Switzerland ... a place called Apel..something ?
 

Have you ever heard of a place called Apell..something in Switzerland ? Ever been there ? Woth visiting ? A roman area?

Got the name of the place: Appenzell <BR>

Simon: The area of Appenzell is lovely indeed, but not very well known abroad. It's in the North-Eastern part of Switzerland close to the Austrian border and it's divided into two so-called half-cantons: Appenzell-Innerrhoden and Appenzell-Ausserrhoden. <BR>It's a very scenic hilly area (no big towns, but a lot of cows) ;-) <BR>Some very scenic villages are: Appenzell, Urnäsch, Trogen. They have a lot of very old and traditional customs and it's a very nice hiking area also famous for their cheese production. <BR>You can check their sites at: <BR>www.appenzell.ch (look for "Tourismus") <BR>However, everything is only in German. But there are some nice photos you can discover. They don't seem to have a lot of English speaking tourists. The area however is quite popular among Swiss to spend the holidays, esp. with children. <BR>You can also check <BR>www.myswitzerland.com <BR>Type in "Appenzell". <BR>Have a nice trip. <BR> <BR>

Ursula, I don't know about Simon, but I just loved your post. Sounds lovely. Simon, what time of the year are you going?

We visited Appenzell 2 years ago in the fall, took a charming red train as a day trip from Zurich. Although there were virtually no English speaking people even in the shops, we enjoyed a day there. Not many tourists at all. The folk art paintings indigenous to the region are lovely...forget what they are called. The train trip there gave us a good view of the countryside and the combination farm houses/barns. If you want to be off the tourist track, this is a delight. One caveat...the whole town shuts down for lunch.

Simon, while you are in the area, visit Säntis, a peak of 2502 metres. There's a cable car that takes you to the summit for a fabulous view, esp of Lake Constance to the north. Near the lower station there is a small factory and a shop selling delicious cheeses and raw milk, and all Swiss visitors made a beeline for it. Also St Gallen, to the north of Appenzell, is worth a visit. It has a celebrated Baroque library with fascinating manuscripts and early printed books (they provide slippers to protect the floor), an Abbey Church, and on the outskirts a wildlife park with several species of deer and goats. I believe the half-canton of Innerrhoden was the last in Swiss Confederation to award votes to women, in the 1990's. Area is also where the fourth official language, Romansch, is still in everyday use. Although as others have said not much English is spoken, you'll find most younger people are competent English speakers. The area is particularly popular among German-speaking visitors.

Appenzell, I though, was the most charming village in all of eastern Switzerland. The streets are lined with traditional intricately painted houses and shops with those beautiful vintage signs. There's also wonderful naive art and gorgeous hand made lace. The people are very warm and friendly, although, as mentioned above, very few speak any English. Great place to shop for Swiss products - the prices here were far less (for identical items) than we had seen all over. And, there were many more items and better merchandise.

Not much more to add here, but....I was in Alpenzell two years ago. It is a great small Swiss town. The only place I've ever had the nerve to do Karoake! Their local beer is great, (and the reason I had the nerve to do Karoake).

We will be using either Zurich or Vienna as our transit point for Skopje in late November-early December this year and were planning to spend a few days in one or the other. My question is whether Appenzell would be a possible day trip at that time of year? Would stores etc.. be open? Also precisely what does "closes down for lunch" mean -- I'm assuming that means the stores, but the restaurants would be open for lunch? Or does everyone go home to eat leaving the visitor to contemplate the scenery ?

S Fowler <BR>I've only been there in the summer. I know November/December before Christmas is a kind of low-season in the Alps before the skiing season starts in earnest. I'd expect larger hotels and stores to be open, but owners of many smaller family-run places (esp B&B's) take vacation themselves. I'd expect this to be the case in places like Appenzell, off the international tourist trail, where most visitors are from neighbouring countries. Also you could expect first significant snowfall at that time of year, but being in fairly low-altitude areas I don't think it will be too bad for travelling etc. By 'lunchtime closures' - Mittagspause, it usually means that shops, banks, and other business premises will be closed for a couple of hours in the afternoon (typically 1-3 pm), while bars, cafes and restaurants will of course stay open for customers. Useful for a leisurely lunch, or chance to get some travelling done while roads are quiet.

Wes/Sally: You can visit Appenzell at any time of the year. But Nov./Dec. might be a bit kind of "sad". The high season is definitely during the summer months - we used to go go there when I was small, although we children would have preferred to go somewhere to the beach. But with little snow the area is certainly very nice as well. Incidentally, our Minister of Justice, a 38y old very modern women, Ruth Metzler, is from Appenzell and she is very proud of her native canton. You could e.g. visit a cheese production. I am sure they are open all year. Business should be run as usual, it's just less touristy than during the summer. They have even a very strong accent with their Swiss German which is hard to understand for some of us as well. And as I said, it's a very quiet and lovely area comparable to the countryside like Provence or Tuscany in the off-season. <BR>Message to Simon: roman sites are in Augusta Raurica near Basel or in the French part of Switzerland, like Avenches (roman theatres at both places). <BR>Hope this helps.

.. oh, and I forgot, the restaurants are open for lunch. The locals, esp. men (women stay home to cook) love to go there to exchange the latest local news. Yes, and Appenzell was the last canton in Switzerland to allow women to vote or elect!! That's why the men there were very critized by my compatriots.

Thanks Ursual et al. Your information is very helpful indeed. Appenzell sounds great, but let me also ask if there are other scenic/enjoyable spots no more than 2 hrs from Zurich by train suitable for a daytrip?

Wes/Sally: Give me some time, please. It's past 10 p.m. here and almost time for the big sleep. Maybe I get some good ideas while asleep, ok? ;-) <BR>PS: Did you ever check out <BR>www.myswitzerland.ch <BR>The Lake of Constance area is one idea with the "Zeppelin" Museum in Friedrichshafen (Germany). <BR> <BR>What are you especially interested in? <BR>Just scenic spots and beautiful nature and mountains? There are a lot within 2 hours from Zurich, incidentally. <BR>What about the new great museums in Basel, like the Fondation Beyeler (www.beyeler.com) or the Tinguely Museum (www.tinguely.ch) <BR>Bye for now!

Sleep well Ursula! I can wait:) <BR> <BR>The reasons I mentioned "scenic" are that we will have been in two cities and I have never been to Switzerland before. I understand you have some very nice scenery :) <BR> <BR>Appenzeller sounds perfect -- culturally unique [I'm trying to avoid words like "quaint"] -- small, some local handcrafts and scenery. I normally am a big city/museum person, but I think I need to climb out of my rut -- so my main concern is how accessible in the early winter are a few sites of the Appenzeller "ilk" that are under 2 hours by train from Zurich. <BR> <BR>I did check the website, but didn't have time to more than look at Appenzeller.

Oh. my bad. APPENZELL.

It was great to read some of the posts above and learn that other people share my opinion of Appenzell. I haven't been there for about 30 years and am happy to learn that it has probably improved with age. I can't resist quoting a paragraph from my journal of our trip through the area: "The day was slightly overcast as we left but cleared up prior to our reaching Appenzell. The hillsides were a lush green which provided a beautiful background for the brown cows and the houses and barns which were polka-dotted from the deep valley floors to almost the tops of the many peaks which we saw. The farms appeared small; but apparently not much acreage is required to feed one cow since the grass grows so abundantly. Appenzell is obviously a center for a considerable amount of tourist traffic as evidenced byt he many souvenir shops and what I considered to be inflated prices."

Thank you all for all the info.

Alec: Romansch is not at all spoken in the canton of Appenzell but a Swiss German with a very particular accent. This is also the case in the Bernese Oberland and other mountain areas. In the German part of the canton Wallis, they also have a very strong accent like in Zermatt and the Lötschental. One cannot understand a word, but it is somehow German. <BR>Swiss Germans cannot understand the Romansch at all, unless they have been raised with both dialects and having family that moved out of Graubünden. <BR>Romansch is spoken in the canton of Graubünden, i.e. in the Engadin (St. Moritz, Celerina), the Surselva (Flims, Laax) and some other places like Arosa and the Münstertal. Graubünden is in the Southwest of Switzerland close to the Italian border. This just for your info.

Good day Ursula! I hope you slept well:) Any more ideas for me? *GRIN*