Culinary family holidays in St. Gallen

St. Gallen is an incred­i­bly diverse city that offers plen­ty for fam­i­lies. The region is also known for its many del­i­ca­cies. Who doesn’t want to try Appen­zeller cheese or Minor choco­late? If you’re look­ing to com­bine the region’s culi­nary spe­cial­i­ties with cul­tur­al high­lights and nature’s trea­sures, then read on. Find out here which spots you absolute­ly have to vis­it dur­ing your fam­i­ly hol­i­day in St. Gallen.

Swiss Youth Hostels: Our home during our trip

Dur­ing our trip, we spend the night in the beau­ti­ful­ly sit­u­at­ed youth hos­tel in St. Gallen. Although locat­ed slight­ly above the city cen­tre, it’s eas­i­ly acces­si­ble by pub­lic trans­port, offer­ing an even more beau­ti­ful view all the way to Lake Con­stance.

We opt­ed for one of the spa­cious fam­i­ly rooms with its own show­er and WC. And did you know that break­fast is always includ­ed in the room rate – no mat­ter which cat­e­go­ry you book? We love the spa­cious gar­den with fruit trees and the ping-pong table. Two min­utes from the youth hos­tel, the kids can let off steam at a cool play­ground.

Family holidays in St. Gallen and the surrounding area: Must-see destinations

To get to know the region bet­ter with all our sens­es, we opt for a culi­nary jour­ney of dis­cov­ery: The Choco­lar­i­um, the Appen­zeller show dairy and the MoMö, the Swiss Cidery and Dis­tillery Muse­um, are our des­ti­na­tions of choice:

Chocolarium

Inside the hap­pi­ness fac­to­ry from Munz and Minor, we set out on a quest for hap­pi­ness, joined by Glo­bi. Wher­ev­er we go, we can taste the dif­fer­ent choco­late spe­cial­i­ties, gain­ing loads of insights into the pro­duc­tion process and learn­ing all about the his­to­ry of choco­late pro­duc­tion inter­ac­tive­ly. One absolute high­light: cre­at­ing our own cus­tom bar of choco­late.

Appenzeller show dairy

Do you know the secret behind Appen­zeller cheese? As you stroll through the inter­ac­tive exhi­bi­tion at the Appen­zeller show dairy, you can taste dif­fer­ent types of cheese with your «Ves­per Tröck­li» and get one step clos­er to the secret with every bite. With the gold­en key, you can even put togeth­er your own blend of herbs and take them home with you. It’s a great expe­ri­ence for the whole fam­i­ly!

MoMö Swiss Cidery and Distillery Museum

The small but charm­ing muse­um tells the sto­ry of the Möhl fam­i­ly and their prod­ucts. In the gar­den, we enjoy a refresh­ing and zesty apple spritzer and the kids romp around on the awe­some play­ground.

Besides culi­nary expe­ri­ences, the St. Gallen region also offers oth­er high­lights:

Dreilinden

A short walk from the youth hos­tel is the Dreilin­den nat­ur­al lido. There are two non-swim­mer pools and a swim­ming pool with eight lanes. Rather stay dry? A walk to the «Milch­hüs­li» is worth­while: Over an aper­i­tif, you can take in the view of the entire city and enjoy the peace and qui­et.

Säntispark

Alter­na­tive­ly, you can take the bus to Sän­tispark in Abtwil. Look for­ward to lots of fast-paced slides, indoor and out­door pools and a water play­ground for younger kids. Fam­i­lies can even bor­row water wings and get swim dia­pers for the lit­tle ones free of charge. It’s awe­some!

Take your time, explore the city on foot and go with the flow. Some cor­ners couldn’t be more con­trast­ing, like the tra­di­tion­al Gal­lus­platz or the ultra-mod­ern Red Square. If your kids are a bit old­er, make sure to vis­it the Abbey Library – its beau­ty and his­tor­i­cal sig­nif­i­cance sim­ply blew us away.

St. Gallen is full of great cafés and restau­rants. I can par­tic­u­lar­ly rec­om­mend Haus Olé: Look for­ward to deli­cious cof­fee and matcha, snacks and lunch options here. And the best part? There are two very spa­cious play areas for kids and a children’s menu that offers more than just chick­en nuggets and fries.

Bottom line: Our culinary journey of discovery

You could eas­i­ly spend more than two nights at St. Gallen Youth Hos­tel – the region is so diverse. The culi­nary high­lights are just one facet you can dis­cov­er here. I was very pleas­ant­ly sur­prised by the fact that all out­ings are real­ly easy to reach by pub­lic trans­port. The stops are pret­ty much right out­side the door. It’s super con­ve­nient for fam­i­lies. I par­tic­u­lar­ly liked the fact that the peace­ful loca­tion of the youth hos­tel meant that we were able to reflect on our expe­ri­ences and recharge our bat­ter­ies for new adven­tures.