Appenzell Rolling Hills

Appenzell Innerrhoden and Ausserrhoden are Switzerland's smallest and most architecturally distinctive cantons — a landscape of intensely green hills, perfectly maintained farmhouses painted with regional geometric patterns, and the great grey wall of the Säntis massif (2,502 metres) standing guard over everything. The 40-kilometre route from St. Gallen to Appenzell village is the classic introduction to this world: gentle hills, ancient cheese-making traditions, traditional costumes still worn on festival days, and the extraordinary spectacle of the Landsgemeinde — the open-air cantonal assembly where citizens vote by raised hand in a tradition unchanged since the Middle Ages.

The village of Appenzell itself is the undisputed highlight of the route. The main street (Hauptgasse) is lined with buildings in the characteristic Appenzeller style: white facades with elaborate painted decorations in ochre, terracotta, and green, combined with projecting bay windows and carved wooden details. The effect is intensely decorative without being garish — a vernacular architecture that has no real equivalent elsewhere in Europe. The Landsgemeindeplatz in the centre of the village is a large open square where the cantonal assembly meets on the last Sunday of April each year, with thousands of citizens casting their votes in an outdoor ceremony that has been continuous for 650 years. The village museum explores both the assembly tradition and the craft of Appenzell embroidery, which is still produced in the region.

For a VW T3, the Appenzell route is Swiss driving at its most benign. The roads wind through hilly terrain but the gradients never approach Alpine extremes — this is pastoral country, not high mountain. The villages enforce low speeds naturally, and the roads between them are narrow enough to require occasional yielding to oncoming traffic, but there are no technical challenges. The main pleasure is simply the quality of the pastoral landscape: every farm is immaculate, every field is fenced with traditional wooden barriers, and the cows wear bells that produce a constant ambient music across the valleys. Appenzell cheese (Appenzeller) is one of the great Swiss mountain cheeses, and you can buy it directly from many farms along the route.

The best time to visit Appenzell is either the last Sunday of April (Landsgemeinde — book accommodation months in advance), or May to June when the alpine pastures are at their most vivid green. The Säntis cable car from Schwägalp (accessible as a short detour from the route) reaches the summit at 2,502 metres for panoramic views across seven countries. Autumn brings the descent of cattle herds from the summer pastures (Alpabfahrt) — a deeply traditional event involving decorated cows, flower crowns, and cowherds in traditional dress that takes place in late September. Winter transforms the region into a cross-country skiing paradise, with well-maintained loipe trails connecting the hills.