From Lake Constance to the Säntis: Bregenz – St. Gallen – Nesslau

From the Lake Constance shore to the Appenzell Alps. About 64 km by car. The route starts in Bregenz in Austria on the Bodensee, crosses the Rhine into Switzerland, passes St. Gallen and then climbs through the green hills of Appenzell over the Schwägalp pass (about 1,250 m), below the Säntis, the highest mountain of the Alpstein range (2,502 m), and down to Nesslau in the Toggenburg valley.

The route. Bregenz – Höchst – Thal – St. Gallen – Herisau – Urnäsch – Schwägalp – Nesslau.

On the way. St. Gallen has an old abbey quarter; the abbey library (UNESCO World Heritage) is one of the most beautiful baroque libraries in the world. Appenzell is known for its farmhouses, cheese and customs: in Urnäsch the masked “Silvesterchläuse” walk around on New Year’s Eve by the old calendar. From the Schwägalp a cable car goes up to the Säntis in a few minutes.

Good to know. The pass road can have snow from November to April; the Schwägalp section is steep and has sharp curves. The music is Swiss folk.

Picture: Urnäsch, with the Appenzell hills, Schofför, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0.