Destination Suggestions near Switzerland.

Salzburg is the closest of your locations to Appenzell and it is still a 6 hour train ride. In that case, fly into Munich, train to Salzburg.

The train from Munich to Salzburg is scenic and simple and not that expensive. There's a S Bahn station at the airport and you take it into town and then transfer to a train train.

It's up to you to decide if seeing Salzburg will change your life significantly. Rick and Samantha Brown have travel episodes about it, and I hear there was a film done some years ago about some singing family there.

Have you consided Italy instead of Austria? Or the Italian-speaking canton of Ticino (Lugano or Locarno)? This would be less travel,time than Austria destinations you mention,especially if you fly into or out of Milan, with the other airport being Zurich.

Lake Constance. There's more to see there than you could do in a week and it's a short train ride from Zurich.

How about Colmar, France or Freiburg, Germany? Or you could base in Basel, Switzerland and visit both. That way, you can fly in and out of Zurich.

Colmar is an excellent suggestion. Nice Alsatian town just a short distance from Basel.

Once you center your map on Appenzell, you cannot really go wrong with any nearby choice. All nice places, as big exactly for 1.5 days touring. My first choice would be St. Gallen, whose historical library hosts very ancient codes. But il could be also Bregenz or little Feldkirch. But it could also be Konstanz or Lindau.

Similar to what KDG suggests. If you are landing in Zurich, Konstanz is your best bet, only an hour by direct train from the airport. Nice waterfront and small old town. Insel Mainau and Insel Reichenau close by, plus much more. Less than 1 ½ hours to Appenzell.