Seealpsee, the five-franc boat and the Säntis reflection
A glassy alpine lake below the Säntis, an hour above Wasserauen. You rent a little rowing boat for five francs, row out into the reflection, and get an angle the shoreline never gives you. My favourite easy spot in the Alpstein.
Getting there
Train to Wasserauen, the end of the line behind Appenzell. From the station a paved path climbs straight up to the lake, steep enough that you feel it, about an hour at a normal pace1. Nothing technical, I rate the spot easy.
The way I usually do it: as the descent from the Schäfler. Down past the Äscher, the famous guesthouse in the cliff, then keep going on the signposted trail to Seealpsee. You trade the steep climb for a long downhill and string two of the best spots in the Alpstein onto one line.
The boat and the photo
At the lake you can rent a little rowing boat. Five francs when I was last there, my note from on site, not an official rate. The cheapest photo upgrade I know in Switzerland.
Why it matters: everyone shoots Seealpsee from the shore path, same rocks, same angle. From the water you sit inside the reflection instead of next to it, and the peaks double on the surface around the boat.
Just before sunset is the moment. The water calms, the peaks around go warm, and the day-trippers have started heading down. You row out twenty metres and it is suddenly quiet.
Staying the night
Now the part people get wrong. Wild camping is banned at Seealpsee. Canton Appenzell Innerrhoden enforces it and fines are issued, this is not a grey zone. Bivouacking in the canton only works with the landowner's consent2, and the whole basin sits in the Säntisgebiet, a listed landscape in the federal BLN inventory3. So no tent on the shore, not even for one night.
There are still two legal ways to wake up at the lake.
Berggasthaus Seealpsee
Right at the lake, takes overnight guests4, and it is listed on the official Appenzell tourism portal5. Book ahead in summer, this is the busiest corner of the Alpstein.
The overnight spot at the upper end
There is a designated overnight spot at the upper end of the lake. Ask the farmer first, roughly 7 francs a night when I asked, his arrangement, not an official campsite rate. You get the evening and the first light without breaking a rule.
This pattern, allowed or forbidden plus the legal alternative, is what I keep up to date in the Swiss Gems Guide for all 141 spots.
When to go
April to November is the season. Be honest with yourself about the crowds though: I rate Seealpsee 5 out of 5 for busyness, it is the postcard lake of Eastern Switzerland and the shore path is full at midday. The fix is built into the photo plan, come late. In the hour before sunset the shore empties, the water calms, and the boat does the rest.
If the Alpstein grabs you, the Saxer Lücke is the other view I keep going back to, a few valleys deeper in the massif.
Swiss Gems · 141 spots in Switzerland
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Frequently asked questions
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Leon Helg
Swiss filmmaker and software engineer. 26 years in Switzerland, spends his free time exploring the Swiss Alps and maps his favorite spots for Hikebeast. Posts as @leon.helg on Instagram and TikTok.
Sources
- Seealpsee, lake in the Alpstein at 1,143 m, canton Appenzell Innerrhoden, reachable on foot from Wasserauen or Ebenalp. Wikipedia. ↩
- Swiss Alpine Club, information sheet "Camping and bivouacking in the Alps". sac-cas.ch. ↩
- Federal geoportal with the layers "wildlife rest zones", "federal hunting ban districts" and the BLN landscape inventory (object Säntisgebiet). map.geo.admin.ch. ↩
- Berggasthaus Seealpsee, official site, overnight stays right at the lake. seealpsee.ch. ↩
- Appenzellerland Tourismus AI, Berggasthaus Seealpsee on the official Alpstein portal. appenzell.ch. ↩