And just like that, Switzerland is over and done. It’s almost a shame to be heading out already but I’ve really enjoyed the time here.

As I mentioned in my observations post yesterday, yeah it’s a little more expensive than home but things have been kinda going up there anyway so it wasn’t an overly noticeable difference.

Today it was all about getting from Luzern to Stuttgart. I had a train ticket booked for just after 11 that would take me back to Zurich before boarding a Deutsche Bahn (DB) train to Stuttgart. DB are the national carrier for Germany, where Switzerland is a combination of separate operators Germany has one national carrier.

The train from Luzern back to Zurich was, as has become obvious with time spent in Switzerland, on time departing and getting to Zurich. It feels almost fitting to end my Switzerland journey in the place it started. I certainly looked upon the Zurich Central Station fondly when the train arrived there. The DB train was around 40 minutes after my arrival so I grabbed a bite to eat(what else but a large pretzel) and sat near the platform to watch the world go by until the train turned up.

The train arrived on time, a quick photo before I jumped on board to claim a space for my suitcase in the luggage rack (they tend to get full quickly) and found my seat. We set off on time and powered our way towards the border. We got held up just before the border waiting for a train to come in the opposite direction.

Around 10 minutes later we finally got moving again and crossed the border. My time in Switzerland officially came to an end.

I spoke a fair bit about my observations on Switzerland, but honestly it was a little sad to be leaving as I felt like I had only been there a few days despite being there almost two weeks.

But it’s time for Germany now, and from the border to Stuttgart there were rolling hills, rivers, forests and castles. Much of which was on the wrong side of the train from my allocated seat, which was a little frustrating but it is what it is. We arrived in Stuttgart just after 3:30pm, around 20 minutes behind schedule. The first thing I was met with was a construction site.

Stuttgart are investing billions of Euros to redevelop the Stuttgart Hauptbahnhof (Stuttgart Main Station) to realign the lines 90 degrees. The terminus station at the moment is a limiting throughput station for the European East/West Line. Currently the terminus station faces north with four or six lines that limit the number of trains that can enter and leave the station complex. The new plan is to turn the lines 90 degress, put them underground, and remove the north facing lines. Apparently it’s going to take about 10 years to complete though I think they started the process a few years ago.

There are two suburban transport methods in Germany. The S-bahn and U-bahn (pronounced ooo-bahn). The S-Bahn are like standard suburban trains and the U-Bahn are like light rail. The S-bahn is operated by the DB while the U-bahn is operated by the local city. So the S-bahn is covered by my German Rail Pass but I have to pay for U-bahn and city bus services. So I’ll be endeavouring to get by with the S-bahn where I can, not that the U-bahn is expensive by any means.

I did purchase a U-bahn ticket as the stop appeared to be closer to the hotel and relatively downhill unlike the nearest S-bahn stop. It was still a hike but manageable. The hotel is okay for what it is.

Tomorrow I’m probably going to do the city bus tour and already earmarked going to the Porsche Museum so if the ankle feels as good tomorrow as it does today I reckon we’ll be getting close to being back to regular service. Hopefully, I feel like I missed a good chunk of Luzern so I don’t want to miss what Stuttgart has to offer too.

Cheers!