Staying at the Aescher Guesthouse has been on my bucket list ever since I was gifted a National Geographic book titled “Destinations of a Lifetime.” This historic lodge, built directly into a mountain in Switzerland, is the cover image. And given my love of everything Swiss and Alpine, getting here one day myself was inevitable.
So during my Germany/Switzerland adventures in July 2026, I made it a special point to spend a night at my bucket list guesthouse. While most people simply visit it for photos or for lunch on their cliffside patio, I wanted to experience it to the fullest by staying overnight in one of their guest rooms.
This post covers everything you need to know about staying at the Aescher Guesthouse (or even just visiting it for photos or food because I know how y’all be). I’ll tell you about all the rooms, relate my personal experience, and provide you with some helpful tips and things you need to know before you go. Enjoy!
The Aescher Mountain Guesthouse
Berggasthaus Aescher (as it’s called locally) is one of the oldest mountain guesthouses in Switzerland and has existed as it appears now since 1860. You’ve probably seen it on Instagram (or on the cover of National Geographic books). It’s a wooden lodge that’s built right into the side of a mountain overlooking a gorgeous Swiss valley.
The guesthouse is located along a mountain hiking trail and next to some really neat caves where, according to them, “hermits, cavepeople and bears once lived.” In addition to a handful of overnight sleeping accommodations, it also boasts a fabulous restaurant with delicious food, a stunning scenic patio on the cliff’s edge, and a small gift shop.
Why stay at the Aescher Guesthouse?
So why is staying at the Aescher Guesthouse so awesome? For me, it was such a milestone to be able to satisfy a dream I’ve had for many years and check off a huge bucket list item. So often we see these incredible places online or in books and think of them as unattainable or “maybe someday.” So it felt so amazing to finally get here.
For others, it may simply be the fact that this is indeed a unique place to spend the night in some seriously beautiful surroundings. It may not be the easiest place to reach, but that’s part of what makes it so special! Why not take a break from standard hotels and rental properties and feed your sense of adventure?
Where is the Aescher Guesthouse?
The Aescher Guesthouse is located on the side of a mountain in the hamlet of Wasserauen in the canton of Appenzell, Switzerland. In other words, it’s up in northeastern Switzerland pretty close to the borders of both Austria and Leichtenstein.
It’s about a 1.5-hour drive to the parking area from Zurich, a 2.5-hour drive from Innsbruck, and a 3-hour drive from Munich, to give you some idea.
How to get to the Aescher Guesthouse
The Aescher Guesthouse isn’t the most convenient destination to reach, but that’s actually what makes it so interesting. Even so, it’s not super difficult either (as long as you’re physically able to reach it, that is).
The Aescher Guesthouse is located along a mountainside hiking trail beneath the Ebenalp peak. To get here, you’ll need to take a cable car and then hike a short distance. But before that, you can get here easily with your own car and fairly easily via train too.
Cable car to Aescher Guesthouse
The main thing to know here is that given the Aescher Guesthouse’s location, you can’t drive or take the train all the way here. Instead, you’ll need to park your car down in the valley and take a cable car up the mountain. The cable car you need to take is the Wasserauen-Ebenalp cable car.
When you arrive at the cable car station, you can purchase your cable car ticket right there at the ticket window. There’s only one stop on this cable car line so you shouldn’t make any mistakes (but seriously no judgment; I get it). You can get either a one-way ticket or a return (just don’t lose your ticket in the meantime).
Hike the rest of the way
From the cable car station at the top, you then have to hike about 20 minutes down the mountain, through the Wildkirchli caves, to get to the Aescher Guesthouse. And what an arrival it is!
Some of the path is concrete, some of it is rocky, some is on boardwalks and gravel, and some of it is inside some (potentially slippery) caves. As long as you’ve got the right shoes on (and maybe some trekking poles), this is a pretty easy hike.
If cable cars aren’t your thing, you can absolutely hike all the way to the Aescher Guesthouse from the valley. The hike takes about 2.5 hours.
Driving to the Aescher Guesthouse
If you plan to arrive by car, you’ll want to park your car at one of the paid lots near the Wasserauen-Ebenalp cable car station. You can put “Parkplatz Wasserauen” into your GPS and park at any of the lots around here.
For parking, you’ll either need to pay in cash (COINS ONLY for some stupid reason) or with the EasyPark app. This is insane to me because who carries that many Swiss Francs in coins with them? Whatever. I chose to download the EasyPark app and, I can’t stress this enough, this was the easiest app I have ever used. Definitely go this route! Enter your license plate, choose the lot and a length of time, and it keeps track of it all. I wish literally any other app was this straightforward.
Rent a car here if you need one. (This is the site I personally use to book my rental cars.)
Taking the train to Aescher Guesthouse
If you’d prefer to arrive by train, you can do that as well. From wherever you’re starting out, take the train to the “Wasserauen” station. From here, all you have to do is walk across the street and you’ll be at the Ebenalp cable car. Coming from Zurich, this trip takes about 2 hours with one connection.
You can check train schedules and rates here.
Aescher Guesthouse rooms
Aescher Guesthouse offers a few different overnight options, but know that these are all super basic accommodations. I’d say just a couple steps up from “roughing it.” But, adventure, remember? There are shared bunk bed rooms and private rooms of different sizes available.
The full list of rooms at Aescher Guesthouse includes:
My husband and I initially tried to book one of the few private rooms but they were all already taken… except for one. So, we reserved that one—the Marmot’s Place. Essentially, the attic space above the 10-person bunk bed room. We literally had to climb up a ladder and through a small door in the wall to get in. Literally.
Be sure to read the Need to Know section below for some important things to keep in mind if you plan on spending the night here.
Aescher Guesthouse food and drinks
Even though the Aescher Guesthouse is a guesthouse, more people visit this place to eat and drink here than sleep. Aescher has a full menu of local specialties that’s actually really good cuisine. (The views from the patio don’t hurt either.) They have breakfast, lunch, and dinner with a great selection of appetizers, main courses, desserts, and more. They also serve coffees, soft drinks, cocktails, beer, and beyond.
Dinner at Aescher Guesthouse
When you stay overnight, you automatically get a reservation for dinner. And it’s a good thing too because the very large patio filled up completely while we were here. (Dinner itself isn’t included in your stay, but a guaranteed reservation is.)
For dinner, my husband and I had:
And it was all very good.
Breakfast at Aescher Guesthouse
Unlike dinner, breakfast is included in your overnight reservation and this was my favorite part. Everything we had at breakfast was so unbelievably fresh and delicious. Our breakfast platter included:
Aescher Guesthouse prices
In the spirit of not having to constantly keep up with potentially changing prices over time, I’ll refrain from listing the prices of all the rooms out here, but I’ll refer you to their booking page instead.
Still, I will say the cost of spending a night here is more than reasonable for such a bucket list experience. In July 2026, it cost 75 CHF each for my husband and I to sleep in the Marmot’s Place and that included breakfast for two. Still less than booking a night at a hotel room (that doesn’t include these amazing views and meals).
Also read: Where to Stay in Gimmelwald, Switzerland
Is staying at the Aescher Guesthouse worth it?
If staying at the Aescher Guesthouse is something you have on your bucket list too, I can say with certainty that it’s absolutely worth it. And if you’re just learning about it in this post, I would tell you the same thing.
While the accommodations are super basic, staying here isn’t unaffordable. And even though it takes a couple extra steps to get here, it’s not like it’s located in some far away country in a remote desert or anything. (Though it does feel very secluded in only the best way.) If you find yourself anywhere in the Zurich-Munich-Innsbruck triangle, definitely keep this place on your radar.
What I loved about staying at the Aescher Guesthouse
Seeing this place in real life was definitely the highlight of my stay here. Even my plain-jane attic room was such a cozy little retreat. The food here is fantastic and the people who run this place are absolutely delightful people to spend time with.
The little hike in and out of the area was great too—such a cool little trip through the caves that included lots of historical information. And it was so nice to wake up and spend the morning sitting on the terrace.
What I didn’t love about staying at the Aescher Guesthouse
The only thing that really stands out in this case is that, even though we were staying in the super basic attic space, there could at the very least have been a shelf or even just a hook for us to put our belongings on rather than just spreading them out on the floor. I mean really, hammering a single hook into the wall would cost almost nothing but would help out a lot. Shit, just hammer a nail into the wall and call it a day.
Aescher Guesthouse review
Overall, I’d give my stay at Aescher Guesthouse a 9.5/10 (half a point taken off for the lack of a hook or shelf in the room). This place exceeded my expectations in terms of quality of the food and the hospitality of the staff.
The location, obviously, can’t be beat and our room, though simple, was quite comfortable and I slept the best I had in a week. Plus, the prices (which include breakfast) are an absolute bargain for such an unforgettable experience.
Things you need to know about staying at Aescher Guesthouse
Before you consider staying at Aescher Guesthouse, here are some super important things you need to know and some helpful tips to get you there:
1. There’s limited running water
Don’t worry; they do have regular flushing toilets and small hand sinks. But there are no showers and the running water they do have should be used only sparingly. (The water they do have actually comes from a rainwater collection reservoir inside the caves.)
Instead, consider bringing a couple liters of water up with you for things like drinking and teeth-brushing and only use the sinks to wash your hands. Plan your showers around the fact that you’ll have to skip one here. We also drank our beers straight from the bottles instead of dirtying another two glasses for them to wash. (As a little thank you for not making us pee in compost toilets or the like.)
2. Pack a sleep sheet
If you’ll be staying in either the bunk room or the attic space like we did, you’ll need to bring your own sleep sheet. (Pillows and a comforter are provided though.) I personally use this microfiber sheet (with built-in pillowcase) whenever I find myself sleeping in Alpine huts and I love it. It’s not too hot and there’s plenty of space inside.
3. Check-out is at 9am
Yeah this is pretty early but they have a very small staff that does everything here, including restaurant service. So, be prepared to skedaddle. But don’t worry; the goofy rooster and the incredibly loud moon buggy thing they use to bring supplies up the mountain will wake you up at sunrise.
4. There’s no Wi-Fi here
Unless you have an international phone plan, be prepared to conduct all your business before you head up to the guesthouse. That includes downloading any maps, webpages, etc. you’ll need for offline use. Maybe bring a book. Remember books?
5. There’s no heating or A/C
If you’ll be visiting in cooler temperatures, make sure to pack warm clothes. If you’ll be visiting in the summer, prepare for that however you need to.
When we stayed here in July, it was pretty warm during the day and the temperature inside the attic space was stifling when we arrived. So much so that I *almost* freaked out about it and thought I might have to go sleep in the caves. But by the time the sun set, it had cooled down a lot and turned out to be a non-issue. I slept like a baby. In an attic.
6. You can only book via email request
In order to stay here overnight, you have to email them a booking request from their overnight page here. Enter your details and pick a few of the room options you’d like to stay in and they’ll do their best to accommodate you. They were very prompt in responding to me and offered helpful suggestions. I hope you’re able to work a stay here into your Switzerland plans!
More info for your trip to Switzerland
Like this post? Have questions about staying at the Aescher Guesthouse? Let me know in the comments below. Have fun in Switzerland!
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