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Houses scattered across hillsides rather than gathered into streets.
Herisau is the seat of Appenzell Ausserrhoden, in the green hill country south of St Gallen. What makes it different from almost any other Swiss town is the settlement pattern: out here, houses stand alone across the slopes rather than lining a street.
Appenzell country is famous for scattered settlement. Rather than villages of terraced houses, the landscape carries individual farmhouses and homes spread across hillsides, each reached by its own track from a lane that itself came off a road.
For a removal that changes the questions entirely. There is rarely a parking problem and never a permit to apply for. There is frequently a question about whether a large vehicle can get up the track at all, whether it can turn at the top, and what the surface is like after rain.
The town of Herisau itself is a proper town with ordinary streets. It is the addresses around it that need describing rather than naming.
Herisau also appears as Appenzell Ausserrhoden and Appenzellerland. Whichever version you searched for, this is the same city and the same page. Give the mover the address exactly as it appears on your Swiss lease.
This is not alpine country. There are no passes to close and the main roads are kept clear through the winter, so a delivery here does not carry the risk that a Grisons valley does.
What the hills do affect is the last stretch. A farm track that is fine in summer can be difficult after snow or heavy rain, and it is cleared, if at all, by whoever owns it rather than by the commune.
So a winter delivery to a scattered address deserves a wider window than one into the town, and it is worth knowing who clears your access and how quickly.
Relocation is the word an employer uses. Removals is the word the trade uses here. Whichever is offered for Herisau, the visit is what makes a quote reliable. Three names, one set of people with a lorry. HHG on a manifest, household goods in a policy and removal goods on a British quote all mean your belongings.
If the delivery address is near Herisau rather than in it, try these.
St Gallen · Frauenfeld · Winterthur · Chur · Schaffhausen · Rapperswil-Jona · · Wil · Wohlen · Yverdon-les-Bains all Swiss towns
Three things decide which vehicle can be sent to a scattered address, and none of them appears on a map. How wide is the track, and does anything overhang it. Is there room to turn at the top, or would a lorry have to reverse down. And what is the surface, because a gravel or grass track behaves differently in February from how it looks in July.
A crew that knows the region will ask all three. If they do not ask, tell them anyway. The alternative is a vehicle that has to stop at the bottom of the hill and a carry that nobody priced.
Where the answer is that a large vehicle cannot get up, a smaller one shuttles from the lane. That is completely routine here and it is arranged in advance, not improvised.
Worth reading before you send an enquiry about Herisau, in this order. Movers working this route are asked about these three more often than the rest.
What a private track does to the vehicle and the number.
Sharing a lorry, and the transfer for a narrow track.
Furniture into a hillside farmhouse.
The canton is Appenzell Ausserrhoden and Herisau is its seat. There is also an Appenzell Innerrhoden, a separate canton with its own administration, and the town of Appenzell is in that one rather than this.
That distinction catches people out. An address in Appenzell is not an address in Herisau, and the two cantons run their own registration and their own rules.
Everything is German speaking. Send the postcode with the address, because the canton names are long, similar and easy to transpose on a form.
Because Appenzell country has a scattered settlement pattern. Rather than villages of terraced houses, the landscape carries individual homes spread across the hillsides, each reached by its own track. The town of Herisau has ordinary streets, but the addresses around it need describing rather than naming.
Three things. How wide the track is and whether anything overhangs it. Whether there is room to turn at the top or a lorry would have to reverse down. And what the surface is, because a gravel or grass track behaves very differently in February from how it looks in July.
A smaller one shuttles from the lane. It is completely routine in this region and crews here do it constantly, but it is arranged in advance and priced as its own stage rather than improvised when the driver arrives at the bottom of the hill.
No. These are hills rather than mountains, there are no passes to close, and the main roads are kept clear through the winter. A delivery here does not carry the risk a Grisons valley would. What the hills affect is the last stretch up a private track.
Rarely on the roads. It can affect a private track, which is cleared by whoever owns it rather than by the commune, and at whatever speed suits them. A winter delivery to a scattered address deserves a wider window than one into the town, and it is worth knowing who clears your access.
No, and it is a common confusion. Herisau is the seat of Appenzell Ausserrhoden. The town of Appenzell is in Appenzell Innerrhoden, a separate canton with its own administration, registration and rules. Send the postcode, because the canton names are long and easy to transpose.
Almost never, which is a pleasant change from most Swiss towns. Scattered properties have their own ground and there is no permit to apply for. The constraint here is getting a vehicle up to the property rather than finding somewhere to put it once there.
Collection address, the Herisau delivery address, a room by room list and the window you can work with. One vetted moving company from our network checks the route and the access, then comes back to you.
Send your move detailsOperated by DATACONTEXT (UK) LTD, company number 07425576, ICO registration ZB022743, registered at Norman House, Saint Saviours Estate, Abbey Street, London SE1 3DH. Running since 2010. We work with vetted moving companies in the AGM Group network.
Written by Darren Benjamin, founder of International Removals Companies, who has run the business since 2010. Last checked 5 August 2026.