Heiden - round trip on foot and by train

Reto Kohli and Kesh (from 25.01.20):

We wanted to get to know the Appenzellerland by train, bus and on foot and chose St. Gallen as our starting point. The S9 brought us to Rorschach where we changed to the almost nostalgic Heidenbahn. With a top speed of 25 km/h and with the help of a cogwheel the railcar brought us to Wartensee. From here we follow the Alpenpanorama-Weg (No. 3) to Heiden on foot. At first the path climbs through a beautiful spruce forest to soon reveal the view of Wienacht-Tobel. Through the village, the trail follows the cogwheel railway line and crosses a cow pasture for a short time (approx. 300m). Through Schwendi the path continues over fields before it climbs through the forest to the hill of Heiden after the hamlet of Matten. Already we see the church tower of Heiden and arrive 20 minutes later in the village centre. We let ourselves be spoiled "in luck" at Bahnhofstrasse 2 with a fine Saturday menu (the dog finds a nice place on the wooden floor). Strengthened, we board the post bus, which takes us over the winding roads and hills to Trogen. Here the S21 is already waiting for us, which takes us on a 25-minute ride with great views (sitting on the right in the direction of travel...) back down to St. Gallen.