Among the Vineyards of the St. Gallen Rhine Valley

January 24, 2018 -- We don't travel to eastern Switzerland a lot, but going in that direction on this excursion meant we were sure to have sunshine and no snow, as well as a varied walking trail on the hillside above the Rhine River where it builds the border between Switzerland and Austria.

We knew we had to expect muddy trails as it has been raining for quite a while (in fact, some of the fields in this area appear to have been waterlogged since last September, according to the owners of the lovely vineyard estate where we had a very good and reasonably-priced Appenzell Cordon-Bleu for lunch). But on the meadow and forest trails that are my favourites, the going was rather tough, as we could hardly find a spot where we didn't sink into the mud. And in the short forested sections, there were still remains of various hurricane-force storms we've had in the last few weeks, and we were lucky we didn't have to double back.

Otherwise, this 14-km stretch (Stage 2) of the Regional Trail called the "Rheintaler Höhenweg" between Berneck and Altstätten was full of pretty views (Mount Säntis and Mount Hohenkasten in the Alpstein Massif, the mountains in Austria and Liechtenstein, villages in the Rhine Flatlands, lots and lots of vineyards ) and interesting regional architecture including three castles dating back from the 14th Century. Best of all, it only took us 2.5 hours travel time to get there....

Village of Berneck, the starting point of our 14-km hike through the Rheintal Valley

Village of Berneck, the starting point of our 14-km hike through the Rheintal Valley

"The Thinker", or a version thereof

In the church in Berneck

Berneck in eastern Switzerland

I love the variety of signs you find on the shops and businesses in the cities and villages here

First stop is a fortress ruins on the hill looking down in the Rhine flatlands

This is a renowned wine area, we passed through many vineyards.

This is a renowned wine area, we passed through many vineyards. Below in the back is the city of Lustenau, which is in Austria

I love the forest trails

Everywhere there are still remains of recent storms. We were lucky we didn't have to back-track.

Finally over the hill and the first welcoming views of the Alpstein Massif with Mounts Säntis and Hohen Kasten

Zoomed view of Mount Säntis (below is Castle Grünenstein which we passed later)

We had lunch in the beautiful sunny parlor of this vineyard estate

They were prepared for us, with our muddy boots!

We had a very nice lunch of Appenzeller Cordon-Bleu in this bright parlor in the Vineyard Estate

The owner of the vineyard estate is quite the collector of orchids!

The first of three old castles we passed, this is Schloss Grünenstein, a private estate dating back to the 13th Century (renovated and elaborated since then)

In the gardens at Schloss Grünenstein

In the Gardens at Schloss Grünenstein

The second castle we passed is Schloss Weinstein. This one dates from the late 14th Century and is now a fancy restaurant and a favourite for weddings