Aescher Cliff Inn and Restaurant

by Mel Nov 6, 2021 | 0 Votes | 81 Recommend | 0 Reviews

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Hotels , Restaurants Berggasthaus Aescher – Wildkirchli (Aescher – Wildkirchli Mountain Inn) or the Aescher Guesthouse is one of the oldest mountain guest houses in the Swiss Alps that is famously built on the side of a cliff. A restaurant that also offers overnight accommodations, the Aescher can only be reached by cable car or hike.
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Where is it?

Berggasthaus Aescher – Wildkirchli is located at Aescher 1, Schwende 9057 Switzerland. The only way to get there is via the village of Wasserauen, which serves as the starting point for hikes to the Aescher, Wildkirchli, Lake Seealpsee, Ebenalp, and Säntis. You can reach Wasserauen either by train through the Gossau – Appenzell – Wasserauen railway line of the Appenzeller Bahnen or by car.

From the Wasserauen train station, it is just a 2-minute walk to the Ebenalpbahn or Ebenalp Cable Car. If you drive in, you can park near the cable car or in the parking lot across the street. The cable car leaves every 15 minutes and costs CHF 22/USD $24 (single ticket) or CHF 34/USD $37 (roundtrip). After the short, 6-minute ride to the top, it’s a relatively easy 15 to 20-minute walk down and around the mountain to the Berggasthaus Aescher. Just take a right out of the Ebenalpbahn terminal and start heading down the hill following the signs for Aescher Wildkirchli.

Alternatively, hikers can take the more traditional route of old from Wasserauen and hike up a moderately challenging mountain trail to Lake Seealpsee (a 2h 30min hike) to the Aescher. The climb from the Number 8 Wasserauen-Ebenalp trail offers spectacular views of the rolling Appenzell countryside. After an initial climb, you reach picturesque Lake Seealpsee with the majestic Säntis in the background. Just before you hit the lake, turn right to start the ascent towards the Aescher via a small narrow path that climbs steeply through a forest until you reach your destination in around an hour. In total, if you choose to hike from Wasserauen to Aescher, expect a journey of up to 3 hours and 30 minutes.

Rooms and Services

Up until 2018, the Aescher Guesthouse (then called the Aescher Hotel) did not offer any restaurant reservations ahead of time. Tables were on a first-come, first-serve basis. When the popularity of the Aescher exploded post-National Geographic cover feature and huge crowds of tourists started clogging the trails waiting to get a table or room at the inn, the owners decided to close the Aescher for a year. It reopened in Spring 2019 under new management solely as a restaurant without accepting overnight guests.

Today, after delays caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, the Aescher is now accepting overnight guests through online reservations in their newly renovated and managed guest rooms and lodge.

Spend the night alone or with your whole family or friends at the Aescher and experience living like the hermits of yore. In the morning, you'll be served a delicious breakfast, which you can enjoy on the terrace with the gorgeous mountain panorama as your backdrop.

Available accommodations at the original restaurant’s upper floors include their Four-bed Room with duvet, pillows, sheets and wool blankets for CHF 115 (USD $126); and Group Room for 6-15 persons with sleeping bags, pillows, sheets and wool blankets (price on request, varies according to group size). All prices are per person and night, including breakfast, excluding visitor's tax.

Alternatively, you can stay overnight at the Aescher’s new Hermit Lodge, which is situated along the way from the Aescher restaurant and the famous Wildkirchli church—about a 10-minute walk away. The charming little wood cabin features a rustic, but comfy double bed with provided duvet, pillows, and wool blanket; plus, a bench and table for the ultimate hermit living experience. Price is 138 CHF per person, including a welcome drink and breakfast at Aescher.

Take note: Water and plumbing is a precious commodity on the Aescher because they don't get their water from a "normal" water pipe, rather from their own reservoir in the Wildkirchli cave which is fed by rainwater. Whether you book a room at the restaurant or at the Hermit Lodge, at night, you can use the toilets and sinks at Aescher. For bathing, however, the Aescher recommends taking a shower at one of the guesthouses at Lake Seealpsee – or take a dip in the lake itself! The common bathrooms at these guesthouses are open for use by hikers and you will be given a token to access them for a couple of minutes only (to conserve water).

Amenities and extras

Now managed by Swiss restaurant and events agency Pfefferbeere AG, the Aescher and the restaurant’s new menu puts a modern spin on local Appenzell specialties and traditions. Working closely with local producers, the Aescher’s menu retains the culinary and cultural heritage of the Alps by emphasizing ingredients which had the unfair reputation of being humble folk food, and using them in a creative, bold, post-modern tweaking of classic Swiss fare. Take, for example, Ribelmais (a special type of ground maize) from the Rhine Valley with which the Aescher prepares their own take of Buttermilk Bramata with local goat’s cheese, nettle pesto and beetroot vegetables.

Other recommended Aescher specialties include:

Aescher Breakfast of Appenzeller cheese and air dried meat produced in Appenzell,
cold-smoked sausage tartar, dark bread, butter, jam, cave yoghurt, homemade fruit bread
and cheese tart and one drink.

Aescher-Becki, a beef ragout with root vegetables and potatoes.

Traditional Appenzell Gingerbread Ice Cream with plums served with whipped cream and thyme crumble.

And for the consummate Aescher experience (and trend-worthy Instagram photo)? Try taking your meal on the inn’s viewing deck which overhangs a 100-foot drop below!

What do guests say?

”Breathtaking View!”

”A Stunning View You Will Never Forget!”

Amazing! Just as good as it appears in pictures.”

Most dramatic and beautiful place to have coffee we've ever been to!”

Whether you’re a seasoned hiker/mountain climber taking the long way around or a bucket-lister tourist fast-tracking your way up via the Ebenalp cable car; the Aescher inn and restaurant is truly a worthy pinnacle to get to no matter what route you take. In everything from the majestic Alpstein peaks and the perilous cliff-side caves that housed cave bears, Neanderthals, and monks alike; to the happy Swiss cows grazing the hills and the hearty breakfasts to power up your hikes—the Aescher’s visitors are unanimous in agreeing with National Geographic in calling the place a ”Destination of a Lifetime”.

New Review Added: Aescher Cliff Inn and Restaurant

by Mel Nov 6, 2021

Berggasthaus Aescher – Wildkirchli (Aescher – Wildkirchli Mountain Inn) or the Aescher Guesthouse is one of the oldest mountain guest houses in the Swiss Alps that is famously built on the side of a cliff. A restaurant that also offers overnight accommodations, the Aescher can only be reached by cable car or hike.