Appenzell · Schwägalp · Toggenburg Classic

Green hills, cheese villages and a pass that bites back in fog.

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Why this ride

Green hills, cheese villages and a pass that bites back in fog. Out of Rapperswil and back again: 170 km, roughly 3 h 16 in the saddle. The stops in between: Appenzell old town, Toggenburg flow road and Walensee line. The climb of the day is Schwägalp Säntis road. It tops out at 1,278 m. The passes are the reason to go.

Roadbook

1. Rapperswil lake bridge photo · 408 m

   The wooden bridge at Rapperswil is the kind of crossing that makes you slow down on purpose. It stretches across the upper end of Lake Zurich, a footbridge of oak planks on piles, rebuilt in the early 2000s on the line of a medieval predecessor, and it joins the old town of Rapperswil on the north shore to the village of Hurden on the south. Pilgrims on the Way of St James have walked across it for centuries, and the modern version makes no attempt to be anything but simple and beautiful.

   Rapperswil itself is called the town of roses, a title that comes from the rose gardens on the hill below the castle and the roses on the town's coat of arms. The castle, a rugged thing of towers and ramparts, rises above the harbour, and in the nineteenth century it became a home for Polish exiles, who set up a museum there that still tells the story of their country's struggle. The old town is a maze of cobbled lanes and arcades, with a long lakeside promenade where swans glide beside the walls.

   As a start or photo stop, it is hard to beat. Park the bike by the harbour and walk out on the bridge for the view: the lake spreading east and west, the Glarus Alps sharp in the distance on clear days, and the castle watching over the town. Sunrise and sunset are the best times, when the water turns copper and the light picks out the church spires. Rapperswil-Jona, with more than thirty thousand people in the joined municipalities, has plenty of fuel and food, so supplies are not a problem.

   The roads that leave from here head south over the Seedamm, a causeway with a long history as a crossing point, and then into the hills toward the Zürichsee's southern shore. Traffic in town can be heavy at weekends, especially in fine weather, when half of Zurich seems to head to the lake, so an early start gives you quiet streets and still water.

2. Appenzell old town food · 780 m

   Appenzell is a town that has kept hold of itself, and that is the first thing you notice when you ride in. Houses are painted in bright colours, with decorated gables and flower boxes, and the main street feels more like a village than a town of five and a half thousand. The canton it governs, Appenzell Innerrhoden, is the smallest in Switzerland by population, and it clings to traditions that others have dropped.

   The best known of them is the Landsgemeinde, held on the last Sunday in April, when citizens gather in the open square and vote by raising their hands. Men once wore swords to the meeting, and some still do as a ceremonial item. It is one of the last places in Europe where this form of direct democracy is practised in public, and there is something moving about a square full of people voting in the open air. Women gained the right to vote in the canton only in 1990, after a federal court ruling, a reminder that tradition can be a mixed blessing.

   For lunch, the local cheese is the thing. Appenzeller is a firm, aromatic cheese washed in a herbal brine whose recipe is a closely guarded secret, and it appears in everything from a sandwich to a baked dish with potatoes and onions. The sweet side is the Biberli, a gingerbread-like pastry filled with almond paste. The cafes in the old town serve both, and the pace is leisurely.

   Behind the town rises the Alpstein, a compact limestone massif with the Säntis as its high point, and the roads leading into it are rewarding: green hills dotted with farms, little villages with wooden shingled houses, and now and then a view of cliffs. Fuel is available in the town, which is large enough to have stations, and parking is easy at the edge of the pedestrian area. The weather can turn quickly, with cloud wrapping the peaks by early afternoon, so go early if you want the views.

3. Schwägalp Säntis road pass · 1278 m

   The Säntis is the high point of the Alpstein, 2,502 metres of limestone that rises almost out of nowhere above the rolling hills of eastern Switzerland. The road that gets you to its foot is the Schwägalp pass, which climbs from Urnäsch in Appenzell Ausserrhoden to a high saddle at 1,278 metres and then drops toward the Toggenburg. At the saddle, a cable car carries people up the last steep stretch to the summit in a few minutes, and a famous weather station sits at the top.

   That weather station has a long record and a short temper. The summit is exposed to everything the north can throw, and winter storms have buffeted the building and the tower for generations. On clear days, the view takes in six countries, according to the local boast: Switzerland, Germany, Austria, Liechtenstein, France and Italy. You do not need to go to the top to feel the mountain's presence, though, because from the pass the north face looms above the meadows like a wall.

   The ride is the main event for many. Coming from Urnäsch, the road climbs steadily through pasture and spruce, with a mix of tight bends and relaxed stretches, and the surface is generally good. Cattle roam in the high meadows, and the clank of their bells carries on the wind. Plan on Appenzell or Urnäsch, and fill up before the climb.

   In summer the pass is busy on weekends, with cyclists, motorbikes and sightseers, and the car park by the cable car fills early. Weather is the other variable. The Säntis creates its own, and a morning of sun can turn to cloud by noon. In winter the road is generally kept open, but snow and ice can make it tricky, and the north-facing hairpins stay in shadow. A clear autumn morning, with the first snow on the summit and the meadows still green, is the best of all.

4. Toggenburg flow road scenic · 800 m

   Toggenburg is a long valley in eastern Switzerland, carved by the young Thur river, and it is a landscape of soft green hills with steep stone walls above. The road here runs from Wildhaus, high up at the head of the valley, toward Gams and the Rhine plain, and it has a flowing quality that has earned it a name among riders: long, open bends, gentle gradients and hardly any need to touch the brakes.

   On one side, the Churfirsten range stands like a row of teeth, seven peaks with sheer faces to the south, rising above a rolling skirt of pasture. On the other, the Alpstein and the Säntis fill the horizon. The road passes between them, and it is the sort of place where every curve opens a new composition of grass, cliff and cloud. In May, the meadows are full of flowers, and in autumn the cows come down from the high pastures wearing garlands, in a tradition that draws crowds to nearby villages.

   Wildhaus is best known as the birthplace of Huldrych Zwingli, the reformer who preached in Zurich and shaped the Swiss Protestant church; he was born there on New Year's Day in 1484, in a wooden farmhouse that still stands. The valley has a strong musical tradition too: yodelling, folk dance and a distinctive local sound that is celebrated in a themed walking trail. It is a place that likes to sing.

   Practical matters are simple. Walenstadt, with about five thousand people, is the closest town of size, and it has fuel and food. Wildhaus itself has small shops and cafes, and there are a few modest hotels. Winters are cold and snowy, with a ski season, and the road is kept open, but ice can linger at the bends. Summer mornings are the best, when the air is clear, the grass is wet and the light touches the Churfirsten face by face.

5. Walensee photo line photo · 419 m

   The Walensee is one of the most dramatic lakes in Switzerland, and one of the least visited. It lies in a trench between the Churfirsten range to the north and the Glarus Alps to the south, a long narrow lake of intense green, with cliffs that fall almost vertically into the water. The photograph is the Churfirsten wall reflected in the surface on a still morning, seven jagged peaks mirrored in the lake.

   The lake is about fifteen kilometres long and around a hundred and fifty metres deep at its deepest, and the cliffs on the northern shore are so steep that for a long stretch no road runs there at all. The hamlet of Quinten, on the north shore, can only be reached by boat or on foot, which gives it an air of seclusion, and a mild microclimate that allows figs and grapes to grow. Along the southern shore runs the busy motorway and the railway, tucked into tunnels and ledges, with the old road beside them.

   For riders, the good road is the one that climbs from Walenstadt toward Amden, a village on a terrace high above the lake, with outstanding views down to the water. The corners are tight at first and then open out, and the lookout points come up quickly, so slow down and pick your stop. Another approach is from the Weesen end, on the western side, where the road sits close to the water and the cliffs hang overhead.

   Fuel and food are in Walenstadt, a town of five thousand at the eastern end, which has a lakeside promenade and a few good cafes. The weather on the lake is changeable, with strong winds funnelling along the trench, and the Föhn can blow hard in spring and autumn, making the air startlingly clear and the water choppy. Early morning and the evening are the best times to photograph, before the haze builds or when the sun has dropped behind the ridge.

6. Back to Rapperswil finish · 408 m

   Rapperswil sits at the eastern end of Lake Zürich, where a long wooden footbridge crosses the water to Hurden on the far shore, and it calls itself the Rose Town for the thousands of rose bushes that bloom in the gardens beside its castle. The old town climbs a small hill capped by a medieval castle with three towers, and its lanes are a mix of arcaded houses, small squares and lakeside terraces, with a view over the lake to the mountains. The lake here is about four hundred metres above sea level, and the air feels mild and soft.

   The castle has a curious history. In the nineteenth century, Polish exiles who had fled their country after the failed uprisings of the 1830s and 1860s made Rapperswil their home, and in 1870 they founded a Polish National Museum in the castle, which housed Poland's treasures during the years when the country did not exist as a state. The collection returned to Warsaw in 1927. A column in the castle courtyard and a small museum still recall the connection, and the town has retained a quiet affection for Poland.

   The wooden bridge across the lake, the Holzsteg, is a pilgrim path as well, part of the Way of St James that leads from the east of Europe to Santiago, and the original crossing dates back centuries. In recent times it has been rebuilt for walkers and cyclists, and the stroll across it at sunset is one of the nicest things to do in the area. The Seedamm, an embankment carrying the road and railway, runs alongside it.

   For riders, Rapperswil is a gateway to the quiet hills of the Zürich Oberland and the Linth plain. The main roads around the lake are busy, but the lanes up toward Pfäffikon and the Etzel, or north toward Hombrechtikon, offer gentle bends, farmland and views of the lake. Rapperswil-Jona has over thirty thousand people, so fuel, cafés and shops are never far away, and parking for motorcycles is available near the old town.

   Visit the Kinderzoo, the zoo founded by the Knie circus family, which keeps elephants and sea lions that spend winters here. A rose-garden stroll in June and a lake-side coffee are all you really need.

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