«Treasures of Appenzell»
From magnificent buildings to fine handicraft and the splendid Alpstein massif: This round trip leads you from the city to the rural areas once across the Appenzell. And from one treasure to the next.
St. Gallen
St. Gallen offers a lot for culture enthusiasts. The world renowned Abbey District of St. Gallen with its splendid baroque hall belongs to the UNESCO world heritage. The newly built Natural History Museum St. Gallen offers exciting events and exhibits all around the themes of nature, animals and environment. For the ones interested in fine fabrics and embroideries, the Textile Museum St. Gallen, which was founded in 1878, offers one of the most significant textile collections of Switzerland. At the city park in St. Gallen you will find the Historisches und Völkerkundemuseum St. Gallen, which sees itself as a platform for culture- and art history, ethnology as well as contemporary history and also offers a museum especially for children in its attic level.
If you'd like to stay in the heart of the historical center, you can spend the night at the abbey district at the Hotel Dom or at the Einstein St. Gallen - Hotel Congress Spa. At the edge of the historical center, the hotel Militärkantine can be found. The «historic hotel of 2017» shows itself in classical-modern Scandi-Design and convinces its visitors with lively culture and conscious organic cooking.
Brave ones swing themselves from treetop to treetop 30 meters above ground at the Rope Park Gründenmoos: An adventure for the whole family.
Herisau
From St. Gallen you continue by train onwards to Herisau.
For the one who enjoy the water, the Sports Centre Herisau offers the possibility to swim, relax or enjoy the 30m long water slide. If the weather is nice, the Open-air pool Sonnenberg also offers great bath-pleasures.
Discover interesting facts about culture and history of the canton of Appenzell Ausserrhoden in the historic Museum Herisau.
If you have a sweet tooth, you should definitely plan a trip to Maestrani's Chocolarium in Flawil: It's a high-tech chocolate factory with a fascintating experience world. And nibbling is even encouraged!
From Herisau you continue your journey by the Appenzeller Bahn railway through Urnäsch in direction of Appenzell.
If you plan a stop in Urnäsch, you can discover interesting facts around handicraft and the still vibrant and alive customs of Appenzell in the Appenzeller Tradition and Custom Museum located directly at the village square.
There is a postal bus service from Urnäsch to the Schwägalp, from where the Säntis Cable Car will take you to the summit of the Säntis: The view from the highest peak of the Alpstein massif is fantastic!
If you'd like to stay a bit longer in this stunning alpine landscape, you can spend the night at «Säntis – the Hotel» - an ideal starting point for hiking, rock climbing or ski touring.
For families and people who like lighter hikes, the Kronberg is the ideal destination, reached easily by the 2 Kronberg Cable Car. The valley station is located immediately adjacent to the train stop Jakobsbad between Urnäsch and Appenzell.
Appenzell
The Museum Appenzell offers fascinating insights into the cultural history of the canton Appenzell Innerrhoden as well as traditional costumes, embroideries, handicraft as well as tradition. Art lovers will get carried away by a visit at the Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art & Kunsthalle Ziegelhütte.
If you are planning a side trip to the mountain top of Hoher Kasten by cable car, you can take the train to Weissbad and continue from there to the valley station Brülisau by postal bus or dial-a-bus service.
From Appenzell the journey continues through Gais and Teufen back to St. Gall by the Appenzeller Bahn train service.
If you'd like to stay a bit longer in this region, the Boutique hotel and guest house Bären in Gais or the Anker Hotel Restaurant in Teufen are the perfect starting point for many leisure activities. The Arsenal Teufen - Grubenmann Museum in Teufen will tell you more about art & building: It accomodates the museum Grubenmann of the local master builders family Grubenmann as well as paintings of the local artist Hans Zeller.
The village of Stein is worth a side trip from Teufen. The Appenzeller Folk Museum documents the Alpine dairy tradition: It offers an alpine cheesery, regional jewellery as well as peasant- and alpine dairy style paintings.
And in the Appenzeller Schaukäserei you can learn, why the world renowned Appenzeller cheese is the most aromatic of all.
Not far from Teufen - only 10 minutes by car away from St. Gall - lies the village of Speicher: Here you can spend the night in the historical Hotel Krone Speicher high above Lake Constance.
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