#interrail2025: Day 8 - the search for schnitzel continues…

It isn’t very far from Basle to Mainz - there’s a direct train that will get you there in just over three hours. But that’s hardly entering into the spirit of the thing, is it? And I still hadn’t had my schnitzel and so, obviously, it was necessary to go to Austria to get some. And beer, of course…

I had a reservation at a restaurant I’d eaten in three years ago, and a route planned, and so there I was, at the station to catch the 9.33 train to Sargans, on the edge of Switzerland, where I had a slight detour planned. It’s a lovely run across Switzerland, skirting lakes, gazing at snow-capped peaks.

One of the great things about Switzerland is the way that public transport connects. You get off of a train, the next train (or bus) isn’t far away. And, in Sargans, my rather unusual connection was waiting for me.

There aren’t many places where you get a regular bus from one country to another, passing through a third on the way. But the number 11 bus from Sargans does just that, leaving Switzerland to travel the length of Liechtenstein before delivering you to Feldkirch in Austria. And all for the princely sum of €5, which can be bought on an app.

I wasn’t actually intending to stop en route - schnitzel is too important for that - but it’s a nice ride, and the schedule got me to Feldkirch just in time for my table reservation.

The sun was shining in Feldkirch, and my schnitzel (and beer) was excellent.

I did still have the minor task of getting to Mainz though, and so I had a seat reservation on the Railjet Express to Darmstadt, a train which mysteriously arrives at Feldkirch as RJX960, and leaves Bregenz as RJX890. It’s one of those trains that isn’t likely to be ridden from end to end, as it starts at Vienna Airport and travels all the way to Frankfurt, the indirect way. But it did what I needed it to.

That did leave me with about an hour and a half to kill, and so I went for a walk. And, actually, the town centre is rather charming. I had a very enjoyable stroll, extended by news that my train was running about thirty minutes late - the ÖeBB app is really good at keeping you informed.

As it turned out, by the time we reached Darmstadt, we were nearly an hour late, but you can be so much more relaxed about that in a comfortable first class seat, knowing that you’ve got a connection that you’ll make easily enough, plus a hotel close to the station.

And the last leg was waiting for me…