SWISS ALPS

DATES

Konstanz - Säntis 2502m
summits/ frontiers/ green hills

Today's tour takes us around the Alpstein, a subgroup of the Appenzell Alps in Switzerland and a mystical mountain range in eastern Switzerland. We will travel through four countries including three Swiss cantons to the peak of the Säntis, the highest of the Lake Constance mountains. As usual, we embark our route at Roaders House and pass the German/Swiss boarder heading south. Soon we see our first stopover on the horizon, the 2502 meter high Säntis, the center of the Alpstein range. Enjoying sweeping curves we close the distance to the charming Thurgauer and Appenzeller hills. At our highest reachable point, we stop for a refreshment at the Schägalppass at the foot of the Säntis mountain railway at an altitude of 1278 meters, a popular and well known meeting point for swiss bikers. Here we can observe the railway and the climbers acsending the impressively steep walls of the Säntis. With the Säntis at our backs we continue along the Churfirsten range towards the east. The distinctive sillouhette of the Churfirsten is a chain of relatively young limestone elevations and are a landmark of the Toggenburg region. Further along the Rhein valley, a bequeathment of the Rhein glaciers, we reach our lunchtime destination of Liechtenstein. Now in Austria, we take a northwestern direction to cruise back towards the sparsely populated swiss Appenzell (women recieved the right to vote here as late as 1991!). Along with our afternoon coffee break we can enjoy the added bonus of a view of five states in three countries at once, an unforgettable vantage point high above southernmost banks of Lake Constance near the town of Rorschach. Which 5 states? Germany's Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria; Vorarlberg (Austria) and St.Gallen and Thurgau in Switzerland. With Lake Constance to the right of our throttle we bear towards the Roaders House to wind down from the days exiting picture-postcard enchantment.

Own bikes? No problem, just inquire!

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