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We've compiled the best of the best in Eastern Switzerland - browse our top choices for the top things to see or do during your stay.
The 492-foot wide falls drop some 75 feet in a series of three dramatic leaps and is split at the center by a bushy crag straight out of a 19th-century landscape painting. The effect—mist, roaring water, jutting rocks—is positively Wagnerian. Goethe saw in the falls the "ocean's source," although today's jaded globe-trotters have been known to find them "cute." A visitor center at the nearby Schloss Laufen includes a souvenir shop, restaurant, playground, and new bridge walkway that lets you see, hear, and get sprayed by the falls.
A 30-minute walk up the steep Mülenenschlucht takes you past the mossy Steinach Gorge, where St. Gallus allegedly befriended a bear in 612. To commemorate St. Gallus's 1,400th birthday in 2012, the city installed a public art exhibit here that includes a self-opening time capsule embedded in a river rock (by German artist Maria Eichhorn) and a haunting neon sign atop the gorge's railroad viaduct (by Welsh artist Bethen Hews). There isn't much signage along the gorge, so pick up a helpful audio guide from the tourist office.
Modern cheese-making methods are demonstrated at the Schaukäserei, a combination of a factory and a museum. Cheese is made until 3. A self-guided tour (free with the Appenzell Card) reveals the history of the local cheese, and a movie about the region is a surefire way to whet your appetite. The attached restaurant is one of the best places to sample some traditional dishes made with Appenzeller cheese, including a silky cheese soup, gooey fondues and raclettes (melted cheese served with small potatoes in their skins, pickled pearl onions, and gherkins), and a savory Chääsflade (cheese pie). A playground keeps children happy, too.
Native-born artist Pipilotti Rist's Stadtlounge, created with artist Carlos Martinez, is a public artwork project that has bathed an entire chunk of the city center under a coat of red paint, creating what they call a "red-carpet effect." It has transformed the neighborhood into a sultry "public living room" and has been so successful, it has been enlarged.
