Wanderyn
Appenzell
Photo: Wikimedia Commons
city · CH

Appenzell

Recommended stay: 1 day
Getting around: The village itself is tiny and entirely walkable in twenty minutes. Appenzell has its own narrow-gauge station (Appenzell Bahnen) with direct trains to St. Gallen (about 45 minutes) and to Wasserauen at the base of the Ebenalp cable car. There's no reason to rent a car here; the train network covers the whole valley, and most day-trippers arrive from St. Gallen and leave the same evening.
Hours: Shops close Sundays and most close for a midday break around noon; the Appenzell folklore museums keep limited winter hours (often closed Mondays) and shrink further outside the May-October season.

Appenzell is the small, self-consciously traditional capital of the half-canton Appenzell Innerrhoden, the last place in Switzerland to grant women the vote at cantonal level (1990, and only after a federal court forced it). The town center is a single grid of pastel-painted, gable-fronted houses, many with painted scenes of cheesemaking or cows on their facades, that reads as almost theatrically Swiss — because the region's identity as a bastion of rural custom is genuinely load-bearing here, not staged for tourists.

What's actually worth the visit: the painted houses along Hauptgasse and Landsgemeindeplatz, the Appenzeller Volkskunde-Museum for regional costume and craft, and the twice-yearly Landsgemeinde tradition (now largely ceremonial but historically an open-air show-of-hands vote that's still cited as Europe's oldest form of direct democracy). Appenzell cheese and Appenzeller Biberli (a spiced honey biscuit) are the local specialties worth buying to take home.

Most visitors treat Appenzell as a half-day stop on the way to or from the Ebenalp cliffs and the Wildkirchli caves, reachable via the connecting train to Wasserauen and then the cable car. Combining the two into one day is the standard, sensible plan.

Appenzell FAQs

Is Appenzell worth visiting if I only have a few hours?

Yes — the painted-house old town can be seen properly in an hour or two, which is why most visitors pair it with the Ebenalp cable car in Wasserauen, a short train ride away, for a fuller day.

Can I try the local cheese in town?

Yes, Appenzeller cheese (including the pungent 'extra' variety washed in a secret herb brine) is sold throughout the village, and several restaurants serve it in local dishes like Chäshörnli.

Do I need a car to visit Appenzell?

No — the Appenzell Bahnen narrow-gauge trains connect it directly to St. Gallen and to Wasserauen, and the village itself is fully walkable.

What is the Landsgemeinde?

It's the region's traditional open-air assembly where citizens historically voted by show of hands; it's held only occasionally now and largely ceremonial, but it's a genuine piece of the canton's identity as one of the last direct-democracy holdouts in Europe.

Is Appenzell touristy?

It gets day-trippers, especially in summer, but it remains a real working town with a strong sense of its own traditions rather than a manufactured tourist set piece.

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