Kartause Ittingen, a country retreat in northeastern Switzerland
Beginning in the 1300s, Kartause Ittingen was a training ground for future monks, who took a vow of silence, slept inside cramped wooden cabinets, and were early practitioners of farm-to-table cuisine, growing or raising what they needed in the property’s gardens and pastures. Today, the heritage buildings in northeastern Switzerland where the monks once worked and prayed have been converted into a contemporary country lodging, where you can stroll the flower-filled fields, tour the onsite museum that illuminates the monks’ lives, and e-bike or hike through the surrounding wine region.
But Kartause Ittingen, less than an hour by train from Zurich, is a social enterprise as well, training and employing 60 staff members with special needs. Not only does the hotel actively recruit and mentor staff members with disabilities, but many of these employees also reside on the property in an assisted living environment.
Here’s the scoop:
The gardens at Kartause Ittingen
About Kartause Ittingen
In 1977, the Kartause Ittingen Foundation took over the former monastery, embarking on a seven-year renovation project. The foundation wanted to restore the buildings and grounds while also developing its social mission. According to hotel manager Valentin Bot, part of the goal was to make the property as self-sufficient as possible, similar to how it operated during the monks’ long tenure.
The manicured gardens where guests can wander or simply enjoy the outdoors have more than 250 varieties of roses, including several historic varieties. The property operates its own farm, which grows produce and herbs to use in the hotel restaurant, and vineyards terraced down the hillsides supply grapes to make its own wine. There’s a butcher shop, a cheese maker, even a pottery studio that crafts plates for the restaurant.
Kartause Ittingen provides a supervised work environment for adults with special needs, and guests often have the opportunity to interact with these staff members, who might be working in the gardens, greenhouses, or other areas of the property. About half these employees live at Kartause Ittingen in a supported environment while the rest reside with their families or in the surrounding communities.
The property still has its grand Baroque sanctuary.
Also on the property are two museums. The Ittingen Museum details the property’s history and illustrates aspects of the monks’ lives. The Thurgau Art Museum has its own small collection and also organizes temporary exhibitions.
A highlight of the Ittingen Museum is the monastery’s church, designed in elaborate Baroque style. The ornately carved wooden choir stalls where the monks once sang their hymns date back to 1701.
While retaining the monastic roots, the hotel interiors have been fully modernized.
Guest Rooms and Amenities
The hotel’s 68 guestrooms are located in several different structures around the property. Though set within the heritage buildings, the rooms are entirely contemporary.
From the monastic single rooms measuring only 130 square feet to the 345-square-foot attic suite, the units use their compact size efficiently. TVs are hidden in a honey-hued wall-mounted wood box, while shelves and closet space are tucked into another built-in wall cabinet. In the small modern bathrooms, similar cabinetry encloses a hair dryer, tissues, and coffee mugs, along with extra shelving.
A Kartause Ittigen guest room with a wooded garden terrace
Some rooms, like the garden unit where I stayed, open onto private decks or balconies surrounded by greenery. Wi-Fi is available in all the guestrooms, and while the rooms don’t have coffeemakers, tea and water stations in the lobby areas dispense still, sparkling, and hot water.
“Zero Kilometer” Cuisine
The hotel’s Restaurant Mühle is set in a former mill building with an enormous wheel, built in 1870, adorning the wall to recall its past. In the morning, guests can enjoy a typically ample Swiss buffet, with yogurts, granola and muesli, an assortment of fruits, freshly baked bread, eggs, hams, and a cheese station. You can brew your caffeine in the espresso machine and sample several juices. During my early summer stay, which coincided with strawberry season, I loved the fresh strawberry juice.
There’s nothing Spartan about the creative local cuisine.
At lunch and dinner, the restaurant mixes Swiss classics, such as cordon bleu stuffed with house-smoked bacon, with more inventive dishes. Taking inspiration from the monks’ original farm-to-table ethos, the menu highlights several choices labeled “zero-kilometer cuisine,” with ingredients grown, raised, or made on the property. What Kartause Ittingen staff can’t produce themselves, they source from surrounding farmers or from other Swiss providers.
They partner with a brewery to make beer from the hops grown on the property, and they produce wine that they age in barrels crafted from oak trees that grow on the grounds.
What’s Nearby?
My favorite experience near Kartause Ittingen was Kunst Und Wein am Iselisberg, an art and wine trail through the rolling hills and green fields. More than 20 eclectic sculptures are set outdoors, and in between your art touring, you can stop to sample the wine at local vineyards. Every year, artists contribute new works for this experience that runs between May and October. You can tour on your own or with a local guide.
I also enjoyed cycling over the hills, around the lakes, and through several small towns to get a feel for life in this rural part of the country. On a clear day, you can see the Alps in the distance. It may be a cliché, but the word “bucolic” seems tailor-made for this part of Switzerland.
Getting There
Kartause Ittingen is easy to reach using Switzerland’s efficient public transportation system. Direct trains can take you from Zurich to Frauenfeld, the nearest town, in less than 45 minutes. Buses that stop outside Frauenfeld Station drop you right in front of the hotel, which is only a 10-minute ride from the rail depot.
Rates
Double room rates at Kartause Ittingen start at approximately US$250 per night, including a full buffet breakfast, use of the hotel’s bicycles, entry to both the Ittingen Museum and Thurgau Art Museum, plus a guided tour of the monastery. Your stay supports Kartause Ittingen’s social mission, and as the hotel website suggests, there’s no extra charge for the fresh country air.
Check rates online at Expedia, Booking.com, Agoda.com, or Hotels.com.
If you’re planning travels around Switzerland, Hotel-Scoop has reviews of many other Swiss properties. Some hotels to consider:
- Hotel Bären am Bundesplatz: A Welcoming Swiss Lodging in Bern
- Luxury and Sustainability at GAIA Hotel Basel, Switzerland
- Affordable Hotel Roc & Neige in Chateau D’oex, Switzerland
- Fairmont Le Montreux Palace: A Palatial Hotel on the Swiss Riviera
Hotel feature by Vancouver-based travel, food, and feature writer Carolyn B. Heller. Photos © Carolyn B. Heller. Switzerland Tourism and Thurgau Tourism hosted my travels in this eastern Swiss region.
