Toggenburg day trips: the best excursions by season

Anyone planning a first trip to the Toggenburg soon ends up with a long list: summits, mountain lakes, waterfalls, cheese, sound. We are Isabel and Sandro, we rent out two holiday apartments in Alt St. Johann, and this is the question our guests ask us most often: what is really worth it, and what suits which kind of day? So we have gathered the best excursions in the Toggenburg here, sorted by season and by who you are travelling with. For most of them we have written a detailed article, which we link to along the way.

The Toggenburg region at a glance

The Toggenburg is a valley region on the upper reaches of the River Thur in the canton of St. Gallen, right in Eastern Switzerland between the Churfirsten and the Säntis. In the upper Toggenburg, around Wildhaus and Alt St. Johann, the young Thur has its source and the landscape turns properly alpine. Toggenburg Tourismus calls this corner a high valley between the Churfirsten and the Alpstein. Further down the valley come Nesslau, Ebnat-Kappel and Lichtensteig, and the Neckertal belongs to the region as its second valley. For your planning, that means the big mountain excursions are at the top of the valley, exactly where our house is.

In summer: summits, mountain lakes and the Klangweg

Chäserrugg. The classic for your first clear day. From Unterwasser, a funicular takes you up to Iltios and a cable car carries you on to the Chäserrugg at 2,262 metres, where the summit building by Herzog & de Meuron stands. What the day up there looks like is in our article on the Chäserrugg and its summit restaurant.

Klangweg. Right in Alt St. Johann, the chairlift and gondola go up to the Alp Sellamatt. From there the Klangweg, a trail of sound, runs via Iltios down to Oberdorf, with 27 sound stations, rated easy and free of charge. The first stage, from the Sellamatt to Iltios, is 2.5 km, takes about 1.5 hours and is wheelchair-accessible. The trail is open each year until the end of October, and the lift timetables apply. More in our article on Klangwelt Toggenburg.

Mountain lakes. Above Wildhaus and Unterwasser, mountain lakes lie in a pre-alpine moorland. The Schwendisee is the easy-going one, the Gräppelensee the quiet one. Where you may swim and how to get there is in our piece on Schwendisee and Gräppelensee.

Säntis. At 2,502 metres it is the highest mountain in the Alpstein, and from Nesslau the PostBus runs up to the Schwägalp. The Säntis cable car is being renewed in 2026; according to the operator, the new cable car is expected to open on 17 and 18 December (as of late October 2026). Our article: Säntis, the king of Eastern Switzerland.

Days out in the Toggenburg with children

Thur waterfalls. From Unterwasser it is only a short walk until the Thur plunges around 23 metres. Little effort, lots of wonder, ideal for the day you arrive. Everything about the path: the Thur waterfalls in Unterwasser.

Photo: Toggenburg Tourismus

Schönenbodensee lido. The natural swimming lake in Wildhaus has a separate area for non-swimmers and children, rafts, pedalos for hire, a kiosk and a barbecue spot. Parking is right in front of the lido; by public transport, add a walk of about 30 minutes. More lakes for cooling off: swimming in the Toggenburg.

Along the Thur. Sometimes the river is all you need: at valley level, gentle paths follow the water. Our favourite spots for a riverside barbecue and a paddle are in Along the young Thur.

Neckertal treetop walk. Further down, in Mogelsberg in the Neckertal, the Baumwipfelpfad is a forest adventure trail with interactive stations about local wildlife and plants.

For hikers: from the Gräppelensee to the Saxerlücke

A lovely first hike links three highlights: from Unterwasser past the Thur waterfalls to the Gräppelensee and on to Alt St. Johann. According to wegwandern.ch, that is 8.9 km in about 3 hours with just over 500 metres of ascent and descent, grade T1, recommended from May to October. The route finishes in Alt St. Johann, right in our village.

The Saxerlücke in the Alpstein is a different matter. You start with the cable car from Frümsen in the Rhine Valley up to Staubern, which climbs 1,250 metres in under eight minutes and runs on solar power and batteries. The long version down to Brülisau is graded T2, and a sure foot and a head for heights are essential. The full route: hiking the Saxerlücke. Hikes of every length are in our overview Hiking in the Toggenburg.

Food and drink: cheese, summit cuisine and good local inns

The Toggenburg is cheese country. In Lichtensteig you will find Willi Schmid’s Städtlichäsi, whose story we tell in Willi Schmid and the Cheese Valley. For eating out, from the cosy village inn to the special-occasion table, we have collected our addresses in Eating out in the Toggenburg. And the Chäserrugg is a destination for food lovers too: today’s summit restaurant was added as a new part of the building in 2015.

When it rains: sound under a roof

On rainy days, the Klangschmiede in Alt St. Johann is our first suggestion. It sits right on the Thur in a traditional Toggenburg house. You explore sound in themed rooms, watch the smith forge cowbells, or make your own bell on a course. It is open Wednesday to Sunday, and in November and December 2026 only Wednesday to Saturday. Access via the Mühle/Sonnenhalbstrasse bridge is closed for construction work (as of late October 2026), and a diversion is signposted. The Klanghaus at the Schwendisee is open for guided tours, concerts and courses; public tours take place on Sunday afternoons and are limited to 25 people. Current times and tickets are on the Klangwelt Toggenburg website.

In autumn and winter

In autumn the animals and herders come back down from the alpine pastures, and then the villages hold their cattle shows, where the finest cows of each community are paraded. How a show day unfolds is in Alpine descent and cattle shows in the Toggenburg. For golden hiking days read Autumn in the Toggenburg, and when the lowlands sit under a blanket of fog, see Above the sea of fog. Keep an eye on the lift seasons in late autumn: at the Chäserrugg, the 2026 summer season runs from 1 May to 1 November, while the Sellamatt lift ran until 18 October.

In winter the same slopes become a snow sports area with pistes, cross-country trails and quiet winter walking paths. With the Chäserrugg winter pass you can ski, toboggan and go winter walking. For winter 2026/27, weekend operation is possible from 21 November if conditions are good; the Chäserrugg lifts run daily from 19 December 2026 to 4 April 2027, and the Sellamatt lift until 29 March 2027. What a ski day with us looks like is in our article on the Chäserrugg ski area.

Planning your Toggenburg trip: getting here, how long, where to stay

By car. The Toggenburg lift company reckons on about 60 minutes from Zürich to the Chäserrugg area, whose valley stations are in Unterwasser and Alt St. Johann. One possible route runs via Wil and Wattwil and along main road 16 through Nesslau.

By train and PostBus. A timetable search for a weekday morning in November 2026 gives about 1 hour 45 minutes from Zürich HB to the stop Alt St. Johann, Dorf: via Rapperswil to Wattwil, then the final leg on PostBus line 790. From St. Gallen it takes just over an hour to just under 1 hour 15 minutes, also via Wattwil. Locally, mybuxi supplements the bus in the Wildhaus-Alt St. Johann and Nesslau area, on demand between 6.30 am and 12.30 am (as of October 2026). More in Toggenburg without a car.

How long to stay? A long weekend is enough for a first impression: one summit day, one day by the water, one slow morning. If you want to combine hiking, lakes and a rainy day of sound, plan four to seven nights, which leaves room for the weather. Our rule of thumb: one big day up high, and the days in between are allowed to be slow.

Where to stay? For excursions in the upper Toggenburg, Alt St. Johann makes a good base. The Sellamatt lift starts in the village, the Chäserrugg lift in the neighbouring village of Unterwasser, and the PostBus connects you with Wildhaus and Nesslau. Our home is the historic SutterSport building at Hauptstrasse 36, with two holiday apartments: Louisa’s Loft for up to 6 guests with its own hot tub, and Louisa’s Gallery for up to 6 guests with the larger hot tub. Together you can book them as the whole house for up to 12 guests. And if you are still torn between the Toggenburg and Appenzell: Toggenburg instead of Appenzell.

We would love for you to discover your own Toggenburg from our house, one excursion at a time.