a great spot to photograph goosanders, all sorts of ducks, swans, great egrets and herons, kingfishers, and many more. As a highlight, I was happy to spot a bittern in the reeds.
While the footbridge in the south is certainly the best spot for birding, the observation tower in the north is also worth a visit. The sunset picture in the gallery was taken from there.
Birding and wildlife beside, there is a very interesting museum south of the lake, the Federsee museum, in which you can witness the history of the ancient settlements and its inhabitants around the lake and the moor following the ice age. This area has also received the honor of being selected as UNESCO world heritage, for its settlements and building structures over the past millenniums. There is also a very special place nearby in the south, the so called wobbly forest, a forest in which the ground shakes when you jump. I can confirm that this feeling of the shaky ground really was quite a special experience, which I can wholeheartedly recommend.
So overall, I can only highly recommend visiting the Lake Federsee. It offers a great mix of great nature, wildlife, the possibility to come close to bearded tits, which is quite unique, and many other nice sights nearby, like the Federsee museum or the wobbly forest, which also makes it a nice place to visit for families.