Eastern Switzerland: Places to Explore

Isolated from St. Gallen by a ridge of green hills, Appenzell is one of Switzerland's quieter regions. Fellow Swiss think of its people as hillbillies, citing their quirky sense of humor and old-fashioned... Read more

East of Stein-am-Rhein the Rhine opens up into the Untersee, the lower branch of the Bodensee. In its center lies the German island of Reichenau. Charles the Fat, great-grandson of Charlemagne, is buried... Read more

Known in English as Lake Constance, the Bodensee is about 65 km (40 mi) long and 15 km (9 mi) wide, making it second in size in Switzerland only to Lac Léman (Lake Geneva). The strong German flavor... Read more

The village of Gottlieben has a Dominican monastery-castle, where the Protestant reformers Jan Hus and Jerome of Prague were imprisoned in the 15th century by order of Emperor Sigismund and Antipope John... Read more

The German city of Konstanz, with its Swiss-side twin of Kreuzlingen, dominates the straits that open into the Bodensee. Though Kreuzlingen itself offers little of interest to travelers, Konstanz has a... Read more

Adjacent to Neuhausen, on the north bank of the Rhine, a series of magnificent waterfalls powers the city's industry (arms, railroad cars, aluminum).... Read more

A city of about 74,000, Schaffhausen was from the early Middle Ages on an important depot for river cargoes, which—because of the rapids and waterfall farther along—had to be unloaded there... Read more

Switzerland's largest eastern city, bustling St. Gallen is dominated by students during the school year. The narrow streets of the Altstadt (Old Town) are flanked by a wonderful variety of boutiques and... Read more

Stein-am-Rhein, a nearly perfectly preserved medieval village and one of Switzerland's loveliest towns, lies at the point where the Rhine leaves the Bodensee. Crossing the bridge over the river, you see... Read more

Between Liechtenstein and Zürich, the spectacular, mirrorlike lake called the Walensee is a deep emerald gash that stretches 16 km (10 mi) through the mountains, reflecting the jagged Churfirsten... Read more