The Pfänder is a mountain in western Austria close to

Lake Constance Lake Constance (german: Bodensee, ) refers to three Body of water, bodies of water on the Rhine at the northern foot of the Alps: Upper Lake Constance (''Obersee''), Lower Lake Constance (''Untersee''), and a connecting stretch of the Rhine, ca ...

(Bodensee). The city of

Bregenz Bregenz (; gsw, label= Vorarlbergian, Breagaz ) is the capital of Vorarlberg, the westernmost state of Austria. The city lies on the east and southeast shores of Lake Constance, the third-largest freshwater lake in Central Europe, between Switze ...

lies at the foot of the mountain on the shores of the lake. With its views over the lake and the surrounding mountain peaks, the Pfänder is one of the most famous lookout points of the region. With good visibility, the view from the summit reaches from the Allgäu and Lech valley Alps in the east, over to the Bregenz Forest, the steep mountain peaks of Arlberg region,

Silvretta The Silvretta Alps are a mountain range of the Central Eastern Alps shared by Tirol, Vorarlberg (both in Austria) and Graubünden (Switzerland). The Austrian states of Tirol and Vorarlberg are connected by a pass road (Silvretta Hochalpenstra ...

, and the Rätikon to the Swiss mountains and the foothills of the

Black Forest The Black Forest (german: Schwarzwald ) is a large forested mountain range in the state of Baden-Württemberg in southwest Germany, bounded by the Rhine Valley to the west and south and close to the borders with France and Switzerland. It is t ...

in the west. Below is Lake Constance, surrounded by the Rhine valley and the Swabian hills. The mountain is a popular tourist destination, with hiking paths, an alpine park and restaurants.

Transport

The ''Pfänder Tunnel'' takes the A14 motorway underneath the Pfänder, bypassing Bregenz. This is a now a dual tunnel, having opened in July 2013. The summit of the Pfänder can be reached by a cable car called the ''Pfänderbahn'', with the base station in the town of Bregenz. The cable car covers a height difference of over 600m in around 6 minutes.

External links

Official site of the Pfänder Cable Car
(in German and English) {{DEFAULTSORT:Pfander Mountains of the Alps Mountains of Vorarlberg