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    Appenzell
    JoachimKohler-HB / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 4.0

    Switzerland

    Appenzell

    City

    Appenzell is the capital of the canton of Appenzell Innerrhoden and lies in gently rolling hills at the foot of the Alpstein range, south of St. Gallen.

    by Felix Gillen

    1. Home
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    5. Switzerland
    7. Appenzell
    Appenzell is the capital of the canton of Appenzell Innerrhoden and lies in gently rolling hills at the foot of the Alpstein range, south of St. Gallen. The heart of the village is the Hauptgasse, with more than 60 shops and colorfully painted facades. Many shop and inn signs still hang here in the traditional style known as Tafeen.On the Landsgemeindeplatz, the Landsgemeinde meets on the last Sunday in April, when eligible voters decide by a show of hands in the open air. Nearby are the Town Hall, with its facade painted in 1928, and St. Mauritius Parish Church, whose parish dates back to 1071.A short train ride away, the mountains of the Alpstein begin at Wasserauen. A cable car takes six minutes to reach Ebenalp at 1,644 meters. From there, you hike down to the Wildkirchli caves and the Berggasthaus Aescher, built against the cliff, and on to the Seealpsee. Other cable cars run up the Hoher Kasten and the Kronberg.

    Sights in Appenzell

    Discover the most important sights and attractions

    Ebenalp
    Natural Feature

    1Ebenalp

    The cable car takes you from Wasserauen to 1644 meters in six minutes. At the top, views open up over the Appenzellerland, and several hiking trails lead down to the Wildkirchli Caves, the Berggasthaus Aescher, and Lake Seealpsee.
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    Wildkirchli
    Church

    2Wildkirchli

    In 1904, traces of cave bears and Stone Age humans from the Neanderthal era were discovered in the caves below Ebenalp. Starting in 1658, hermits inhabited the central cave, which later became the Altar Cave with a chapel. The path through the caves is a bit dark and damp, but easy to walk; it takes about 15 minutes from the mountain station. Right next to it, the Berggasthaus Aescher clings to the rock face.
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    Seealpsee
    Natural Feature

    3Seealpsee

    The mountain lake at 1141 meters lies in a cirque beneath the rock faces of the Alpstein. From Wasserauen, you walk up on an asphalt path through the Schwendebach Gorge in about an hour; from Wildkirchli, you descend in approximately half an hour. On the northeast shore, there are two inns.
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    Museum Appenzell
    Museum

    4Museum Appenzell

    The museum at Hauptgasse 4 is dedicated to the customs and culture of Innerrhoden, from fine Appenzeller hand embroidery and traditional costumes to folk art.
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    Appenzeller Show Dairy
    Restaurant

    5Appenzeller Show Dairy

    At the show dairy in Stein, about four kilometers from Appenzell, you can watch the production of Appenzeller cheese daily until 3 PM. The establishment includes a restaurant and a cheese shop.
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    Restaurants in Appenzell

    1

    Restaurant Sonne

    Inn directly on Landsgemeindeplatz with a tiled stove, low ceiling, and wooden tables in the dining room. Regional specialities, Swiss cuisine, and fondue are served, and in summer, you can sit on the garden terrace under large trees.
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    2

    Gass 17

    Restaurant in the heart of the village at Hauptgasse 17, just a few steps from Landsgemeindeplatz and Museum Appenzell.
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    Appenzellerland Culture

    Few regions in Switzerland uphold their customs as visibly as the Appenzellerland.LandsgemeindeInnerrhoden is one of the few cantons where voters still cast their ballots in the open air. During the Landsgemeinde on the last Sunday of April, they raise their hands in the Landsgemeindeplatz, and visitors are welcome to watch. Women's suffrage was only introduced in the canton in 1990.Traditional Dress, Alpfahrt, and StobedeOn holidays such as Corpus Christi, many locals wear traditional costumes when the weather is fine. Between mid-May and June, the herdsmen (Sennen) drive their cattle up to the Alps, returning between mid-August and September. Village inns and mountain guesthouses host Stobede – sociable evenings with yodeling, dancing, and music. In neighboring Ausserrhoden, the Silvesterchläuse parade through villages like Urnäsch on January 13th.Cheese, Biber, and ArtAt the Appenzeller Show Dairy in Stein, you can watch Appenzeller cheese being made, while the Bärli-Biber-Welt in Weissbad is all about the Appenzeller gingerbread. The Appenzell Museum on Hauptgasse showcases embroidery, traditional costumes, and folk art. Contemporary art can be found at the Kunsthalle Appenzell, a former brickworks, and the Appenzell Art Museum.

    Getting Around Appenzell

    The narrow-gauge Appenzeller Bahn connects Appenzell directly with St. Gallen in just over half an hour, while a second line runs via Herisau to Gossau. You can explore the village center on foot.The train continues to Wasserauen, the valley station of the cable car to Ebenalp.From Wasserauen, you can walk to the Seealpsee on a paved path in about an hour.Guests staying at least three nights receive the Appenzell Card, with free public transport and two complimentary rides each on the Ebenalp, Kronberg and Hoher Kasten cable cars.PubliCar, an on-demand bus, serves remote routes and can be booked via app, online or by phone.

    Accommodations in Appenzell

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    Campgrounds in Appenzell

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    Nearby

    St. Gallen

    St. Gallen

    St. Gallen is the capital of the canton of the same name and is located in northeastern Switzerland, south of Lake Constance. The city traces its origins to the hermitage of the monk Gallus, who, according to tradition, settled here in 612. This grew into one of Europe's most significant monasteries, which was dissolved in 1805.The Abbey District, with its Cathedral, Abbey Library, and Abbey Archives, has been a UNESCO World Heritage site since 1983. The late Baroque cathedral was built between 1755 and 1766 under Peter Thumb and Johann Michael Beer; admission is free. In the Baroque Hall of the Abbey Library, approximately 170,000 books and about 2,000 medieval manuscripts are stored, including the Carolingian Monastery Plan from the 9th century.Surrounding the Abbey District is the car-free Old Town, featuring 111 painted and carved bay windows, half-timbered houses, and small taverns on the first floor. In the late 19th century, embroidery made St. Gallen world-famous, a story now told by the Textile Museum. Above the city lie the Drei Weieren, from which you can see as far as Lake Constance on a clear day.
    Bregenz & Bodensee

    Bregenz & Bodensee

    In the very west, Vorarlberg borders Lake Constance. Bregenz is home to the Seebühne, where summer operas are staged directly on the water.
    Bregenz

    Bregenz

    Bregenz is located on Lake Constance in the far west of Austria. The city is known for the Bregenz Festival: Since 1946, opera has been performed directly on the water on the Lake Stage every July and August, in front of almost 7,000 spectators.
    Lindau

    Lindau

    Lindau is the Bavarian town on Lake Constance, its old town situated on an approximately 0.69-square-kilometer island in the eastern Obersee. A road bridge and the railway embankment connect it to the mainland, on which trains travel to Lindau-Insel station.The landmark is the harbor entrance: On one side, the six-meter-high Bavarian Lion made of Kelheim marble, is enthroned; opposite stands the New Lighthouse, completed in 1856, Germany's southernmost. Also featured are the 12th-century Mangturm and the painted Old Town Hall dating from 1422.
    Bodensee

    Bodensee

    Lake Constance, at roughly 395 meters above sea level, lies between Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, covering 536 square kilometers. Stretching 69 kilometers from Bregenz to Stein am Rhein, it plunges 251 meters at its deepest point between Fischbach and Uttwil. The Alpine Rhine flows in, the Seerhein connects the Obersee and Untersee, and the river then exits as the Hochrhein.On the German side, Baden-Württemberg and Bavaria share its shores. Travel by ferry and ship here between Konstanz, the flower island Mainau, the castle town Meersburg, and the island city Lindau, where a UNESCO World Heritage site awaits on Reichenau Island.

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