A tri-border extended weekend: painted Appenzell houses and cheese country, then swimming and cycling on the shared shores of Switzerland, Germany and Austria. Free overnight at a friend's in Besançon both ways cuts the drive into two manageable legs each direction.
This is one of the furthest trips in the series, and the real numbers back that up: it's about 393 km / ~4h15 from Meudon-la-Forêt to Besançon on the A6/A36 (tolls ≈ €33.90 one-way per APRR's own calculator), then roughly another 330–345 km / ~3h30–4h from Besançon to Appenzell via Basel and St. Gallen — for a realistic total of ~730 km one-way, noticeably more than the ~650–660 km ballpark this trip started from. Splitting the drive with a free night at a friend's place in Besançon (rather than pushing straight through) is what makes this workable as an extended weekend instead of a brutal two-day slog.
The payoff: Appenzell is one of the most photogenic village centres in Switzerland — ochre, red and green painted façades along the Hauptgasse, free to wander, plus real cheese-dairy culture (Appenzeller is a protected AOP cheese made only in this region). Twenty-odd minutes north, Lake Constance (Bodensee) is a genuinely popular swimming lake shared by Switzerland, Germany and Austria, with a 260 km round-lake cycling path (the Bodensee-Radweg) and real public lidos with free entry.
The upside: since it's valid 14 months, this is a one-time cost that also covers any other Swiss legs of this road-trip series (Lucerne, Interlaken, Zermatt, Gruyères, etc. — check whether you've already bought one this cycle before paying twice). Konstanz itself, on the German side of the lake, needs no vignette at all — only the stretch through Switzerland to reach Appenzell does.
Bike travels inside the car with the front wheel off, as always — zero range penalty, so it doesn't change the charging math below at all. Once at Lake Constance, this matters: the Bodensee-Radweg is a ~260 km, mostly flat, family-friendly loop around the entire lake through Switzerland, Germany and Austria — one of the most popular long-distance cycling routes in Europe. You won't ride the whole loop in a weekend, but a flat 20–30 km out-and-back along the German or Swiss shore near Konstanz/Rorschach is an easy, scenic add-on to a swim stop. See the Car Camping, Food & Bike Guide for the loading routine.
Leave after work, one charging stop needed along the A6/A36 corridor before Besançon. Arrive late evening, free night at your friend's place.
Full remote workday from your friend's. No driving today — this is the buffer day that makes the long second leg manageable tomorrow. Free night again. (If you want a short break, Besançon's Vauban citadel is worth a walk — covered in its own trip in this series.)
Long second leg, but right at the edge of a single charge on the 97%-SOH Model Y Premium's realistic 330–370 km range — charge fully before leaving Besançon, top up once at Basel, and that's enough to cover the final stretch into Appenzell comfortably. St. Gallen's Supercharger is there if you want a buffer top-up, but it's optional rather than mandatory now. Arrive by early evening and wander the Hauptgasse's painted 16th–18th century façades — free, and busiest (nicest) at golden hour with day-trippers gone.
Morning in Appenzell: the Landsgemeindeplatz, cheese shops, and — the splurge — lunch at the Appenzeller Schaukäserei (demonstration dairy) in Stein, whose weekday 2-course lunch menu (often featuring Chäshörnli, the local cheese-and-pasta specialty with apple sauce and fried onions) runs CHF 19.50/person; their special demonstration menu is CHF 35. Then drive down to Lake Constance for the afternoon: swim at Strandbad Horn in Konstanz — the largest lido on the lake, 600 m of shoreline, free entry — and ride a flat stretch of the Bodensee-Radweg along the shore.
Remote-work morning from a lakeside café (good connectivity around Konstanz), one more swim or ride at lunch, then drive back through Basel to Besançon in the afternoon/evening. Free night at your friend's again.
Home in time for Wednesday.
| Category | How it's calculated | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Tolls | Meudon↔Besançon round trip, A6/A36, ≈€33.90/leg (APRR) | ≈ €68 |
| Swiss vignette | CHF 40 sticker/e-vignette, valid 14 months, one-time (reusable on future Swiss legs of this series) | ≈ €43 |
| Charging | ~1,470 km total (both legs + local Appenzell/lake driving) × 0.17 kWh/km ≈ 250 kWh × blended DE/CH Supercharger rate ~€0.40/kWh | ≈ €100 |
| Lodging | 2 free nights Besançon (friend) + 1 free bivouac (Appenzell/Konstanz) + 1 paid night for a shower (~€25–35) | ≈ €30 |
| Groceries + splurge lunch + cheese | 5 self-cooked days (~€10–12/day) + Schaukäserei Chäshörnli lunch (CHF 19.50 ≈ €21) + a wedge of Appenzeller to take home | ≈ €90 |
| Misc | Parking, tourist tax, incidentals | ≈ €20 |
| Total (mixed free/paid lodging) | €351 | |