Appenzell in Switzerland - delicacies and direct democracy

In co-operation with Switzerland Tourism

Appenzell in Switzerland is really not much more than a rural village with amazingly good cheese. Or is it? Appenzell and Appenzellerland wowed us with the imaginatively decorated houses, the countless restaurants with local specialities, the rolling green landscape, the dramatic Hoher Kasten mountain and - not least - the ancient traditions of direct democracy in the town square instead of regular municipal elections.

Table of contents

To Appenzell in Switzerland

We drove from Schaffhausen, where we saw the dramatic Rhine Falls, to Appenzell along the Grand Tour of Switzerland, which included driving along Lake Constance.

Where is Appenzell located?

Located in the north-eastern part of Switzerland near Germany and very much German-speaking, Appenzellerland is made up of green hills and picturesque little villages. Here and there the big brown cows roam, and every so often you can hear the sound of their distinctive bells.

Village of Appenzell

In the middle of the Appenzellerland is the village of Appenzell, which is famous for its delicious Appenzeller cheese - one of our absolute favourite cheeses. What we didn't know before is that this village consists of colourful houses decorated with different paintings.

Appenzell house — Each painting illustrates a month in Appenzell

Appenzell hus — The most central street in the village - there are no cars here.

The tradition of the paintings is not really that old. It started in the 1930s when a villager had paintings done on his house, and then everyone else wanted to do the same. Another thing we didn't know about is the political system, which is different, to say the least.

READ MORE: Hang gliding in Interlaken and boat trip on Lake Brienz
READ MORE: Travelling by motorhome in Switzerland - Grand Tour of Switzerland

Direct democracy - in the square

In Appenzell, people don't vote as usual with an envelope in a ballot box. Once a year, all residents gather in the main square of the village and vote by show of hands. This is how the local politicians are elected and other major issues are decided.

To prove that they are eligible to vote, and thus enter the square on election day, men bring the sword that all boys in Appenzell receive on their 18th birthday. Women must instead bring a form they receive in the letterbox. However, this is a fairly recent invention. Women in Appenzell only gained the right to vote in local elections in 1991.

Appenzell torg — Once a year, the square in Appenzell is filled with dressed-up men with swords, and dressed-up women with forms ...

Coparading through the city

We were lucky enough to be in Appenzell on one of the days when the cows come back from summer grazing. The men who take care of the cows walk with them down from the mountains, in their traditional clothes. And of course they go through the town centre!

READ MORE: Gruyere village in Switzerland - chocolate and Swiss cheese
READ MORE: Beautiful Lucerne, Switzerland - to the top of Mount Pilatus

Cheese and other local specialities

Appenzell is of course best known for its Appenzeller cheese, but in the cheese shop we realised that there are also quite a few other alpine cheeses to choose from. Appenzell also has its own brewery and further local specialities include mineral water, filled soft gingerbread and liqueurs.

Ostar Appenzell — Not easy to choose among all the good cheeses!

Bryggeri Appenzell — Beer from the local brewery

READ MORE: The Lavaux wine region in Switzerland - and Chaplin's world
READ MORE: Bern, the capital of Switzerland - a swim in the river Aare

Dinner at the Marktplatz restaurant

There are around 600 restaurants in Appenzellerland, and given that the area consists of only 26 villages, that means an average of 23 restaurants per village! We had dinner at the Marktplatz restaurant, and were really pleasantly surprised.

As well as being served really good food, we also had a nice chat with owner Armin Weishaupt, who has lived both here and there in the world before returning to his beloved Appenzell.

We started with a small soup each, and then continued with a veal dish each. For this we of course wanted to try beer from the local brewery, and it got a very good rating from us. Finally, there was ice cream and local liqueur. What a fantastic dinner!

Currysoppa — Curry soup with apple chunks - we have to make this at home!

Fylld kalvschnitzel — Stuffed veal cutlet with vegetables and chips

Likör från Appenzeller — Liqueur from Appenzeller

Camping Jakobsbad

We stayed at Camping Jakobsbad, which is located just outside Appenzell. We experienced this campsite as relatively simple, but with an idyllic location with the beautiful mountains around. The only sound we heard in the evening, from a distance, was the sound of the cows barking.

To the top of the Hoher Kasten mountain

In fact, there is even more to tell about Appenzell! Before it was time for us to leave Appenzellerland, we drove to Brülisau, where we took the cable car up to the mountain Hoher Kasten. From up here, you have quite fantastic views in all directions. You can walk around the top, allowing you to look out in all directions.

Hiking in the mountains is very popular here. Many people take the cable car up, hike a distance and then sit down at a restaurant. During the summer months, no less than 14 restaurants in the mountains are open.

Rotating restaurant at the top

At the top of the Hoher Kasten is the rotating restaurant Drehrestaurant, and we took the opportunity to have lunch here. You sit at the table with one view, and after half an hour you have a completely different view. Fun! We asked for the most Swiss on the menu, so we got white sausage with cheese stewed macaroni and applesauce, and beer marinated roast beef with pasta. Good and nice!

This was our last destination in Switzerland, and we have now rolled on into Germany. We're planning to write a post about travelling with a motorhome in Switzerland when we get home, if that might be of interest?

Video from Appenzell, Switzerland

Peter has put together a film from Appenzell, Switzerland. Please check it out!

READ MORE: 12 nature experiences in Switzerland - from tranquillity to adventure

Helena

20 August 2018 6:00

Switzerland

campsite, Motorhome holiday Switzerland, campervan trip2018, food and drink, restaurants, unique nature, experiences in Europe

Helena

Administrator

22 Comments

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Lena - good for the soul says:

What pagan fashions with the vote! It was just too good that even now women are allowed to vote. Embarrassingly late! What was the point, anyway?!

My God, what a lot of restaurants. Impressive if they manage to get profitability in all places!

Have a great start to the week!
Hug Lena

20 August 2018 - 6:18

Reply
- Comment by post author
  
  Helena says:
  
  Yes, it is indeed too good that women are now, at last, allowed to vote! As I understand it, voting was seen as a family affair, so a representative of the family would cast the family's vote (which had been discussed together).
  
  20 August 2018 - 7:05
  
  Reply
Mr Steve says:

A great end to your trip to Switzerland. You have really highlighted the country and shown how much Switzerland has to offer and most of it I had no idea about before. Suddenly Switzerland is a really exciting travel destination. You should be in good shape to become an honorary citizen.

20 August 2018 - 7:28

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- Comment by post author
  
  Helena says:
  
  Haha, honorary citizen in Switzerland sounds nice! We really experienced Switzerland as fantastic! A varied country with magical nature. Certainly not a cheap country, so you have to choose a little how to travel perhaps. We will return a little later with all that practical stuff, for anyone who wonders.
  
  20 August 2018 - 9:29
  
  Reply
Solan says:

It would be great to have some motorhome information. For example, about the cost situation. Remember that we thought it was expensive 4-5 years ago. But we roll through the country this autumn towards the winter ?

20 August 2018 - 7:50

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- Comment by post author
  
  Helena says:
  
  We'll get back to you with our experiences! Yes, Switzerland is still relatively expensive. When travelling with a motorhome you can at least adapt a bit, stock up on food in affordable grocery stores etc 😉.
  
  20 August 2018 - 8:40
  
  Reply
Seija Viitamäki -Carlsson says:

The brown cows have a velvet coat. Soft and tasty.
When travelling with travel agents, do you pay yourself or are you paid? How does the Schengen Agreement with Switzerland work? The cost situation in the country? The campsites? Thank you for all the information and the great videos and photos.

20 August 2018 - 8:14

Reply
- Comment by post author
  
  Helena says:
  
  Hi Seija! It's great that you ask when you ask! In many cases, we cooperate with countries' tourist offices and when we write "in cooperation with ..." at the top, it means that we are in some way sponsored or paid. We also constantly pay for things ourselves while travelling. The collaborations also mean that the tourist offices help us find gems, give us tips on attractions, etc. This helps us find interesting and beautiful places to visit and write about! The reason we write at the top that it is a collaboration is to make it clear to your readers that we have received help from a tourist office. I don't know much about the Schengen Agreement, do you have anything special in mind? The cost situation is quite high. The campsites are nice. We have stayed at both more expensive campsites (almost 600 SEK) and fairly cheap campsites (200 SEK). We will return (when we get home) with a more detailed post about practical things when travelling with a motorhome in Switzerland!
  
  20 August 2018 - 8:58
  
  Reply
Mr Nils-Åke Hansson says:

If we eat macaroni, it will be stewed macaroni here at home.
When I want to go camping, I want it to be small.
How tempting to get there so I take note of all the tips.

20 August 2018 - 9:00

Reply
- Comment by post author
  
  Helena says:
  
  We also think that small campsites are the most cosy! But sometimes there are big ones too, it all depends on the location etc.
  
  20 August 2018 - 11:17
  
  Reply
Ama de casa says:

Soooo nice - again! 🙂 And you continue to ride the cable car, you seem to have gone to terrified to fanatics 😉.

Cool with the cows. Or maybe you should say cool? 😉

Really different voting method there... Here it's time to go and vote too, but we've had regular overseas voting cards sent to us (on request as we've been out of the country for more than 10 years). I wonder what Caroline at the consulate will say if I just go there and raise my hand? 😀

20 August 2018 - 10:12

Reply
- Comment by post author
  
  Helena says:
  
  Haha, yes almost fanatics! But now I firmly believe that it was the last cable car on this trip! 😉 And haha, you can try to go there and raise your hand, it would be interesting 😉.
  
  20 August 2018 - 12:42
  
  Reply
Britt-Marie Lundgren says:

What a lovely village! You can hardly believe it's 2018.
Then there's the fun of local food and beer.
We have only been up in Jämtland, but have tried several types of beer from new small local producers. We have found some real gems, which the system in Falköping will take home for us.

20 August 2018 - 10:22

Reply
- Comment by post author
  
  Helena says:
  
  It felt a bit like travelling back in time, but in a cosy and charming way! 🙂 What fun that you found good local beer, that's fun! 🙂
  
  20 August 2018 - 12:45
  
  Reply
Reiselinda says:

Switzerland continues to look exciting. We saw cows in town every day in Oberstdorf. They walked past the stand on their way to and from grazing every day, and before and after came two farmers on bicycles to lead them. Picturesque! There will definitely be more Alps and Alpland on future trips!
Welcome to Germany, which way is home? Maybe our paths will cross?

20 August 2018 - 10:47

Reply
- Comment by post author
  
  Helena says:
  
  How cosy it sounds with cows walking past the site every day! 🙂 After a short visit to southern Germany we will spend 6 days in Belgium. Then it is possible that we go back a bit to see the Mosel (not completely decided yet). Then we plan to go past Husum before heading up to Sweden. Don't know if we will be in the neighbourhood, but please let me know if so! 🙂
  
  20 August 2018 - 13:17
  
  Reply
Husis blog says:

Switzerland is unfortunately a bit of a forgotten country for my owners. However, you have probably made them open their eyes to this country. I have to work with the owners and we'll see what they say when I show these posts and hopefully also your summary of Switzerland.
The cows were great to see in this way, it must have been an experience in itself.

20 August 2018 - 18:29

Reply
- Comment by post author
  
  Helena says:
  
  Switzerland is a very nice country to travel in! Amazing nature, beautiful roads (Grand Tour) and nice cities. Highly recommended!
  
  20 August 2018 - 19:02
  
  Reply
BP says:

Absolutely wonderful pictures - again! Oh the "coparade" through Appenzell, the town itself and the "voting system"... Switzerland likes its traditions and is slightly behind the rest of the world in terms of "modernisation". Especially the canton of Appenzell where women only got the right to vote in 1990. I would love to visit Appenzell as a resident - never in my life.

So that sausage with macaroni - no, yuck!

20 August 2018 - 22:18

Reply
- Comment by post author
  
  Helena says:
  
  Glad you like the pictures! We liked Appenzell a lot, as tourists, but I also want to live in a bigger city 😉.
  
  21 August 2018 - 7:21
  
  Reply
Deciree says:

Wow! what a place and insanely beautiful nature and beautiful mountains that fascinate.

21 August 2018 - 5:57

Reply
- Comment by post author
  
  Helena says:
  
  Super nice here! 🙂
  
  21 August 2018 - 7:21
  
  Reply

Appenzell in Switzerland - delicacies and direct democracy

In co-operation with Switzerland Tourism

To Appenzell in Switzerland

Where is Appenzell located?

Village of Appenzell

Direct democracy - in the square

Coparading through the city

Cheese and other local specialities

Dinner at the Marktplatz restaurant

Camping Jakobsbad

To the top of the Hoher Kasten mountain

Rotating restaurant at the top

Video from Appenzell, Switzerland

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22 Comments

Lena - good for the soul says:

Helena says:

Mr Steve says:

Helena says:

Solan says:

Helena says:

Seija Viitamäki -Carlsson says:

Helena says:

Mr Nils-Åke Hansson says:

Helena says:

Ama de casa says:

Helena says:

Britt-Marie Lundgren says:

Helena says:

Reiselinda says:

Helena says:

Husis blog says:

Helena says:

BP says:

Helena says:

Deciree says:

Helena says:

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