Switzerland · Zurich, Basel & Lucerne · Travel guide
What a hiking weekend in the Alpstein really costs, when you need to be at the Äscher so you do not only see it on other people's phones, and why two nights beat the day trip.
Photo: Jean-Paul Wettstein / Pexels
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Estimates for orientation, not booking prices. Getting there means train or car from Switzerland, return, per person. Hotels vary strongly by season: current prices are behind the links below.
Money & payment: You pay in Swiss francs (CHF). Cards and the Twint app work practically everywhere, even on alpine pastures. Many shops accept euros but give change in francs at a poor rate. Service is included in prices; rounding up is customary. Getting there: By train (SBB) or car, 1 to 4 hours from Zurich.
Nine options in three price ranges, each among the best-rated on Booking.com.
Budget
Traditional house on the edge of the car-free old town on Weissbadstrasse, with two restaurants and a breakfast buffet, consistently very good reviews. Not a hostel, but the most reliable house for an Appenzell weekend without a big budget; station and Landsgemeindeplatz in three minutes.
Inn on the Landsgemeindeplatz with simple rooms, a mattress dormitory for groups and a pub where Appenzell locals eat. Right in the middle, no frills, with breakfast. For hikers who would rather put the money into mountain railways.
Small hotel with a painted facade on the Landsgemeindeplatz, with its own pastry shop on the ground floor and a restaurant serving regional cooking. Rooms simple and clean, breakfast with cheese and Mostbröckli. For anyone who wants to stay central and fairly priced.
Mid-range
The traditional house on the Landsgemeindeplatz, run by the Heeb family for generations, with a painted facade, panelled parlours and a good restaurant. Rooms vary; the newer ones are large and quiet. For the classic Appenzell weekend.
16th-century inn on the Hauptgasse with rooms in Appenzell style, wood and painted furniture, and a parlour with a tiled stove. Five minutes to the station. For anyone who wants the old Appenzell in their room.
Traditional house on the Hauptgasse, a hotel for more than 100 years, with modern rooms behind a historic facade and a restaurant serving Appenzell cooking. Right on the village square, station in three minutes. For comfort in the village centre.
Luxury
The big spa and wellness hotel of the Appenzell region, ten minutes from the village, with baths, spa, several restaurants and a view of the Alpstein. Many guests have been coming for decades. For recovery after the hikes, also with children.
Inn from 1880 in Gonten, eight minutes by train from Appenzell, reopened in 2021 as a small boutique hotel, with regional cooking, a sauna and a natural swimming pond. Quiet, modern, in wood. For couples who want to combine design and the Alpstein.
The hotel at the valley station of the Säntis cableway at 1,350 metres, with a view of the Säntis north face, a restaurant and simpler comfort than the name promises. For the morning on the Säntis before everyone else and winter hiking from the door.
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Up from Wasserauen by cable car in eight minutes (CHF 36, about EUR 39, return, CHF 18 with the Half Fare Card), through the caves to the inn in the rock face. Almost alone with the first cable car at 7.30 am. An hour at the top, half a day with the descent to the Seealpsee.
From Wasserauen in an hour up the farm track to the green mountain lake at 1,141 metres, with two inns and rowing boats for CHF 10 (about EUR 11) an hour. Free, two to three hours with a break, also with children. In the morning the Säntis is mirrored in the water.
From Schwägalp to 2,502 metres in ten minutes, views of six countries in clear weather, restaurant and terrace at the top. CHF 64 (about EUR 68) return, CHF 32 with the Half Fare Card, all year round. Only in good visibility, two to three hours including the Postbus from Urnäsch.
Cableway from Brülisau to 1,795 metres (CHF 48, about EUR 51, return, CHF 24 with the Half Fare Card), revolving restaurant with views into the Rhine valley, then the geological high-level trail via Staubern to the Fählensee and down to Brülisau. Five to six hours, the most beautiful ridge in the Alpstein.
Family mountain from Jakobsbad with cableway (CHF 36, about EUR 39, return, CHF 18 with the Half Fare Card), toboggan run CHF 7 a ride, rope park and panorama trail back down to the valley. Half to a full day, sledging in winter. The best choice in the Appenzell region for children from six.
In Stein AR, 25 minutes by bus: production behind glass, tasting of all maturity stages, an experience world around the secret herbal brine. Admission CHF 15 (about EUR 16), with a restaurant and shop. An hour and a half, the best rainy-day plan with children.
The brewery of the Quöllfrisch in the village with its Brauquöll experience world, a tour through the brewhouse and cellars and a tasting, CHF 20 (about EUR 21) per person. One to one and a half hours, book ahead; the shop also has the Säntis Malt whisky range.
Hauptgasse with its painted facades, Landsgemeindeplatz, the church of St. Mauritius and the Museum Appenzell (CHF 9, about EUR 10) with traditional costumes, farm painting and herding culture. Guided village tour from CHF 15 through the tourist office, an hour and a half.
From the Ebenalp in an hour to the Schäfler hut at 1,925 metres and, for the experienced, along the ridge to the Mesmer, descent to the Seealpsee. Five to six hours, sure-footedness required, overnight stay at the Schäfler with half board from CHF 90 (about EUR 96).
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Appenzell eats what the Alps provide: cheese with its secret herbal brine, Siedwurst with mustard, Mostbröckli, Biber with almond filling and Quöllfrisch to go with it. The cooking is hearty, honest and not expensive by Swiss standards, especially in the mountain inns. If you are hungry, you are in the right place.
The spicy cheese in three stages of maturity, whose herbal brine recipe is known to only two people, and the Siedwurst, a pale boiled sausage with caraway that is simmered in water. Cheese plate CHF 18 to 24 (about EUR 19 to 26), Siedwurst with potato salad CHF 20 to 26.
Tip:Siedwurst is classically eaten with mustard and Chäshörnli, and the cheese is simply called "Appenzeller" here, nothing added.
Hörnli pasta with grated Appenzeller, cream and fried onions, served with apple sauce, the children's dish of the region that adults order too. CHF 20 to 26 (about EUR 21 to 28).
Tip:On the Alp they are often made with Alp cheese, which is stronger, so ask.
Air-dried, smoked beef, sliced wafer-thin, the Appenzell counterpart to Bündnerfleisch. As a starter CHF 16 to 22 (about EUR 17 to 24), 100 grams at the butcher CHF 8 to 10.
Tip:Vacuum-packed, it is the best souvenir after the cheese and keeps for three weeks.
Gingerbread with an almond filling, as a large Biberfladen with a picture or as small Biberli, spicy and moist. Biberli CHF 2 to 3 (about EUR 2 to 3), Fladen CHF 8 to 15.
Tip:The Fladen with the Säntis picture are the classic souvenir and keep for weeks.
The beer of the Locher brewery, naturally cloudy, flowing in every pub in the region, a Stange glass CHF 4.50 to 5.50 (about EUR 5 to 6). Alongside it the Säntis Malt, a whisky aged in old beer casks, CHF 10 to 14 a glass.
Tip:Quöllfrisch on draught is also served on the Ebenalp, where it tastes best after the climb.
Herbal liqueur made from 42 herbs, produced in the village since 1902, the digestif after every cheese plate. CHF 5 to 7 (about EUR 5 to 7) in a restaurant, CHF 25 a bottle in the shop.
Tip:It also comes as a mini bottle for CHF 4, which is enough as a souvenir.
The mountain inn Rösti of grated potatoes with a fried egg, bacon or cheese, at a table with a view. CHF 20 to 28 (about EUR 21 to 30), portions sized for hikers.
Tip:At noon there is nothing to be had at the Äscher, eat at 11 am or at 2 pm.
Through markets and eateries with a guide, tastings included.
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Appenzell means "Abbatis Cella", the abbot's cell, and the abbot was the one of St. Gallen, who from the 11th century had the land between Lake Constance and the Säntis settled and taxed. At some point the farmers had had enough: in 1403 they beat the abbot's army at the Stoss and at Vögelinsegg, and again in 1405 with support from Schwyz, and out of that came the land of Appenzell, which in 1513 joined the old confederation of 13 cantons as the last of them. In 1597 the land split along confessional lines: Innerrhoden with its capital Appenzell stayed Catholic, Ausserrhoden with Herisau and Trogen adopted the Reformation, and the border still runs right through meadows and villages today. Innerrhoden, with 16,000 inhabitants, is the smallest canton in Switzerland and the one that has resisted time the longest: the Landsgemeinde, at which voters decide in the open air with a raised hand, takes place every last Sunday in April on the Landsgemeindeplatz, and men carry a sword as proof of their right to vote. Women's suffrage was forced through by the Federal Supreme Court in 1990, the last canton to adopt it. Appenzell culture survives for the same reason: the painted facades on the Hauptgasse, the naive farm painting with its processions of cattle up to the Alps, coin spinning, the Zäuerli as a wordless natural yodel, the Silvesterchlaus in Urnäsch with its enormous headdresses, and the cheese whose herbal brine has stayed secret for centuries. The Alpstein, with the 2,502-metre Säntis as its local mountain, has been hiking country since the 19th century; the Berggasthaus Äscher in the rock face below the Ebenalp has existed since 1846 and in 2015 became one of the most photographed inns in the world thanks to a National Geographic cover. What that has done to the village you can see at the Wasserauen valley station on any summer Saturday.
You reach Appenzell from Zurich in around 1 hour 50, changing at Gossau onto the Appenzeller Bahnen, which rock through the hills to the village, return with the Half Fare Card around CHF 35 (about EUR 37). From St. Gallen it is 45 minutes direct, from Bern 2 hours 50, from Basel 2 hours 40. From Germany you come via Lindau and St. Gallen, from Vorarlberg from Bregenz in 1 hour 15 via St. Margrethen. The same railway continues up the valley to Wasserauen, the valley station of the Ebenalp cable car, in 12 minutes. For the Säntis you take the Postbus or car to Schwägalp (from Urnäsch), around 45 minutes from Appenzell. Here a car really is worth considering: the destinations lie in different valleys, Postbuses run hourly, and by car from Zurich you are here in 1 hour 30 (vignette CHF 40). The car park in Wasserauen costs CHF 6 a day and is full by 9 am on summer Saturdays, after which the police close the access road. The Appenzell guest card from your hotel gives discounts on mountain railways and museums, not free public transport. For hikers without a car: hiking trails lead straight into the terrain from Appenzell, the Seealpsee is an hour on foot from Wasserauen, and you only need the cable car for the Ebenalp.
The Ebenalp cable car from Wasserauen takes you to 1,644 metres in eight minutes, CHF 36 (about EUR 39) return, CHF 18 with the Half Fare Card. At the top the path leads through the Wildkirchli caves, where monks once lived and cave bear bones were found, and in 15 minutes down to the Äscher, the inn in the rock face. Now the honest information: the house is small, has had new hosts since 2018, the terrace holds maybe 100 people, and on a summer Saturday 2,000 stand there. The first cable car runs at 7.30 am in summer, and whoever takes it has the Äscher almost to themselves for coffee at 8 am. From 10.30 am it is over. The second mistake is to turn back at the top. The real day goes on: from the Äscher 90 minutes down to the Seealpsee, a green mountain lake at 1,141 metres with the Säntis and Altmann mirrored in it, two mountain inns on the shore (Forelle, Seealpsee) and rowing boats for CHF 10 an hour. From there it is an hour down the farm track to Wasserauen. That is four to five hours, you need good shoes, and the descent from the Äscher is steep and slippery when wet. On a weekday in June or September the same tour is a different world. If you want more: from the Ebenalp to the Schäfler hut and along the ridge to the Mesmer, which is the most beautiful high-level trail in the Alpstein, five to six hours with the return via the Seealpsee.
Appenzell is not an expensive place by Swiss standards: a mid-range double room in the village costs CHF 150 to 200 (about EUR 161 to 214) with breakfast, often in houses that have belonged to the same family for generations, with wood panelling, a tiled stove and an Appenzell breakfast of cheese and Mostbröckli. The hotels on the Hauptgasse and the Landsgemeindeplatz are right in the middle, but the village is quiet in the evening, noise is not an issue. In summer and at the Landsgemeinde at the end of April they are full, otherwise a week's notice is enough. The honest speciality is a night in a mountain inn: the Äscher no longer has beds, but the Ebenalp, the Schäfler, the Seealpsee and the Mesmer offer dormitories and simple rooms, half board CHF 80 to 110 per person, with a sunset and a morning without day visitors. That is the best Appenzell experience for the money; reservations are compulsory, bring bed linen or a hut sleeping bag. The family and wellness alternative is Weissbad with the Hof Weissbad, the big spa hotel with baths and a good kitchen from CHF 300, ten minutes from the village. Cheaper than in the village you sleep in Gonten, Urnäsch or Gais in inns from CHF 120, but then you need the bus or the car. What Appenzell hardly has: chains, hostels and budget hotels; the cheapest option is the dormitory in a mountain inn.
The Säntis at 2,502 metres is the highest point in eastern Switzerland, and in clear weather you see six countries from the top. The aerial cableway from Schwägalp costs CHF 64 (about EUR 68) return, CHF 32 with the Half Fare Card, runs all year round, and the summit is a building with a restaurant, viewing terrace and weather station, not wild, but impressive. In föhn conditions or with high fog in the valley it is the rescue, as it often stands alone above the cloud layer; check the webcam first. The Hoher Kasten (1,795 metres) from Brülisau has the better all-round view of the Rhine valley and the Alpstein at once, the cableway costs CHF 48 return, CHF 24 with the Half Fare Card, with a revolving restaurant at the top and the geological trail via Staubern to the Fählensee, which is one of the most beautiful high-level trails in Switzerland, five to six hours with the descent to Brülisau. The Kronberg (1,663 metres) from Jakobsbad is the family mountain with a toboggan run, rope park and barefoot trail, cableway CHF 36 return, CHF 18 with the Half Fare Card, and a panorama trail back to the valley station that children can manage too. Our calculation for two days: Ebenalp and Hoher Kasten with the Half Fare Card CHF 42 per person; add the Säntis if the weather is perfect, otherwise it is not worth its money. All the railways have online prices, and the guest card gives 10 to 20 per cent off.
The best time for the Alpstein is mid-June to mid-October; before that there is still snow on the upper trails, after that the mountain inns close. July and August are full, September is the best month: stable weather, cattle descents with decorated cows (dates set at short notice depending on the weather), cheese from the Alp, and the Ebenalp cable car without a queue on weekdays. The last Sunday in April is the Landsgemeinde: thousands of Innerrhoden citizens stand on the square, you can watch from the edges, the village is full and the hotels are gone long beforehand. The Silvesterchlaus in Urnäsch takes place on 31 December and on 13 January (old New Year's Eve), with groups of Chläuse in enormous headdresses who go from farm to farm singing Zäuerli, one of the most archaic folk customs in Europe, from 5 am in the early morning. In winter the Alpstein is quiet: Kronberg and Ebenalp have small ski areas, there is tobogganing from the Kronberg, winter hiking to Schwägalp, and the Säntis runs. Hotels cost 20 to 30 per cent less in winter, except at Christmas. What you need to plan: the Appenzeller Bahnen run every half hour, the last train from Wasserauen leaves around 8 pm, the Ebenalp cable car stops at 6 pm, and anyone eating at the top has to allow for the descent on foot.
The village of Appenzell is walked through in an hour and worth half a day: the Hauptgasse with its painted facades, the Landsgemeindeplatz, the parish church of St. Mauritius, the Museum Appenzell (CHF 9, about EUR 10) with traditional costumes and farm painting, the Kunsthalle Ziegelhütte for contemporary art (CHF 12) and the Locher brewery, which brews the Quöllfrisch and runs tours of its Brauquöll visitor world for CHF 20 including a tasting. The herbal pioneer Alpenbitter also offers tours; Appenzeller Alpenbitter is the souvenir everyone takes home, CHF 25 a bottle. The cheese: the show dairy in Stein AR (CHF 15 with a tasting, bus from Appenzell 25 minutes) shows the production, the herbal brine stays secret, and you taste every stage of maturity from mild to extra strong. You buy cheese more cheaply directly on the Alps in summer (Alp cheese CHF 2.50 to 3.50 per 100 grams) or at the village dairy. Saving tricks: the Half Fare Card halves all the mountain railways, lunch in a mountain inn costs CHF 22 to 30 for Älplermagronen or Rösti, which is honest for a mountain. Picnics are allowed everywhere, Coop and Volg are in the village. Hiking is free, and the most beautiful tours, the Seealpsee, the Fählensee and the Sämtisersee from Brülisau, need no cable car. The Biberfladen and Appenzeller Biber at the bakery cost CHF 3 to 8 and keep for weeks.
By train from Zurich in around 1 hour 50 via Gossau on the Appenzeller Bahnen, return with the Half Fare Card around CHF 35 (about EUR 37), from St. Gallen 45 minutes direct. From Vorarlberg from Bregenz in 1 hour 15, from Germany via Lindau. A car is useful here, because the Säntis, Hoher Kasten and Kronberg lie in different valleys and Postbuses run hourly. For the Ebenalp and the Seealpsee the train to Wasserauen is enough.
For two people and two nights: hotel in the village CHF 300 to 400 (about EUR 321 to 428) with breakfast, food CHF 50 per person per day, mountain railways with the Half Fare Card CHF 40 to 70 per person depending on the mountains. In total around CHF 600 to 750 without travel. With a night in a mountain inn dormitory with half board for CHF 80 to 110 per person it becomes cheaper and better.
With the first Ebenalp cable car at 7.30 am in summer, when you have the inn in the rock face almost to yourself at 8 am. From 10.30 am the terrace is full and the cable car has waiting times of an hour. On weekdays in June or September it is much quieter. The Äscher no longer offers overnight stays, but the Ebenalp and the Schäfler have dormitories, and whoever sleeps there has the morning to themselves.
Mid-June to mid-October for the mountains; September is the best month, with stable weather, cattle descents and fewer visitors. July and August are full, especially at weekends. The Landsgemeinde is on the last Sunday in April, the Silvesterchlaus on 31 December and 13 January in Urnäsch. In winter the Säntis, Kronberg and Ebenalp run, and hotels cost less.
Only in clear visibility, when you see six countries from 2,502 metres. The cableway from Schwägalp costs CHF 64 (about EUR 68) return, CHF 32 with the Half Fare Card, and the summit is a building with a restaurant and terrace. With high fog in the valley it often stands above the clouds, so check the webcam. For hikers the Hoher Kasten with the high-level trail to the Fählensee is the better mountain at half the price.
Yes, better than many larger places. The Kronberg from Jakobsbad has a toboggan run, a rope park and a panorama trail that children from six can manage. The Seealpsee is an hour on foot from Wasserauen, with rowing boats and two inns. The show dairy in Stein, the brewery and the barefoot trail in Gonten fill rainy days. Hotels mostly have family rooms, and children pay half on the mountain railways.
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