Hiking the Alpine Panorama Trail – Stage 2 Trogen to Appenzell
Stage 2 of the Alpine Panorama Trail (Route 3) is a 13 km trail with 560 m ascent and 700 m descent that goes from Trogen to Appenzell. This beautiful hike has wonderful mountain views (alpine panoramas, one might say) and lots of cows. And at the end, is Appenzell, a charming touristy little town with painted houses, cute restaurants, quaint shops, cheese, and beer. This was a very enjoyable hike!
| Where: | Trogen to Appenzell Cantons Appenzell Ausserrhoden and Appenzell Innerrhoden, Switzerland |
| Train/Bus: | Zürich HB -> Trogen – 2 hrs 7 min Appenzell -> Zürich HB -1 hrs 51 min |
| What: | Alpine Panorama Trail – Stage 2 Trogen to Appenzell Yellow trail markers – Alpine Panorama Trail Route 3 |
| Skill: | Medium – About 4 hrs Length 13 km, Ascent 560 m, Descent 700 m |
Additional Info
Getting There
The Alpine Panorama Trail is best done with public transportation as each stage starts and ends at different points. This stage starts at Trogen. After we arrived at the Trogen train station, we retraced our steps to where we left the trail at the end of stage 1 near the center of town.
Once we found our trail sign, we were on our way. I had planned to spend a little time in Trogen, but there really wasn’t that much to see, so we just went on our way.
The Trail
After passing through the main town square, the trail begins a climb towards the Pestalozzi Children’s Village. Founded during World War II as a refuge for orphans, the village today continues as a non-profit organization (Pestalozzi Children’s Foundation) helping children from war-affected regions all over the world.
After passing the village, the trail continues the climb to Hohe Buche, passing through fields and forest.
After about and hour of hiking, we reached the Restaurant Hohe Buche, and as it was lunch time, we decided to stop. The restaurant serves typical Swiss food at typical Swiss prices. Nothing special. I didn’t even take a picture of the food as it was just french fries and bratwurst. The views are wonderful, though.
After leaving the restaurant, the trail really starts living up to the Alpine Panorama name. Absolutely beautiful!
And even more panorama views! and more cows!
When we reached the small town of Bühler, we picked up some plum jam at a self service farm store. I haven’t tried it yet, but it looks delicious.
After crossing a stream, the trail starts another hill climb. Very pretty farm country here.
More mountain views as we began the final descent into Appenzell. And, more cows, just being cows. We really needed to watch where we stepped on this trail.
I took a few more pictures as we crossed the farms before reaching Appenzell.
When we reached Appenzell, we took some time to admire the painted houses and to stroll through town to do some window shopping.
There are quite a few shops and restaurants in Appenzell, so it is a great place to end a hike.
Getting Back
We had originally planned to get dinner in Appenzell before heading home, but it was a bit too early. Instead, we decided to just get gelato. My husband got Spaghettieis – vanilla gelato pressed through a ricer so it is squiggly looking and then topped with strawberry sauce and white chocolate flakes so it looks like spaghetti with tomato sauce and parmesan cheese. Silly, but tasty!
Stage 2 was a great hike and I’m really liking trail 3 so far! I’m so glad we decided to start this trail.
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