We are driving from the black forest region end of August and want to spend 2 days hiking in the Appenzell region. We are healthy in our early 60 and are mostly flatlander hikers but hiked 5 days in the Smokies last fall.. I am uncertain of a good location (up in the mountain lodges vs Seealpsee or at the base) and would like a comment on the hike to Berggasthaus Aescher from Ebenalp as it sounds difficult. Having never been to Switzerland I was not sure if you could drive to the lodges on the Seealpsee or hike up from Wasserauen. We are always up for a reasonable challenge.
Posted by
Danville, VT
12040 posts
Look into Flumserberg in St. Gallen canton. This might fit your needs better. It's a high-altitude community spread out over the side of a mountain (not a distinct village), but accessible by car. One of the biggest advantages is that there's a long network of trails near the top of the mountain that are fairly level. You can take the usual long, steep hike up or ride the ski lift.
Best driving route from the Black Forest would be through Basel to Zürich and then southeast to Flumserberg. It's not that scenic until you're beyond Zürich, though.
Posted by
Rick Steves' Europe
16893 posts
A benefit of a car is that you can leave non-essentials in the trunk (pack and cover it before arrival at the parking area) and travel lighter to get up to Berggasthaus Aescher. (Just today, another forum reader mentioned having stayed there several times.)
Posted by
Frankfurt am Main, Germany
2779 posts
The drive is from Black Forrest via Singen (if you want to you could take a side-trip to the Hohenzollern castle) to either Konstanz for the South side of the lake - or, much more scenic, via Birnau (baroque church), Meersburg (medieval city, walled, castle but right on the lake shore) to Friedrichshafen (best view of the Swiss Alps panorama from there) and then the car ferry to Romanshorn, Switzerland (45 minutes journey time).