Stop in Lindau on Munich-Luzern?

I would.

I've been to Lindau five times, and I never get tired of it. I have been there for only an hour or two, passing through on my way to Friedrichshafen, and a few times I have just spent my day in Lindau. I love to just wander the narrow, twisting streets of the old town, looking at all of the old Fachwerk buildings. Once I went across the island (it is quite small) to the town museum, by the churches. It has wonderful exhibits of rooms in the architecture and furniture styles throughout the ages.

Thanks, Perry & Lee! Now here is the logistic question: we will be using a swiss pass, which we need to validate at the first Swiss stop. If we want to take a fast train from Lindau to Zurich (then onto Luzern), is it possible to validate the swiss pass in Lindau? Otherwise, it seems awful tight to hop off the train in St. Margarethen, which is the first stop in Switzerland. I seemed to remember a similar discussion on this board, but cannot recall the conclusion.

Thanks!

For a quick lunch stop-off, get an outdoor seat at one of the restaurants that line the harbour. Watch the boats come and go and enjoy the scenery!

If you don't already have your Swiss Pass, consider getting it for one day less and booking in advance, online, a Europa-Spezial Schweiz fare from Munich to Zurich. This ticket will cover all of your travel through Germany and Switzerland as well as the Austrian leg. The lowest price on these discount tickets is €39, probably less than a day of your Swiss Pass plus the German and Austrian legs (minus Zurich to Luzern). When you book the ticket, build in a stopover in Lindau, so it will be included in the fare, since the ticket is train specific.

Another option would be to go from Lindau up the lake to Friedrichshafen, then take the ferry from there to Romanshorn, Switzerland. You could at least validate your Swiss Pass at the station in Romanshorn. You might be able to validate it in Friedrichshafen at the boat ticket counter, since they accept the pass for a 50% discount. Anyway, the ferry across Bodensee is €7,70 per person if not.

Lindau is lovely and imho lovely. We spent 4 nights there on the island at the end of a 19 day trip thru Germany 5 years ago. Lindau is great for relaxing over a beer or ice cream, watching the boats in the harbor and such as is posted above. It's small enough to walk everywhere in a few hours but its charm is the flowers and scenery. (We took a ferry to Austria and saw a raptor show at a bird rehab facility, for something completely different from the rest of the trip.) I'd definitely spend at least a few hours there, don't miss it just to get somewhere else faster.

Thank you all for your helpful advice. We will leave Munich on a 7am train, arriving in Lindau shortly before 10, take a stroll, have lunch/icecream, and enjoy the scenery before heading for Zurich on a 15:00 train. Thanks for the tips on the Europa-Spez. Schweiz -- that's awesome! We should still be in Zurich in time for some Sprungli :-)

Here is a link to the English side of the Lindau website. The German side doesn't have that aerial view of the island.