Some locations can be a stone’s throw away from where we live and we can still miss it! This is exactly how I felt about Seealpsee. I had this beautiful lake bookmarked in my browser for the longest time. However, since the lake was in Switzerland, I just assumed that the drive would not be feasible as a day trip. One fine morning, I looked this lake up on google maps and voila! Turns out it was merely a ninety minute drive from a friend’s place. As fate would have it, we were both bundled up in snow pants and mufflers a few days later and were making our way to the infamous Seealpsee in Appenzell.
Having seen the lake in all its frozen glory, I can confirm that this spot is as gorgeous as instagram claims it to be. In fact it is even prettier in real life and definitely deserves multiple visits!
Contents
- Why Seealpsee?
- Getting to Seealpsee
- Public Transportation
- Car/Motorbike
- Hike to Seealpsee
- Best time to visit Seealpsee
- Things to know about Seealpsee
- Costs
- Transportation
- Food
- My Seealpsee experience
- Ready, Set, Go!
Why Seealpsee?
Most of the hikes that I have posted in my blog so far are not particularly chill affairs. They consist of long arduous climbs followed by multiple segments of huffing and puffing. This may not be appealing to someone who loves being outdoors but is incapable of putting in the work to scale a massive altitude variation. This is where Seealpsee comes in. Seealpsee is the perfect hike if you want to soak in the beauty of the Alps without the drama. It is merely an hour from the parking lot and is the perfect beginner hike!
However, if you feel motivated enough to do a summit hike in winter, I suggest ascending Rotwand. The view over the snow capped Mangfall Ranges from its summit is stunning.
Getting to Seealpsee
This hike is best done as a day trip from southern Germany if you have a car. Without a car, it can be quite difficult to get to Seealpsee as you will be required to change trains at least 3-4 times! Moreover, there is no option of using a Bayern Ticket or Baden Wüttermberg Ticket which makes this whole journey quite expensive.
By Public Transportation
Seealpsee is located in the Appenzell Region of Switzerland. Therefore, getting here with public transportation is possible with the Appenzeller Railway network. The trail head of the hike is just a few metres from Ebenalp Cable Car valley station. To get here, hop on a train to Wasserauen. Trains to Wasserauen run regularly from St. Gallen, Altstätten or Gossau. More information regarding the train schedules can be found here (The arrival station must be mentioned as ‘Wasserauen’).
Using public transportation to reach Seealpsee can be quite time consuming and expensive. Therefore, I would only recommend opting for public transportation options if you are either close to St. Gallen or Chur in Switzerland or already have the Swiss travel pass and don’t mind the long rides. Nevertheless, train rides in Switzerland are renowned for its mighty alpine views and this one doesn’t disappoint in the slightest!
By Car/Motorbike
If you would rather drive to the starting point of the hike, put these GPS co-ordinates in your navigation device and you are good to go! The co-ordinates correspond to a parking lot close to Wasserauen train station which is also the trailhead of this hike. The drive time from a few nearby cities in the absence of traffic jams are given below,
- Lindau to Wasserauen – 1 hour
- Friedrichshafen to Wasserauen – 90 minutes
- St. Gallen to Wasserauen – 30 minutes
- Chur to Wassaerauen – 1 hour
- Zürich to Wasserauen – 90 minutes
Hike to Seealpsee
Trailhead : Link
There are two trails from the trailhead (870m) to Seealpsee (1143m),
- Option 1 – Trail that heads to the left from Ebenalp Cable Car Valley Station with steep zig zag ascents leading to the right most bank of the lake
- Option 2 – Trail that heads straight down the road from the parking lot, gradually increasing in altitude leading to the northern bank of the lake
Both of these trails start at the same point. I opted to ascend one way and descend the other for a varied hiking experience and would highly recommend you do the same. Alternatively, you can also opt to ascend and descend the same way. If you are complteley new to the world of hiking, I highly recommend reading my beginner’s guide to alpine hiking before attempting this hike!
When I visited Seealpsee, I chose Option 1 for the ascent and returned via Option 2. In my experience, the former felt more like an actual hike as the trail traverses through thicker vegetation. When compared to the second option which was simply just an asphalt road with a slight altitude variation from the valley station of Ebenalp to Seealpse , the path I chose definitely felt closer to nature!
As mentioned earlier, this is a very easy hike and the total ascent only takes about an hour with an altitude difference of just 300 metres. However, if you like me decide to stop on the way to take pictures or just soak in the beauty of nature from time to time, add in an extra thirty minutes! I highly recommend the walk around the lake itself which will get you to the other side of Seealpsee and consequently to the second trail that will lead back to Wasserauen. The entire hike (i.e., the ascent and the descent) takes anywhere between two to three hours.
Best time to visit Seealpsee
Although summer is the golden time for hiking in Europe, this hike is an all-weather hike. As the area around Seealpsee is a very popular with those with a penchant for winter sports, this trail is maintained all year around. Moreover, the easy nature of this hike makes it a perfect choice if you want to experience outdoors in the winter! I hiked during winter and saw the lake in all its frozen glory. Although it was breathtaking in its own unique way, I saw some pictures of the lake in summer and it looks like a whole different world! Tthe summer child in me will definitely re-visit once the snow melts and the flowers bloom. Therefore, in my opinon, Seealpsee is one of these places that warrants at least two visits, i.e., once in the peak of summer and once in the heart fo winter!
Things to know about Seealpsee
- There is a restaurant by the banks of Seealpsee, Berggastaus Seealpsee, where authentic local cuisine is served. Thus, it is not required to carry a lot of food for this hike. However, this restaurant is closed during the winter months.
- It is possible to fly a drone over Seealpsee and in the immediate regions around it. However, there is a federal park reserve very close to the lake. Flying a drone over this park is strictly prohibited! The image below clearly shows the prohibited area with respect to the location of Seealpsee.
- If you want to continue hiking, there are several hiking trails from Seealpsee. A few of these trails take you to Säntis, the massive mountain right behind Seealpsee. The trails to Santis are only for experienced hikers during the summer months. Another famous trail from Seealpsee leads to Aescher Gasthaus which is a very popular Instagram spot. Similar to Säntis, this trail is also not maintained during winter! My hiking buddy and I tried to carve our way through the snow and gave up two – thirds of the way into the hike. However, we did manage to find an ice pickle abandoned in the snow so the effort was not completely fruitless!
- If done as a day trip from Germany, this hike involves two border crossings (Germany to Austria and Austria to Switzerland). Since we are in the middle of a global pandemic, it is important to be updated regarding the entry and exit regulations at the border! More information regarding corona regulations can be found here.
Costs
Transportation
Unfortunately, the Bayern ticket is not an option for this hike. Thus, the costs involved to get here using public transportation are a bit on the higher side. A round trip ticket from Lindau to Wasserauen costs about 80 EUR per person. If you are traveling from Oberstdorf, a round trip ticket costs close to 130 EUR. Therefore, in case you don’t own a car, I would highly recommend either renting a car for a day with a few buddies and splitting the travel costs or convincing one of your friends with a car to travel with you and splitting the fuel costs!
Naturally, the fuel costs would heavily depend on the type of car, the fuel rates on that day and most importantly, the starting point of the trip. Nevertheless, to give you a rough idea, the fuel costs from Lindau was about 30 EUR for me!
Food
If you are planning to dine at Berggasthof Seealpsee, a meal with a drink of choice would cost you approximately 20 EUR. Apart from this meal, I would also expect some expenses for snacks! I typically get trail mixes, snickers and banana. The snack costs for two people from a decent supermarket would be around 10 to 20 EUR. If you need some insight regarding the kind of snacks to buy for a hike, the ‘smart snacks’ section of this blogpost should give you a fairly good idea!
My Seealpsee Experience
I visited Seealpsee in January 2022. In fact, it was my first international outing of 2022. Initially, my friends and I had planned to go sledding in Allgäu that weekend but due to an unforeseen change of plans, we headed to Seealpsee instead. With corona regulations breathing down our necks, random checks were rampant at the Swiss border. Unfortunately, due to the sudden nature of this plan, I hadn’t carried my passport with me. You would think that all the spontaneity that I had managed to inject in my life over the years would at least teach me this lesson, but turns out I am more forgetful than a goldfish can ever be! Thus, despite having my vaccination certificates and negative test, my nerves during the first part of the trip were at an all time high.
Winter Hiking Experience
Since Fortuna was on our side and we ended up having a seamless entry into Switzerland. Shortly after, we swapped our comfortably heated car for sub zero temperatures and trudged our way through winter wonderland. Although I made a few detours to play with the powdered snow, freezing my fingers off in the process, the hike to Seealpsee was very easy and largely uneventful.
When we finally reached Seealpsee, the lake was frozen. We had a small picnic by the frozen lake, goofed around, took a couple of photos and once the cold started to freeze us too, we turned around. Not to the car, but on the trail to Aescher Gasthaus. However, this trail was closed for winter. Being the imbeciles that we are, we made a snap decision to carve a path through the snow to the Gasthaus. Although this plan sounds plausible, there was absolutely no trace of the original trail. Nevertheless, we plodded our way through the snow. After about an hour, we were faced with a giant rocky wall. Clearly, at some point, we had deviated from the original path unknowingly and headed the wrong way. Coupled with dwindling daylight, the odds were against us and finally, we decided to turn around once and for all.
To summarise, the first trip of 2022 was definitely one for the books and had just the amount of spark that will hopefully set the right tone for this new year 🙂
Ready, set, go!
Seealpsee is gorgeous. It is the perfect beginner hike and can be done all round the year. Therefore, if you are in need of an outdoor pill to flush the toxins off your system, head to Seealpsee and experience the magic of this beautiful place. I promise you, the crisp mountain air will leave you rejuvenated and coming back for more!
Before you embark on your hiking adventure, I highly recommend skimming through my mountain hiking guide for an unparalleled overview on alpine hiking. Moreover, this blog post also lists all the equipment required to conquer an alpine hike.
If you are looking for another hiking experience, I cannot recommend the following hikes enough:
- Schrecksee – The highest mountain lake in the German Alps
- Archenkanzel – Hidden viewpoint over lake Königssee
- Rubihorn – A complete Allgäu Experience with postcard views
- Rotwand – An easy beginner appropriate summit hike
- Olpererhütte – Austria’s best kept secret view
- Kramerspitz – The perfect day hike from Munich
Have any questions about hiking Seealpsee? Leave them in the comments below!
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