evidence: Lake Constance, spanning three countries, is one of Europe's hidden gems [...] Who, however, has heard of Lake Constance? Not Australians, Americans or Chinese. German-speakers, mostly, who call it Bodensee and are in no hurry to share its cycle paths, vineyards, dense culture and magnificent scenery with the wider world. And so here, right in the heart of Europe – just 90 minutes from the tourist crush of Lucerne in one direction and Neuschwanstein Castle in the other – you still feel as if you're in Europe before the fall; before the tourists took over. As if you are back in the days when old-town shops still sold shampoo and potatoes, cafes were full of locals, and the only people in the mountains were hairy-legged hikers. Austria, Germany and Switzerland divvy up the 270 kilometres of Lake Constance shoreline. Austria only gets a runt end but is compensated by perhaps its best scenery. Take the Pfanderbahn cable car up behind cultured, arty town Bregenz and the shimmering silvery mirror of the lake is upstaged by views of folded green hills rising towards the Alps.