Cheese is a huge part of Swiss culture, so no visit to Switzerland should be without a visit to a cheese factory. The closest cheese factory near Zurich is the Appenzeller Show Dairy, where you can watch live cheese production on the factory floor.
They also have a small but interesting interactive tour about cheese making in the region. You can learn fun facts like popular Swiss cow names and learn about traditional alpine cheese making methods. Then you can eat fondue and other local cheese dishes at their restaurant. It’s a fun add-on for any visitor to the Appenzell region.
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Location: | Eastern Switzerland |
Address: | Dorf 711, 9063 Stein |
Car: | 1hr15 mins from Zurich |
Train: | Train station: Stein AR, Dorf From Zürich 1hr35 |
Open: | daily 9:00 to 17:30 |
Price (2024): | Adult CHF 12, Child CHF 7, under 6 free |
Services: | big playground, restaurant, picnic area, |
More info: | www.schaukaeserei.ch |
How to get there
This cheese factory is located near Appenzell in eastern Switzerland. See on Google Maps.
By car: Drive to Dorf 711, 9063 Stein as shown on the map below. This address wasn’t in my GPS system, so I just put the town in my GPS and it was obvious once I got there. There is free parking adjacent to the factory.
By public transport: Take a bus to Stein AR, Dorf. The cheese factory is less than a 1 min walk from the bus stop.
Planning your day
Tickets
In 2024, entrance tickets cost Adult CHF 12, Child CHF 7, under 6 free. They have discounted family ticket as well. Your ticket include the discovery tour, view of the factory floor and a small box of cheese samples. See current ticket prices.
They sell a combo ticket with the Appenzeller Folklore Museum next door. They also have a combo ticket with the Maestrani’s Chocolarium chocolate factory, about a 30 mins drive away. We really liked the chocolate factory and think it’s fun to do both in the same day: salty first, sweet after.
Discounts
If you are traveling by public transport, you can get a discount on entrance fee. Buy the discounted ticket voucher through SBB.ch.
The Appenzell Show Dairy is also included in the Swiss Coupon Pass. It’s big book of “2 for 1” coupons for 100 experiences all over Switzerland. Our coupon included entry to the dairy exhibition and a meal of cheesy pasta at the restaurant, 2 people for CHF 30.
Cheese Passport
If you plan to visit more Swiss cheese dairies, you get can the Swiss Cheese Pass, which you can stamp here and at three other dairies in Switzerland. You also get a discount on your cheese purchase during your visit. If you get all four stamps within 2 years, you get a Grand Tour snack box with Victorinox cheese knife.
Opening times
The dairy is open every day except Christmas, from 9:00 – 17:30. It’s a rather short visit, so I would plan this as an add-on to other activities in the area, like the Ebenalp mountain area and Maestrani’s Chocolarium.
Cheese making is done on the factory floor daily until 15:00. So best to arrive earlier in the day so you can see that. On one visit, we watched the cheese making from about 12:00 to 12:45 and it was pretty exciting, as far as cheese making goes. We saw them unmold freshly pressed cheese rounds, then fill up the empty molds with new curds and prepare it for pressing.
Photo story of the dairy
Playground
Outside the cheese factory, you’ll find a great playground, with this giant cheese wedge climbing wall as the main feature. It has a slide, swings, see-saw, small trampoline and other amusements. I thought my kids might not leave.
Discovery Tour
When you buy your tickets, each person get a box of cheese samples shown below. You are instructed when to try them during the tour but really, you can eat them anytime.
The little key opens lots of doors through the tour, which makes it more fun for the kids. The little bag is for making your spice mix at the end of the tour, more about that later.
The tour has fun interactive exhibits about the history and culture of cheese making in the Appenzeller region. There are a few little doors specifically for small children, which has an audio story in German.
Lots of fun facts about cows, like how much grass, water and salt they consume in one day compared to humans. You also get to meet different cows that are part of the story.
Each display has a QR code to open a webpage with the text in English, as shown in my screenshot below. I thought this was a very nice way to handle multiple languages. From the display on the right, we also learned a few words from the local dialekt, which is quite different from both High and Swiss German.
A variety of traditional clothes and artifacts are on display, which are unique to this region.
You can ring the bells but careful, your ears may be ringing afterwards.
I really liked this film with this cheesemaker telling about how cheese used to be made in this region with traditional methods and tools. So many cool pictures from the old times and interesting tidbits about the old ways. He speaks in the local dialekt, so both German and English subtitles are helpful.
The ads for Appenzeller cheese are quite famous around Switzerland, so it was fun to see how they have changed over the years.
Our kids loved the spice grinding stations. There are five local spices that you can dispense into bowl, then grind and add to your sachet to create your own mix. So simple, but so satisfying. The kids loved smelling the different spices and grinding them.
Live Factory
Cheese production is done every day until 15:00 and you can see the workers from this observation deck. There is a helpful video (also in English) that runs continually above the factory floor demonstrating the whole process.
We were there at noon and over about 45 mins, saw them unmold freshly pressed cheese rounds, then fill up the empty molds with new curds and prepare it for pressing.
New cheese rounds have to be turned every four hours, which is done by robots machines that you can watch through the window.
Restaurant
After our tour, we had lunch in the restaurant, which has lots of cheese dishes as you can imagine.
My son had the Appenzell cheese pasta with fried onions and applesauce, very satisfied customer. I had the “wild time” special, with Appenzell raclette with venison sausage, wild mushrooms, potatoes, etc, super yummy. I also had the special cheese soup as a starter, which was also good and tasted a little like fondue.
Of course, there’s also a cheese shop, with lots of Appenzell cheese but also other types from the region. Also various souvenirs from the region.
We recommend combining your visit with the nearby Maestrani Chocolarium chocolate factory. They offer a discounted for a combo ticket for both attractions.
4 Responses
Is the cheese sold here, rennet free? Safe for vegetarians?
I don’t know if this specific cheese factory sells rennet free cheese. Many groceries and health-food stores in Switzerland sell many vegetarian options and vegan cheese alternatives.
Thanks so much for the detailed reviews, my whole extended family of 14 are travelling from Australia this Dec/Jan and we have added this and Maestrani’s chocolate to our list on your recommendation!
Yay! These are great options for winter time. I hope you enjoy them!