Hard, Austria

Hard is a quiet lakeside market town on the eastern shore of Lake Constance, just west of the state capital Bregenz, where the Old Rhine empties into the lake. The Rhine delta nature reserve — the largest wetland on Lake Constance — covers the open ground south of the town and reaches well into the Swiss municipalities across the river. Hard's harbour is small but active in summer, with day-boats to Lindau and Bregenz, and the lakeside promenade and beach lido make the town one of the easier swimming bases on the Austrian shore. The historic core is concentrated around the Mittelweiherburg, a moated noble residence that now houses one of the country's specialist textile-printing museums, and the lake-and-delta cycle network passes directly through.