Discover Dornbirn: Culture, Gorges and Karren

Dornbirn combines impressive gorges, mountain views and a diverse urban history. When choosing a holiday apartment for your stay, you can therefore plan your trip around different interests: nature experiences lead to Rappenloch Gorge and Alploch Gorge, while museums and historical sites provide insights into the city’s development. At Karren, you can also enjoy views, a mountain railway and a family hiking trail.

Gorges, Trails and Landscapes

Rappenloch Gorge and Alploch Gorge were carved into the hard limestone over hundreds of thousands of years by the flowing waters of the Dornbirner Ach. A hike through Rappenloch Gorge leads to Lake Staufensee, goes around the lake and then returns to the starting point along the same route. A gorge hike starts in Dornbirn-Gütle and continues via Rappenloch Gorge, Lake Staufensee and Alploch Gorge to the Schmitte bus stop on Ebniter Straße at an elevation of 695 metres.

For the guided Rappenloch tour, bus route 177 from Dornbirn’s main railway station or Dornbirn Town Hall is one way to get there. The mountains near Dornbirn also invite you to go hiking and are well suited to mountain biking. This allows you to combine different day plans without limiting your trip to a single experience.

Karren as a Viewpoint

The ride on the Karren cable car takes five minutes and offers panoramic views of the Swiss mountains, the Rhine Valley and Lake Constance. At the mountain station is the Karren-Kante, a 12-metre-long glass walkway with all-round views. Along the family hiking trail on Karren, there is also the “Karrengold” treasure hunt.

Those who would like to continue walking after enjoying the views will find a wide forestry road through wooded terrain from the mountain station to the valley station of the Karren cable car at an elevation of 455 metres. The various activities at Karren allow you to design an outing around views, exercise or an adventure for younger travellers.

Museums and Urban History

inatura is an interactive natural history museum that makes research, natural sciences and technology accessible through hands-on experiences. Experiments, exhibits, films and images present the habitats typical of Vorarlberg: mountains, forests and water. The human body is another main focus. This makes inatura a suitable destination when you want to experience nature not only outdoors, but also in an illustrative and explanatory way.

The Dornbirn City Museum is housed in a 200-year-old patrician house directly on the market square. Across three floors, it presents selected objects and works of art relating to important chapters in the city’s history. Special exhibitions and events on regional, cultural-historical and contemporary topics complement the permanent exhibition.

Under the title “Traces of the City. Industry and Change”, 15 stations tell stories of rise and decline, as well as continuities and breaks. The route can also be walked in sections. Its variety of themes allows for specialised tours focusing on architectural, technological or social history. The Red House also stands on the market square. Built in 1639, it is a fine example of the timber construction method that formerly predominated in the area.

The Right Holiday Apartment for Planning Your Trip

When searching for a holiday apartment in Dornbirn, you can use your preferred pace of stay as a starting point. For days focused on cultural history, the “Traces of the City” route, which can be explored in sections, offers a specific point of reference; if you would like to include exercise, you can take the trails on Karren and the mountains near Dornbirn into account. This allows you to choose your holiday apartment according to the desired balance between urban history and physical activity.

Discover More Destinations

For further trip planning, you can also visit the pages for Lustenau and Hohenems.

Back to the higher-level travel overview: Dornbirn.