Easter in Toggenburg: spring between snow and meadow

Easter reaches Toggenburg at a time when two seasons sit side by side. Up on the Churfirsten and the Chäserrugg the snow is still holding, while down in the valley the meadow in front of the house is already turning green. For families that is a good starting point: hide eggs in the grass in the morning, then head out in the afternoon and see how far down the winter still reaches. We, Isabel and Sandro, rent out two holiday apartments in the same house in Alt St. Johann, separately or together. Over the Easter days, when the group is bigger than usual, that makes a lot of things easier.

Two seasons in a single day

Alt St. Johann sits in the upper Toggenburg valley in the canton of St. Gallen, around an hour from Zurich. The Churfirsten, the Schafberg, the Säntis and the Chäserrugg stand around the village, and it is exactly that difference in altitude that makes spring here interesting. While you are sitting in the sun on the terrace, winter is still in place further up.

In practice that means packing for both. Light shoes and a rain jacket for the valley, warm layers and proper boots for higher ground. The weather can change within a day in these weeks, and if you have both with you there is nothing to replan: you simply look out of the window in the morning and decide where to go.

An egg hunt on the meadow

There is meadow right in front of the house, and an egg hunt does not need much more than that. The children can set off straight from the door without anyone getting into a car first, and you keep an eye on things from your seat outside. Each apartment comes with a parking space, and the village shop and bus stop are two minutes on foot if something is still missing.

If it rains, the hunt moves indoors. Both apartments have a children’s play corner, a table football and a smart TV with Netflix, Disney+ and replay. A travel cot and a high chair are here, so you do not have to bring them. And because both kitchens are fully equipped, you can take your time over Easter breakfast at your own pace.

Room for a large family

Louisa’s Loft is on the ground floor, measures around 85 m² and sleeps up to six guests: two bedrooms, a sofa bed, one bathroom, plus the additional room called Schafberg-Chalet on the upper floor. It has its own outdoor hot tub. From CHF 110 per night, plus final cleaning and visitor’s tax.

Louisa’s Gallery is the apartment with a gallery level, around 106 m² for up to six guests, with two bedrooms, a sofa bed, one bathroom with a bathtub and a gallery floor with table tennis and a work space. The large outdoor hot tub takes up to five people. From CHF 130 per night, plus final cleaning and visitor’s tax.

When everyone comes together at Easter, grandparents, parents and children, you can take the whole house: up to twelve guests, two hot tubs, two kitchens, two terraces, from CHF 280 per night, plus final cleaning and visitor’s tax. Every party keeps its own retreat, and you are still only one staircase apart. For a family reunion that is, in our experience, the most relaxed way to do it, because nobody has to drive anywhere at the end of the evening.

Out in the afternoon, in warm water in the evening

Once the eggs are found, the afternoon is open. Walking in the valley works well early in the year, while higher up there can still be snow depending on the spot. So it pays to choose the route by altitude rather than by length. We have collected some ideas in our post on hiking in Toggenburg. If you like a destination with water, the Schwendisee and Gräppelensee are two mountain lakes nearby. And if you would rather take the cable car up, read about the summit restaurant on the Chäserrugg.

Back at the house the outdoor hot tub is waiting, and it makes you forget tired legs surprisingly fast. For the evening after that, both apartments have a fondue set and a raclette set. A washing machine and a dryer take care of the wet clothes that days like this reliably produce. Lou, our mini Australian shepherd, is the one the house is named after, and dogs are welcome here: CHF 40 in the Loft, CHF 50 in the Gallery. Everything else on that is in our post about holidays with a dog in Toggenburg.

Arriving without a key handover

The journey takes around an hour from Zurich, and check-in works on your own with a numeric code. So you arrive whenever it suits you, even if the drive with children took longer than planned. There is high-speed WiFi, in case someone in the group still has something to finish or the children want a film in the evening.

Our house is the historic SutterSport building at Hauptstrasse 36. On Airbnb we are at 5.0 from 16 reviews and hold Guest Favourite status. For the big group, the whole house is the answer; for a smaller one, either the Loft or the Gallery is plenty. And if the weather over Easter does not play along, the Klangwelt Toggenburg is a good plan B under a roof.

Easter in Toggenburg is rarely a festival with a programme from morning to night. It is more like a long breakfast, a meadow full of children, a walk in the afternoon and everyone around one table in the evening. That is what we set this house up for, and it is what we look forward to every year.